The Book of Baseball Literacy
iUniverse, $21.95
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REVIEW BY RON KAPLAN
For those who think they know it all when it comes to the national pastime, The Book of Baseball Literacy will come as a surprise. And those who don't know a thing about baseball or who think the sport is boring just might be converted after reading David H. Martinez's simple but informative offering. Baseball Literacy features the who's, what's, where's and when's of the game, but in a light-handed manner for a book containing the word "literacy" in its title. Think of it along the lines as those books that condense the classics into a few pages for high school students, only more fun. Ask your baseball trivia-phile to tell you what was so important about "Game Six" and you would probably get an earful about the 1986 World Series in which the New York Mets won a thriller when they were one strike away from losing to the Boston Red Sox, who hadn't won a Fall Classic since the (early) days of Babe Ruth. But that's only partially correct, according to Baseball Literacy. Don't forget about another Red Sox contest, which had a happier ending: Carlton Fisk's dramatic home run against the Cincinnati Reds in 1975. Then there's another game involving the 1986 Mets, this one against the Houston Astros, which lasted 16 jaw-clenching innings before they emerged victorious with the National League pennant. Martinez goes over the big names and ideas in the long history of the game. There are capsule summaries of players, managers, executives and media personnel like Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Casey Stengel, Red Barber and Branch Rickey, whose names are instantly recognizable. But Martinez doesn't forget those who are less well-known though no less important, such as Charley Lau, a journeyman catcher and mediocre hitter who became a highly-regarded albeit controversial batting coach, and Harry Chadwick, a 19th-century newspaperman who invented the first box score, the method of keeping track of all those statistics which are such a major component to the enjoyment of the sport for many. Baseball Literacy also contains succinct explanations of many common and confusing aspects of baseball, like the infield fly rule or the "waivers" rules. Other chapters include brief histories of the teams (both current and defunct), noteworthy events and statistics and a most elucidating section on "Folklore, Literature and Diversions." One of the largest producers of print on demand books, iUniverse has a vast online catalog that includes hundreds of new and hard to find titles. If you're scared to commit to a book sight-unseen, iUniverse allows you to "browse before you buy" by checking out the first few pages on your screen. Ron Kaplan writes from Montclair, New Jersey.
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