Review Fix Exclusive: Mark Healey Talks Gotham Baseball: New York’s All-Time Team

Review Fix chats with author and journalist Mark Healey, who discusses his exciting new Gotham Baseball-Inspired book, Gotham Baseball: New York’s All-Time Team, detailing its origin, creative process and goals.

Review Fix: What inspired this book for you?

Mark Healey: Well, when I turned 50, I looked at my career and I looked at Gotham Baseball as a concept that had plenty of critical success but needed to find a bigger audience.  I’d always had too many balls in the air to really focus on it by itself. Matt Cerrone, who has been a friend for a very long time, was the guy who first put the idea of writing a Gotham Baseball book in my head. It took me a while to figure out what kind of book I wanted to write, but as I describe in the first chapter of the book, Marty Appel was the person who helped me decide the direction the book would go. 

Review Fix: How did the 15 years prior to the start of Gotham Baseball shape you as a journalist?

Healey: I was an actor for most of it. I learned how to listen, a very necessary skill (that needs constant work). A big part of listening is simply observing other people.  Another is the search for authenticity, a search for the truth.  I also spent time teaching, which demanded those same skills.  

Review Fix: What was the research process like?

Healey: A ton of reading, which I love to do, but also incredibly time-consuming.  I work full-time as Editor In Chief of the Wave in Rockaway, NY, so I read and write thousands of words a day. It was challenging to come home and do it all over again.  Then there are the numbers. I loathe math, but baseball is a numbers game these days. I wrote this to illustrate my struggle http://www.gothambaseball.com/2018/01/a-conversation-with-espns-dan-szymborski/

Review Fix: Any fun moments?

Healey: The most fun was getting the chance to interview David Wright for the first time in more than a decade. He’s a gracious guy, always was. But he really went out of his way to spend as much time with me as he could. Collaborating with Todd Radom and John Pennisi on the imagery of the book was incredibly rewarding as well. 

Review Fix: What did you learn that you weren’t expecting?

Healey: That Marty Appel thought Joe Torre is the best manager in New York baseball history

Review Fix: Who do you think will enjoy this book the most?

Healey: The hardcore baseball fan who loves to argue, the casual baseball fan who wants to learn more about the game, and the baseball fan who loves the art of the game.

Review Fix: What are your goals for it?

Healey: That people enjoy it and share it with others, and come to or invite me to talk about the book with them.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Healey: I’m planning an audiobook and an online store that features Gotham Baseball gear. 

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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