Wait Till Next Year: The Story of a Season When What Should've Happened Didn't, and What Could've Gone Wrong Did

Goldman ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ; Marathon Man ) and New York Daily News sportswriter Lupica have written one of the oddest sports books in memory: a look at a completely bad year in New York City sports. Although they track every sports franchise in the city, except hockey, they concentrate heavily on the 1986 World Champion New York Mets as the team prepares for the title defense in the spring of 1987. The season begins to go bad as star pitcher ``Doc'' Gooden fails his drug test and goes into rehab for cocaine abuse. The authors give us glimpses of the famous Mets with special emphasis concentrated on their warts: there's captain Keith Hernandez, Machiavellian ``Prince of Darkness''; moody slugger Darryl Strawberry; and Davey Johnson, the confused, lost manager. Also covered extensively are the Yankees and their petulant owner George Steinbrenner; the Giants and Jets and their strike-torn NFL seasons; and the revitalized Knicks. There are some good looks inside major league clubhouses and at how newspaper reporters do their jobsno matter whose feelings may be hurt. What stands out in this book is the constant, almost page-by-page, mean, holier-than-thou attacks on Gooden for his cocaine addiction. You may not like many of New York's star athletes, but the authors don't come off any better. (Dec.)