Unless you’re a Mets or Knicks fan, you might not know the nae. But Dennis D’Agostino was a vital cog to both teams, serving as a statistician long before computers were de rigueur.
D’Agostino, who passed away last week at the age of 66, was author or co-author of three of my favorite baseball titles: This Date in New York Mets History (1981); Through a Blue Lens: The Brooklyn Dodger Photographs of Barney Stein 1937-1957 (2007); and Keepers of the Game: When the Baseball Beat was the Best Job on the Paper (2013). His first is an example of books that will never be complete as long as the team exists. His last is a sad reminder of what we’re losing as newspapers shut down their sports departments.
I learned of his passing watching the Mets game last weekend. It always gets me when the announcers — in this case Gary Cohen and Ron Darling — take the time eulogize about a behind-the-scenes person.
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