Baseball Bafflers : Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges [Hardcover]

Fastball Makov (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

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.

Editorial Reviews

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 deja 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 no-hitter during his very first start!

From the Back Cover

Batter up! Here are all of the fun and perplexing facts, trivia, games, quotes, and zany moments from our nation's favorite pastime.

Step up to the plate and swing at blazing fastballs like these:

- Is there any height limit to a hurler's pitch?

- Can a runner ever steal first base?

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

- Who was the club owner who pushed a baseball down the foul line with his nose?

The stats, facts, myths, and magic are all here - in a big little book that is sure to hit a home run with baseball fans of every stripe.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers; First edition. edition (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1579121675
• ISBN-13: 978-1579121679
• Product Dimensions: 6.1 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258,927 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Sports > Baseball > General
  • #94 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Reference > Fun Facts > Trivia

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Keep your money, July 7, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Baseball Bafflers : Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges (Hardcover)

This book doesn't tell any average baseball fan more than they already knew. Most of the funny quotes are pretty famous, and most of the rest of them aren't even funny. Most of the 'You be the Umpire' section consists of presenting a hypothetical situation (using real players and teams, and not always reminding us that it is hypothetical), explaining the umpire's ruling, then telling the reader that this actually happened on such-and-such date to so-and-so player(s). A handful of these situations were interesting and informative to the average baseball fan, but not most. And the trivia section was WEAK.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Some of the unusual characters and situations that are part of the great game of baseball, July 19, 2006

By 

Charles Ashbacher (Marion, Iowa United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Baseball Bafflers : Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges (Hardcover)

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.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Baseball Bafflers: Fun for Kids, April 24, 2005

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Baseball Bafflers : Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges (Hardcover)

This book, Baseball Bafflers, is fun for kids (hence this review's title). Fastball Makov wrote an interesting book about strange and funny plays in baseball. It requires some knowledge of baseball to comprehend, however. The trivia was interesting, but answerable if you read the rest of the book beforehand. So, if you are going to read it, read the trivia section first. Also, the Baseball's Strangest and Baseball's Funniest Moments sections of the book were enjoyable. They were certainly unusual and descriptive. You're the Manager and You're the Umpire were my two favorite chapters. This was because they allowed you to use baseball-thinking skills to make decisions. Like the trivia, these sections should be read before the first two.

My conclusion is that this book is enjoyable if you're under the age of 14 and you know just the minimal amount about baseball rules.