Sports & Recreation : Baseball

Millions of American baseball fans know, with absolute certainty, that umpires are simply overpaid galoots who are doing an easy job badly. Millions of American baseball fans are wrong.As They See 'Em is an insider's look at the largely unknown world of professional umpires, the small group of men (and the very occasional woman) who make sure America's favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true. Bruce Weber, a New York Times reporter, not only interviewed dozens of professional umpires but entered their world, trained to become an umpire, and then spent a season working games from Little League to big league spring training.As They See 'Em is Weber's entertaining account of this experience as well as a lively exploration of what amounts to an eccentric secret society, with its own customs, its own rituals, its own colorful vocabulary. (Know what a "whacker" is? A "pole bender"? "Rat cheese"? Think you could "strap it on" or "take the stick"?) He explains the arcane set of rules by which umps work and details the exasperating, tortuous path that allows only a select few to graduate from the minor leagues to the majors. He describes what it's like to work in a ballpark where not only the fans but the players, the managers and coaches, the announcers, the team owners, and even the league presidents, resent them -- and vice versa. And he asks, quite sensibly, why anyone would do a job that offers the chance to earn only blame and never credit.Weber reveals how umps are tutored to work behind the plate, what they learn to watch for on the bases, and how proper positioning for every imaginable situation on the field is drilled into them. He describes how they're counseled to respond -- or not -- to managers who are screaming at them from inches away with purposeful inanity, and tells us exactly which "magic" words result in an automatic ejection. Writing w more...

Price: $26.00

Hailed by Sports Illustrated as the "Edward Gibbon of baseball history," Harold Seymour is the first professional historian to produce an authoritative, multivolume chronicle of America's national pastime. The first two volumes of this study--The Early Years and The Golden Age--won universal acclaim. The New York Times wrote that they "will grip every American who has invested part of his youth and dreams in the sport," while The Boston Globe called them "irresistible." Now, in The People's Game, Seymour offers the first book devoted entirely to the history of the game outside of the professional leagues, revealing how, from its early beginnings up to World War II, baseball truly became the great American pastime. He explores the bond between baseball and boys through the decades, the game's place in institutions from colleges to prisons to the armed forces, the rise of women's baseball that coincided with nineteenth century feminism, and the struggles of black players and clubs from the later years of slavery up to the Second World War. Whether discussing the birth of softball or the origins of the seventh inning stretch, Dr. Seymour enriches his extensive research with fascinating details and entertaining anecdotes as well as his own wealth of baseball experience. The People's Game brings to life the central role of baseball for generations of Americans. more...

Price: $24.95

Written and compiled by baseball expert Dan. Schlossberg, this book is chock-full of the best trivia,. information, and fun facts about the game. Featuring. interviews with players, managers, and other. baseball professionals, as well as never-before-told. stories, Baseball Bits is sure to hit a home run with. just about anyone who’s interested in the game. But that’s not all, because beyond the stories and. trivia, the die-hard fan also wants the most recent. information that affects this season. Inside each. book is a password that lets readers log onto a. website for up-to-the-minute information only. available there. The site is guaranteed to be updated. at least once a month—more frequently during the. season—to provide readers with everything they. need to know about the current season, including:. • The latest trades, and how they’ll affect particular. teams. • The best players’ current stats. • Who is about to break major records more...

Price: $16.95

A fantastic and far-flung compilation of stats, figures, and little-known nuggets about our national pastime. An addictive read, sure to spark conversation wherever baseball is spoken, The Baseball Maniac's Almanac is part reference, part trivia, part brain teaser--and absolutely the greatest, most unusual and thorough compendium of baseball stats and facts ever compiled-- all verfied for accuracy by the Baseball Hall of Fame. Renowned sportswriter Bert Sugar, with his trademark tough-guy swagger, presents thousands of fascinating lists, tables, data, and stimulating facts about:.:.; Individual players and teams.; Managers • Player relatives.; The Hall of Fame.; Annual awards.; The World Series.; All-Star Games.; A list of the all-time statistical leaders for all all the major league teams PLUS: A truly unforgettable ''miscellany'' section answers such mind-boggling questions as, ''Which major-leaguers have palindromic surnames?'' and ''Which players born under each zodiac sign have hit the most career home runs?''. more...

Price: $12.95

A televised baseball game from Puerto Rico, Japan, or even Cuba might look a lot like the North American game. This book looks at how the game was imported - how it took hold and developed, how it is organized, played, and followed - and what these local and regional trends and features say about the sport's place in particular cultures. more...

Price: $19.95