Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks (original 2007; edition 2007)

by Zack Hample

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
406	13	62,065	(3.73)	8
This 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, lifelong 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? How do some hitters use iPods to improve their skills? 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.… (more)

▾Book information

Member:	blehmann
Title:	Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
Authors:	Zack Hample
Info:	Vintage (2007), Paperback, 272 pages
Collections:	Your library
Rating:
Tags:	own, 2009

Work Information

Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks by Zack Hample (2007)

all members

▾Members

Recently added by

MuhammedSalem, lafstaff, Yohsephina, philcraigusa, chinovian, JNSelko, saunterthrulife, t3rse, shhQuiet

▾Tags

▾LibraryThing Recommendations

▾Lists

None

▾Will you like it?

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 8 mentions

▾Member reviews

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)

A great book for rookie fans and veterans. You get the scoop on everything from types of pitches and catchers' signs to player superstitions and the origins of baseball traditions. The book is a great beginner's guide or refresher course. Even well-heeled fans are bound to learn a few things. (

)

TommyHousworth | Feb 5, 2022 |

There's some good information in this book, but the structure and the insistence on the use of emphasis for lingo and unfamiliar terms make the tone condescending.

Disclaimer: I hate Zack Hample (and ANY ballhawks) and find them to be greedy vultures. (

)

Caryn.Rose | Mar 18, 2015 |

What a great book for anyone who wants to understand the game and get more out of watching it. Now if only someone would do this for ice hockey . . . . (

)

davemac | Jan 13, 2014 |

This is a breezy, accessible and often humorous survey of the various positions, strategies, and structure of Major League Baseball. It comes with a very useful glossary that runs the gamut of baseball terms and lingo from a to z. Even a serious fan of the game will find things here that surprise and enlighten. But it should be a fun read even for those (relatively) new to the game. You’ll read it, and then you’ll want to recommend it to a friend. As do I. (

)

RandyMetcalfe | Jun 14, 2012 |

I read it from cover to cover, and it is thoroughly enjoyable--if you have an interest in baseball and already know something about the game. I read this book after my first full season of watching baseball games, and I still found it challenging. It can get pretty detailed when it comes to the description of plays, and you need to know your baseball ABC's really well if you don't want to get lost. I have decided to use it as a reference book, reading one section at a time to learn about specific parts of the game. (

)

ftorralba | Apr 4, 2011 |

date ▼ | votes

Showing 1-5 of 13 (next | show all)

▾Published reviews

no reviews | add a review

▾Other authors

» Add other authors (6 possible)

▾Series and work relationships

▾Awards and Honors

view history

▾Common Knowledge

You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.

For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.

Canonical title

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

2007

People/Characters

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

To my father's father, Benny Hample--the one grandparent I never met and the biggest baseball fan of all.

First words

This is not the only book about watching and understanding baseball, but it is the only one that explains, among other things, why players are always grabbing their crotches.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

Publisher's editors

Blurbers

Baker, Kevin

Marshall, Penny

Original language

Canonical DDC/MDS

Canonical LCC

▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

List of Major League Baseball awards

▾Book descriptions

This 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, lifelong 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? How do some hitters use iPods to improve their skills? 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.

▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

▾LibraryThing members' description

Book description

Haiku summary