Baseball Bafflers : Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 192 pages
• Published by: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers April 1, 2001
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1579121675
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1579121679
• Book Dimensions: 6.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 9.3 ounces

Product Description
It's the ultimate collection for armchair umpires and baseball fanatics:

Fun and perplexing facts, trivia, games, quotes and zany moments from our nation's favorite pastime.

The only thing a true baseball fan enjoys as much as cheering on his or her team is swapping stats, facts, trivia and golden moments from the Great American Sport. This thoroughly enjoyable compilation of all-things-baseball includes such fan-talizing topics as Little-known Rules, Trick Plays, Quotes of the Game and Funny Moments. And, perhaps most fun of all, readers can play coach, making such tough calls as these:



- Can a runner ever steal first base?

- What happens when a catcher fields a ball with his mask?

- Can a game continue with eight players on the field?

With information and anecdotes, this big little book is sure to hit a homerun with fans of every stripe.



From the Inside Flap
This ultimate compilation of all-things-baseball includes such fan-talizing topics as Little Known Rules, Trick Plays, Quotes of the Game, and Funny Moments. Test your baseball IQ with real-life game situations and official scoring dilemmas, then read how umpires, managers, and other baseball authorities called the play. Experience the game's zaniest moments, its most intriguing anecdotes, its most colorful players, and all of the action behind the scenes as well as on the field. It's all here: the questions and answers, the stories and stats - everything but "The Star-Spangled Banner" - making Baseball Bafflers and entertaining and engaging celebration of the Great American Sport.

A wide range of experts compiled these golden moments, from sports journalists to retired players, to trivia experts and devoted fans, making it a must-have for armchair umpires everywhere.

In sections such as Baseball's Strangest Moments and You're the Umpire:

- Find out how players from the Chicago Cubs fooled a San Francisco Giants rookie when his baseball disappeared.

- Read about the manager who was so bored with the game that he left it for a hot dog!

- Experience some of Yogi Berra's great lines: "I want to thank all of you fans for making this night necessary" or "It's dEjy vu all over again."

- Find out which baseball player signed a football before his eager fan was dragged away.

- Read about such strange baseball superstitions as using colored bats or creating special nicknames.

- Discover the pitcher who came up with a ho-hitter during his very first start!

Reader Reviews
Baseball is a game where many very unusual things can happen. While the rule book is thick and detailed, it cannot cover every situation. Furthermore, the people who have played the game over the years have tended to be more unusual that those who made their living in other professional sports. This book describes some of the unusual people and events that have graced the great game of baseball over the years. There was the home run that Henry Aaron hit that was disallowed because he stepped out of the batters box. The runner who actually ran from second back to first, not by mistake, but in an attempt to confuse the opposition. There is also the famous incident where three runners actually ended up on third base. My favorite stories are those that involved unusual situations where the umpires had to make a judgment call and reinterpret the rules. For example, what happens if a runner accidentally loses his batting helmet and the batted ball hits the helmet? Suppose the plate umpire calls a pitch a ball and the team on field appeals to a field umpire about a possible swinging strike. What happens if there is a runner running on the play? What happens if a player refuses to get back into the batter's box after arguing a call? All of these questions are answered and there were many answers that I did not know. Baseball is simultaneously a simple and a complex game, after over one hundred years, there are still situations that arise that force the creation of new rules. I really enjoyed reading this book, devouring it in one sitting.