Watching Baseball Smarter
A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
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3.7 • 46 Ratings
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- $4.99
Publisher Description
Zack Hample's bestselling, smart, and funny fan’s guide to baseball explains the ins and outs of pitching, hitting, running, and fielding, while offering insider trivia and anecdotes that will appeal to anyone—whether you're a major league couch potato, life-long season ticket-holder, or a beginner.
• What is the difference between a slider and a curveball?
• At which stadium did “The Wave” first make an appearance?
• Which positions are never played by lefties?
• Why do some players urinate on their hands?
Combining the narrative voice and attitude of Michael Lewis with the compulsive brilliance of Schott’s Miscellany, Watching Baseball Smarter will increase your understanding and enjoyment of the sport—no matter what your level of expertise.
Featuring a glossary of baseball slang, an appendix of important baseball stats, and an appendix of uniform numbers.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Professional fan Hample (How to Snag Major League Baseballs), who falls squarely in the deeply serious geek category, has put together an invaluable resource for armchair fans. A former college shortstop, four-time attendee of Bucky Dent's Baseball School and an obsessive baseball collector, Hample covers basics such as what to watch for in pitchers, catchers, hitters, fielders and base runners; he also provides answers to such nagging questions as why spectators stretch in the seventh inning and why most ballplayers grab their crotches. He explains the difference between a change-up and a split-finger fastball, breaks down a box score and offers an extensive glossary of baseball slang that defines both a courtesy trot and a dying quail. Other sections address free agency and fair balls, umpires and uniform numbers, stadiums and superstitions. Trivia abounds, including the names of the 10 switch hitters honored in the National Baseball Hall of Fame and a record of inside the park home runs. Hample hits the equivalent of a reference book home run with his witty and loose style "taking a friendly for-a-fan-by-a-fan approach that doesn't hide his enormous depth of knowledge. Hample also schools amateur players and coaches with well-illustrated examples of some complex pitching, hitting and base-running scenarios.
