Customer Reviews

The Cultural Encyclopedia of Baseball

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Authoritative and fun to read. What more can you ask of a reference book?

This is not a book of statistics. Obviously a "labor of love," Light has dug up and cross-checked thousands of baseball-related facts about the game's people, places, history, equipment, records, legends, etc...including the inside scoop on many famous "incidents."

According to the forward by its Director of Research, the Hall of Fame staff was so impressed with Light's work that they pitched in to help.

The author is thorough. I thought I knew a lot about baseball till I started reading Light's book. My estimate: 90% of the stuff in here was new to me. Example: there's a section on "Fastest Pitchers" that includes a fascinating story of a "1950s phenom and flame-thrower" named Steve Dalkowski. Never heard of him.

Light writes in a short, crisp style that encourages reading. The book is addicting. Like any good encyclopedia, you start off on one topic, then your eye catches something else and off you go exploring... then you wonder where the last two hours went. Our 17 yr. old son casually picked up the book and disappeared with it for entire afternoon ... he came back and pronounced the book, "totally awesome." High praise, indeed.

The author's wry wit, uncommon in an "encyclopedia," is evident in many entries. For example, in the section on "Fans:" Light writes, "On May 15, 1921, Ty Cobb went into the stands and attacked a particularly vehement heckler. Cobb apparently ignored the fact that the fan had lost his hands in a printing accident. Cobb was suspended for 10 days."

Much of the fun of the book is found in the numerous quotations sprinkled liberally on virtually every page. Light seems to take particular delight in the many gaffs of announcer and former ball player, Jerry Coleman, e.g. "There's a fly to deep center field. Winfield is going back, back. He hits head against the wall. It's rolling toward second base!"

How it is physically set up: a one volume, quality-bound work, organized alphabetically by topic. It is generous with "white space" ... thus avoiding the "densely packed," intimidating look of many reference books. It has boldface references to related subjects elsewhere covered in the book ...which sets you off on your expedition.

The word "classic" is over-used. But Light has written a classic baseball book. Get it...for yourself or for a fan you love. You won't regret it.

This is one of the most ambitious baseball research projects ever undertaken, and a book that should be in every serious baseball fan's library. It must be said, though, that the book's lack of footnotes or citations make it troublesome as an academic reference, and there are quite a few factual errors --which, I suppose, inevitably accompany such a vast work. But if you can get past those quibbles, this is a wonderful book to own.

This reference contains references to almost anything that you could want to know about the history of the sport. The anecdotes and quotes add a special touch that stats books don't capture. The range of references includes not only the players in all of the leagues (Major, minor, black and womens), but also information about the equipment and environment which baseball has been played in. I would highly recommend this encyclopedia to anyone who has a baseball fan in the house!

I'm a baseball history buff, and this book is outstanding. It is full of capsules, nuggets, and factoids to keep me occupied for hours on end. No matter who your favorite team, player or event, this book has stuff you never knew...or even knew you wanted to know!

It claims they took 7,000 hours to write it. I don't doubt that a minute. If you love baseball, or know someone who does, get this book now!

An A-to-Z encyclopedia of everything you need to know about the national pastime. Light has done a herculean task of compiling a tome that reminds all of us why we love baseball. I would highly recommend this book to any baseball fan.

Great book. A non-statistical encyclopedia of baseball, exploring the legends, myths and truths of baseball lore. I would say the only improvement would be an updated edition every ten years or so. Great job by Light (hard to believe one guy did all of this)! The book explores just about every possible topic. This book needs more press and should be part of every fan's library.

I just purchased my 6th and 7th copy of this book. For sports lovers (and not) it is a wonderful gift to give and receive.
Penny Bohannon

John Herbold, Head Baseball Coach at Cal-State Los Angeles, and a legend in baseball himself, says that this book is one of the BEST works on "The Game" that he's ever had the pleasure to come across! That was enough for me to purchase the book!

Unfortunatly, this book is so full of errors and mistakes, plus just poor editing from the 1st to the 2nd edition, that it is an unreliable source of factual information for a serious baseball fan. While some of the quotes from notable baseball pundits are interesting and often humorous, and the historical pictures are worth looking at, the "facts" are so questionable that you should take them all with a grain of salt. The author does not purport that this book is a reference book, but some of the mistakes are just plain unexcuseable for any author and his editor. Buy it only for casual reading...and don't make any bar bets on the facts, because you may be a loser...just like the books editor.