Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
by Zack Hample
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Book Summary Information
Author: Zack HampleEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-03-27
ISBN: 0307280322
Number of pages: 272
Publisher: Vintage
Book Reviews of Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
Book Review: Go from Beginning Watcher to Vivid Describer of the Action
Summary: 5 Stars
Watching Baseball Smarter will appeal to youngsters around 9-12 who are eager to grab as much baseball knowledge as possible by attending and watching games on television. For those young people, scoring, colorful terms, and obscure rules can make the game seem more mysterious than it is. At the same time, learn those elements of active watching and a youngster can develop the basics to enjoy being a lifelong fan.
If someone had given me this book at that age, I would have treasured Watching Baseball Smarter above all over gifts I got that at that time. I would have been most thrilled by the illustrations of how the various pitches are thrown.
Remember that observation when you consider if you know any budding fans who would be thrilled to have this book.
As for the claim that the book is also for semi-experts and deeply serious geeks, I don't think so. I didn't see any material that wasn't well known to me by the time I was 15. And I was hardly a semi-expert or a deeply serious geek. I just enjoyed watching and attending the games.
Don't give this book to a serious baseball fan; you'll embarrass yourself if you do.
Here are few questions to test your ability to enjoy the book:
1. What is the infield fly rule?
2. What is a double switch?
3. What is a catcher's earned run average?
4. What is a safety squeeze?
5. How do you keep score?
If know all five, this book isn't for you. If you know four, you'll get an occasional nugget from the book. If you know three or fewer, this book is a good choice for you.
On this reading, the main pleasure was from remembering when I first learned the material and from an occasional bit of trivia that was new to me. The former pleasure was what kept me reading, and I was disappointed that the book was aimed mostly at an elementary level . . . having found the subtitle to be misleading in terms of the book's relevance for me.
Play ball!
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