This is a perfectly enjoyable little book of answers to questions like "Why do they call it a hat trick?" or "Why do pitchers pitch off a mound?" The authors call clubhouses, halls of fame, and old timers in their search for these facts. In many cases the answer is "It's traditional" or "Nobody knows" which is fine with me.
Their smart alec tone cracks me up, as do the aphorisms that accompany each question, like "Where the ice-cream truck of fact hears the childish shrieks of conjecture, slows - then speeds on." ( )