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The Cheater's Guide to Baseball [Paperback]

Derek Zumsteg
3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)

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Book Description

April 2, 2007
Ever see Mike Piazza block the plate? Or Derek Jeter slide hard into second? Illegal. But it happens every game. Baseball’s rules, it seems, were made to be broken. And they are, by the players, the front office, and even sometimes the fans. Like it or not, cheating has been an integral part of America’s favorite pastime since its inception. The Cheater’s Guide to Baseball will show you how cheating is really done. In this lively tour through baseball’s underhanded history, readers will learn how to cork a bat, steal signs, hurl a spitball, throw a World Series, and win at any cost!
They’ll also see the dirty little secrets of the game’s greatest manipulators: John McGraw and Ty Cobb; Billy Martin and Gaylord Perry; Graig Nettles and Sammy Sosa; and, yes, even Barry Bonds. They’ll find out how the Cleveland Indians doctored their basepaths to give new meaning to the term home field advantage. They’ll delight in a hilarious examination of the Black Sox scandal, baseball’s original sin. And, in the end, they’ll come to understand that cheating is as much a part of baseball as pine tar and pinch hitters. And it’s here to stay.

Frequently Bought Together

The Cheater's Guide to Baseball + The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran + Wherever I Wind Up: My Quest for Truth, Authenticity and the Perfect Knuckleball
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Baseball blogger Zumsteg (ussmariner.com) argues that cheating-within reason-is not only not a bad thing, it actually makes baseball a more nuanced game. Using a wealth of anecdotal evidence and some statistical analysis, he argues that baseball has evolved hand-in-hand with the aid of its scoundrels, scamps, and shifty characters-and that doctoring the ball or stealing signs necessitates teams, umpires and even fans adopt more complex strategy. Zumsteg draws the line at gambling, game fixing and steroid use, showing little sympathy for the Black Sox and even less for Pete Rose. While baseball aficionados will be familiar with many of Zumsteg's stories, his wit will keep most casual fans entertained. Whether he's describing what might happen in a car crash with Pete Rose ("I admitted that I hit your car ... Can't we stop this witch-hunt and get on with our lives?") or laying blame for the steroid era on everyone from the commissioner to the fans, Zumsteg dispenses with the sanctimoniousness of most current sports writing. Although his prose style and humor are sometimes better suited to the Web (a few lengthy asides come across as amateurish), Zumsteg still creates a funny, honest look at the history of baseball's black arts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

Baseball blogger Zumsteg (ussmariner.com) argues that cheating-within reason-is not only not a bad thing, it actually makes baseball a more nuanced game. Using a wealth of anecdotal evidence and some statistical analysis, he argues that baseball has evolved hand-in-hand with the aid of its scoundrels, scamps, and shifty characters-and that doctoring the ball or stealing signs necessitates teams, umpires and even fans adopt more complex strategy. Zumsteg draws the line at gambling, game fixing and steroid use, showing little sympathy for the Black Sox and even less for Pete Rose. While baseball aficionados will be familiar with many of Zumsteg's stories, his wit will keep most casual fans entertained. Whether he's describing what might happen in a car crash with Pete Rose ("I admitted that I hit your car ... Can't we stop this witch-hunt and get on with our lives?") or laying blame for the steroid era on everyone from the commissioner to the fans, Zumsteg dispenses with the sanctimoniousness of most current sports writing. Although his prose style and humor are sometimes better suited to the Web (a few lengthy asides come across as amateurish), Zumsteg still creates a funny, honest look at the history of baseball's black arts.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
  (Publishers Weekly )

It's been said that an athlete who "ain't cheatin' ain't tryin'" and that "rules are made to be broken." Zumsteg (coauthor, Baseball Prospectus) has written a lively and challenging account of cheating as part of America's pastime, whether it's the habits of particular notables, such as Gaylord Perry and his spitball, or modern day pharmaceutical legerdemain. He also ponders such issues as whether it's cheating to try to bunt to break up a no hitter. No, it ensures that the game evolves and progresses! This one's a sure hit. (Library Journal ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Mariner Books; None edition (April 2, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0618551131
  • ISBN-13: 978-0618551132
  • Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (36 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,081,567 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Highly recommended for both the casual baseball fan, and the serious aficionado. Phillip Hatzenbuehler  |  5 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe cheaters do prosper April 10, 2007
Format:Paperback
In Joe Posnanski's 2007 book about baseball ambassador Buck O'Neil, The Soul of Baseball: A Road Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America, Posnanski watches O'Neil, who is watching the steroid hearings:

"... he had known players to bend the rules to win-- they corked bats, spit on the ball, popped amphetimines, stole signals, and even loaded up on coffee for the caffeine. They wanted to win. "The only reason players in my time didn't use steroids," he would say sometimes, "is because we didn't have them.""

As Derek Zumsteg illustrates in 'The cheater's guide to baseball', O'Neil's sanguine sentiment towards winning at any cost goes back to the earliest days of the game's history.

Zumsteg's very first chapter looks at the effect the 1890s Orioles teams had on baseball as it is played today, and goes forward through time from there. He looks at both the practical and the theoretical aspects of cheating, and how cheating as an art form has colored the national pastime. Well-researched history mixes with flights of fancy, how-to diagrams sit next to game photos, and the whole is a tremendously entertaining read. Zumsteg may not paint the Elysian Fields image of baseball, but it is a portrait that Buck O'Neil would both recognize and appreciate.
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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars Cheater's Guide, a fun read May 12, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Lot's of interesting anecdotes and research. A few edit errors--a story with several names in it is recounted, then wrong name referred to in discussing the event afterwards, for example. And a sometimes full throttle "buncha beer buddies yuk-yukking it" tone that was for me distracting and annoying in the context of an otherwise educating read.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Make Baseball Even More Fun to Watch! April 9, 2007
Format:Paperback
Timing is everything, in Baseball as in Comedy. What a perfect accompaniment to the beginning of Baseball Season. Mr. Zumsteg takes the reader on an in-depth, and deeply amusing journey through the history of ne'er-do-wells in baseball. And some of them actually did quite well! How many widely accepted practices are absolutely against the rules? Why are some of these implicitly accepted and some cause for histrionic hysteria? Is one kind of cheating worse than another? And what are some ways that you, the modern fan, can observe and identify cheating as it happens on the field in front of you? If you'd like to make baseball even more fun to watch this year or any year, order a copy and keep it handy.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars Horrible.
I had high hopes for this book. With sections devoted to Billy Martin, John McGraw, Gaylord Perry and the like, I thought it would at least be an interesting read. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Daniel Evensen
1.0 out of 5 stars The only person you will cheat is yourself by reading this!
I tried to get past the first chapter and couldn't. I can't believe this was even published. A complete waste of my time. Read more
Published 14 months ago by electro
5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating baseball stories and how to manipulate the game
Find out about the things baseball players and teams do to manipulate the game - some legal and some not. Read more
Published on May 6, 2010 by Indian Prairie Public Library
1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time and money
The content of the book is weak at best, even childish at times. I didn't make it past the first chapter. Read more
Published on January 14, 2009 by D. M. Upp
1.0 out of 5 stars A sophomoric read that I couldn't even finish
I have loved baseball my entire life, and I really tried to like this book. I did. I gave up my straight read near the heckling chapter, and then only after skimming around the... Read more
Published on November 26, 2008 by Brian P. Batch
5.0 out of 5 stars This is why baseball is so awesome!
Try writing this book about Football. The history just isn't there. Basketball? What, you going to go with the origin of the dunk? The finger roll? Boooooring. Read more
Published on January 21, 2008 by S. Heasley
5.0 out of 5 stars Very erudite
This is a brilliant book - it may well change the way you think about baseball. Congratulations to the author!
Published on October 3, 2007 by The Blue Man
5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book for your baseball hating spouse/friend/family member
I'll be honest with you, I dislike the game of baseball. Going to a game, watching it? Doesn't intrigue me in the slightest, and I played 3 years of softball growing up. Read more
Published on October 1, 2007 by Heather C. Morelli
5.0 out of 5 stars Great gift for a baseball fan
Whether you know someone who watches three games a day or just the seventh game of the World Series, this book will entertain them. Read more
Published on September 9, 2007 by jlc
5.0 out of 5 stars I could not have enjoyed this book more! Terrific!
Derek Zumsteg has written a slim but eminently readable history of cheating in baseball.
However you feel about baseball and cheating... Read more
Published on August 16, 2007 by M J Heilbron Jr.
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