What can you say about the 1986 World Series Champs, the NY Mets? They were without a doubt the nastiest bunch of immature drunks, druggies, skirt chasers and practical jokers in both leagues. The author, Jeff Pearlman, was in the position to know as a long time writer for Sports Illustrated and had the inside track to interviews and confessions from those who played with this amazing team. Whether sports fans like it or not, the Yankees were the team from New York and then along came the bad-boy Mets and took away their crown The orange and blue was plastered all over the Big Apple and the antics of the players were always good for a lead story in the sport section of the Times. With the exception of Mookie Wilson and Howard Johnson, who came to play ball and not raise hell, the rest of the team ran wild, destroying hotel rooms, bars, and their charter planes and screaming obscenities at the opposing teams. But all was forgiven as they moved toward the World Series and glory.

The 1986 series against the Red Sox was a dandy and went to the 7th game, even as the two Mets stars, Gooden and Strawberry were snorting coke before they took the field. As we know, it destroyed their careers and lives but they were "the boys of summer" during that run for the championship.

This book will make you angry and laugh at the same time. Fame often does terrible things to those who obtain it and the brawling rowdies of the Mets were a perfect example. But if you love baseball with all its ups and downs, this book is worth reading......even if some of the players' antics are almost beyond belief. Let's Go Mets

The title of the book sums it as as well as any review can. Pearlman tells good, the bad, and the ugly of a World Series winning team that partied almost as hard as it competed. The 1986 Mets walked a tight rope of inflated egos, personality conflicts, and substance abuse as they ruled New York and the baseball world for one magical season. Ultimately, the same eccentricity that made this team so compelling is also what made their run of dominance so short lived. In the end, The Bad Guys Won is the fast moving, humorous, and also tragic tale of how fickle sports greatness can be.

The 1986 Mets were ahead of their time in use of PR and computer guided analytics but they were at heart a throwback club. That is why Pearlman wrote this book: to discuss the drama and exploits of one of baseball's finest and rowdiest teams. Today, the clean cut image is what advertisers want. Think of Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan, both assholes but they knew how to present themselves. They show us what we want to see. I am no Ali fan, but at least the man had blood running through his veins. I for one miss the days when Jim Mora gave a honest press conference.

The Bad Guys Won is funny, but also knowing. You really get a feel for each player, and can see why the group was perhaps never destined to last. They were combustible and management pushed that implosion along. The game descriptions are riveting. I learned a lot about baseball strategy just from reading this.

I just wrote a review but Goodreads deleted it. Here’s the broad strokes, ok book, too biased toward Mets fandom of the author without holding the players to take and truly investigating the real issues with the team (perhaps for fear of retribution from the players), enjoyed the detailed accounts of games and front office moves to make a legendary season happen, could have been better served reading a bunch of Wikipedia articles in some spots.

More than anything I absolutely love the Mets and I hope every Yankees fan live in eternal pain and misery fuck you all too hell forever.

For any of us that remember the rollercoaster ride that was the Mets in 1986, this book is a real treat. Jeff Pearlman diligently takes you through season-shaping events characterized by a near-outlaw mindset. You really get a sense of how this team was a hodgepodge of wildly disparate personalities bookended by the easygoing Gary Carter and ultra-intense Keith Hernandez. A really fun, well-paced read nonetheless packed with detail.

I read this so I could learn more about the 1986 Mets, my favorite team when I was in elementary school. The story moves and the book is entertaining. The players’ behavior is at times troubling and yet I was still mostly rooting for them. So now I have a better understanding of the players - warts and all. The type of things a little kid wouldn’t have heard about.

But I really didn’t like the author. I often found his editorializing distasteful or I disagreed with it. He often takes on the offensiveness - sexism, stereotypes and racism - of the 1980s in this writing. It goes beyond quoting the bad actors and taking on their voices when he is describing situations or events. Maybe he thought he was explaining the times, but it feels like he shares those views. And many of his similes and metaphors were either awkward or offensive.

This book absolutely stomped my mindgrapes. I didn't realize it was possible for me to have a more irrational love for the 1986 New York Mets than I already did -- but then I found out what scumbags they were, and somehow loved them more. Pearlman's reporting, honesty and acerbic wit make a perfect match for the Mets' slimy pursuit (and achievement) of baseball immortality. Worth it for any sports fan, and if you're a Mets fan, you really have no excuse for not owning a copy.

As a die hard Mets fan, of course I enjoyed the book.

The author loves to dramatize but it makes for a compelling read (although a bit tiring after awhile). Overall, interesting, and a must-read for all my fellow Mets fans.

Jeff Pearlman is probably the best sports writer out there and The Bad Guys Won is another instant classics and a notorious sports team and season. The Mets may be trash in my lifetime but at one point they were gods. Go Mets!!

Not a diehard baseball fan and certainly not a Mets fan. But it’s Jeff Pearlman, man … guy could make the phone book interesting. I was excited to crack this thing open every night.

The 1986 Mets made me a fan of the team for life. They were incredibly talented on the field, and off the field they were notorious partiers and pranksters. Since the team has not met those heights since, many books have covered them.

This being Pearlman his style is to focus on the latter over the former. Also since the off field action is soap opera level, that is not necessarily a bad way to write a book.

The Mets really were the bad guys but in a time of Mad Men style social mores meets 80s excess and pre-internet, that swagger was applauded in some quarters. Whether that makes the reader nostalgic or appalled, it still builds up drama.

Of course, the talent on the field peaked and fell in 1986 and there is a quick epilogue. But even given those post 86 bad decisions - the seeds were sown and show out- drug use, bad behavior, ego.

In many ways, I appreciate Pearlman, a fan first then a writer, able to wreak havoc at his childhood hero turned heel Dave Kingman in the books intro.

This book is an easy read and is slanted towards a more tabloid approach and not a dry balls and strikes book. That will annoy some but it also makes it juicy. I find myself liking the book more than not, and the story of the 86 Mets has now been oft told, but the wild atmosphere surrounding them is captured

I watched these guys as a kid, and had heard bits and pieces of some of these stories over the years, but wow - this sure was insightful. Reading through this was a combination of nostalgia, laughter, and horror. When you're watching these players on the screen it's so easy to reduce them to two-dimensional caricatures, but this story really does a great job of transporting you into the room (although I'm definitely glad I wasn't really there).