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About the Author

Robert M. Gorman is a retired university reference librarian with more than 40 years of professional research experience. He received the 2009 Sporting News-SABR Baseball Research Award for the book he and David Weeks wrote, Death at the Ballpark (McFarland, 2009; 2d ed. 2015). He lives in Rock show more Hill, South Carolina. show less

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This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Another macabre reference from McFarland, the new edition of this title lists and describes over 2000 deaths occurring in and at at U.S. baseball games of all levels. While baseball is not a contact sport, it still involves a small, hard object moving very quickly, and this is dangerous. Players can be hit by pitches, other thrown balls, bats, or other players; they may even over-exert themselves (“I’m a ballplayer, not an athlete”) or encounter violence. Even the weather can kill. But players aren’t the only fatalities listed: field personnel and fans are also at risk. The back of every ticket warns that balls and bats may enter the stands, and each season we read about people hit by them. By collecting the record of every such account available, the authors have compiled both a memorial to those who have died and a graphic warning of the dangers inherent in our national pastime.… (more)
 
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EverettWiggins | 11 other reviews | Mar 14, 2016 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
This is a marvelously complete-feeling book about deaths during baseball games. It reminds me of books like Death at Yellowstone and Death in Grand Canyon that also try to be completist about a very specific realm of demise. This book has less variety than those two but still manages to surprise with the breadth of possible deaths. Play ball!
 
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thmazing | 11 other reviews | Mar 10, 2016 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
"Death at the Ballpark" is a meticulously reached book on all fatalities somehow involving the game of baseball. The book certainly has value for anyone interested in studying how baseball could be made safer. Also baseball enthusiacs will find the historical references interesting. However most of the book is lists of who died and how. Some items are a couple of sentences and a few are a page long and if you sat down and read the entire book over several days, like I did, the reading would become tedious. It is better used as a reference.
Within this very detailed listing of facts are many fascinating and worthwhile points. For example the only death by being beaned in the major leagues was in 1920 and the last death by this cause in the minor leagues was in 1951. Clearly the use of batting helmets had a huge impact. Also discussed was the damaged caused by aluminum bats. The bats are more economical but more dangerous because the ball comes off the bat faster and the fielder's reaction time is shortened. The authors make suggestions for improving the safety of the game particularly by adding more screening to protect the fans.
The sad part of the book is the many cases where very young children are killed getting hit by balls and bats while playing or watching the game. Many of the deaths of children are caused by getting hit by balls and bats near the heart. Parents reading this book would surely become more careful with children watching baseball.
The book is divided into chapters classified by type of death. It was horrific to read the chapter describing the violence that can surround the game. This was especially prevalent in the game's early history although alcohol related incidents still plague the game. The book included a section on deaths caused during construction of stadiums and I feel that that is a stretch to include in a list of deaths involved with baseball.
There is an introduction to each chapter and that was the highlight for me. It puts each type of death in some historical contest and gives a good overview. If an abridged book that includes the chapter introductions and a few of the more interesting stories was written, I believe this could be an important and interesting book deserving a wide readership. As it stands it is an excellent book but for a very narrow readership.
… (more)
 
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phillies | 11 other reviews | Mar 3, 2016 |
This review was written for LibraryThing Early Reviewers.
Definitely a book for a true baseball fan. The book is a compilation of every baseball death in amateur and professional baseball. The research that goes into a book like this must be staggering. The author has put something together that may be used as a reference material as opposed to lets sit down and read through it. It has great detail about the events that took place, the people involved and the location of the event. I am not sure how one would even be able to compile some of the information included. Like I said for the die hard fan this is something of great value. If you were hoping by the title some sort of murder mystery, this is not it. Gorman and Weeks do a great job on a subject that is hard to get detailed information on.… (more)
 
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Gregg72340 | 11 other reviews | Mar 1, 2016 |

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