Defensive Baseball [Paperback]

Rod Delmonico (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 11, 1996

"If Coach Delmonico is writing about baseball I want to read it. He knows the game, knows fundamentals, and best of all he's interesting." -- Joe Garagiola Home runs may bring the loudest cheers but most baseball coaches agree that solid defense in the field inevitably wins more games than raw power at the plate. Author Rod Delmonico, head baseball coach at the University of Tennessee, drives that point home in this book. Making use of scores of photos and diagrams, Delmonico illustrates position-by-position as well as overall team defensive strategies in a concise, easy-to-understand format. Written with both players and coaches in mind, Defensive Baseball is one of the best visual-aid instructional baseball books available.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

McGraw-Hill authors represent the leading experts in their fields and are dedicated to improving the lives, careers, and interests of readers worldwide

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (May 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570280290
• ISBN-13: 978-1570280290
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 7 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #457,509 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #94 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Baseball

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Reference Book, July 18, 2000

By 

dlcochrane (Saint Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Defensive Baseball (Paperback)

This book is an intermediate to advanced look at defensive baseball. The first 2/3 of the book covers defensive techniques position by position, while the last 1/3 of the book discusses team defense.

I would not recommend this book to a baseball novice -- Delmonico assumes the reader has a good grasp of the game. Also, he does not include drills to teach the skills discussed.

However, if you were ever curious about the six (that's right six) different pivots a second baseman could use while turning a double play, this is your book. Obviously, you wouldn't (and couldn't) get a little league second baseman to learn them all. But as a coach, that section is certainly a good reference. Read all the methods, and choose one to teach.

I especially appreciate the diagrams of situations (who covers what base, who cuts the throw, etc.). Again, an excellent reference to make certain you are coaching your team correctly.

I've been coaching 11 and 12 year olds this year, and haven't put too much of the book into practice. However, I know if a question comes up, I have the answer on my bookshelf. And as a baseball fan, I just love reading about the fine points of the game.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Intermediate-to-Advanced Fundamentals, April 18, 2000

By 

Steven McCrary (Grove (northeast), Oklahoma) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Defensive Baseball (Paperback)

Good book for those looking to move their average and excellent players from the most basic fundamentals to intermediate (middle-of-the-road) and advanced techniques of baseball. The book breaks down every defensive position, chapter-by-chapter, giving defensive tips and drills to improve play at those positions. It also devotes a couple of well-written chapters to overall team and situational defense.

This book will have more application for older and/or advanced players. I believe that these techniques should begin to be taught to some 8 year olds. On the other hand, some of the more advance techniques in the book will be too advanced for even 12-13 year olds.

This book does not contain the most basic defensive techniques, such as the very beginning mechanics of throwing and catching. And even though these beginning mechanics are part of the mechanics taught in this book for pitching, infielding, and outfielding, the reader will have difficulty picking them up from this book.

In some ways, a book cannot adequately convey the many subtleties of baseball fundamentals; so some readers may prefer to study these techniques from video tapes, or a more graphic medium. But this book does a good job of capturing the essense of these techniques, and for the money, is a good, quick-reference, resource to have on the shelf.

Generally, I have been unable to find a comprehensive book that covers all aspects of the game: defense and offense, beginning through advanced skills. So overall, this book has improved my library and has filled a needed gap in understanding and coaching defensive baseball.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book, especially for coaches, September 10, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Defensive Baseball (Paperback)

I'm not a coach, and I haven't comletely read the book, but I've browsed through it in stores before. There's a lot of information and diagrams about situational plays. For example, one page will say "1st and 2nd, ball hit to right field on the ground" or something like that. Then it will show where each player should go (cutoff position, base, etc.) There is also information about each individual position (about a few pages). I'd recommend it for players and coaches.