Great Moments in Baseball History [Paperback]

Matt Christopher (Author), Glenn Stout (Author)

Book Description

Grade Level: 5 and up

Capturing the suspense and play-by-play action of nine major league plays and the personalities of the athletes that made them, a fan's treasury includes Willie May's 1954 World Series catch and Jim Abbott's no-hitter.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-5?The prolific writer of juvenile sports fiction takes a crack at nonfiction. He describes nine dramatic moments from baseball's historical past, featuring the likes of Babe Ruth, Ted Williams, Reggie Jackson, and Jim Abbott. These accounts depict the courageous aspects as well as the spectacular, including Dave Dravecky's comeback after cancer surgery, and the hobbled Kirk Gibson's game-winning home run in the 1988 World Series. Christopher tends to drift to his fictional roots as a number of the stories are laced with manufactured feelings, thoughts, and quotes. He also tends to generalize: "As the crowd in Fenway Park watched Ted Williams run off the field for the last time, they told each other, 'There goes the greatest hitter that ever lived.' " While his portrayals of these moments are basically accurate, the sidelights he adds without documentation have him walking a fine line between fact and fiction. While Christopher's legions of young fans will enjoy the book, a more straightforward account of memorable events in America's pastime can be found in Geoffrey Ward's 25 Great Moments in Baseball (Knopf, 1994), which is based on Ken Burns's public-television series, Baseball, the American Epic.?Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers; 1st edition (April 1, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316141305
• ISBN-13: 978-0316141307
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 0.2 x 7.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #678,921 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for young ball players, May 21, 2000

By 

Dr. Robert Sterken, Alison Sterken - See all my reviews

This review is from: Great Moments in Baseball History (Paperback)

My boys (9 and 14) have read many of Matt Christopher's books. All are good, some are great treats. I gave a copy of "The Kid Who Only Hit Homers" to each boy on my baseball team last year. They loved it! This year I am giving each player a copy of Christopher's "Great Moments." I read this collection of great moments (an unassisted triple play in the World Series for example) to my boys and enjoyed every page. We re-read some of the stories they were so much fun. This is a must read for all young/new baseball fans.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good stuff, June 22, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Great Moments in Baseball History (Paperback)

Matt Christopher is one of the best baseball writers for young readers out there. This is another notch in his belt. Pick this up.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courage Displayed on a baseball diamond, March 30, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Great Moments in Baseball His (School & Library Binding)

In Great Moments In Baseball History, you can learn a lot about some of the greatest players in major league history. Matthew Christopher, the author of this book, put together his view of a 9 tremendous, and courageous pitching performances, hitting clinics, catches, and life stories in this book. Some people who are in the book are strong, courageous, have stamina, but most of all, each person has their own little characteristic different than everyone else's. Anyone who asks me about this book, all I have to tell them is that it is a great read and a wonderful grouping of stories that any true baseball fan can enjoy time and time again.
All of these stories are incredible in their own special way. For example, there is a story about a pitcher who only had one hand and he threw a no hitter against a team who had in the previous week scored 7 runs against him, he showed to everyone that he had courage. Another story describes a pitcher who had cancer and was told that he would never pitch in the majors again, and it would be considered lucky to be able to play catch in the backyard with his son. Against all odds, after just 11 short months he was back in the majors and he was pitching great. Unfortunately he was diagnosed with cancer again and had his arm removed but he is still alive and well. Finally there is my favorite story of Joe Nuxhall who pitched in his first ever major league game at the tender young age of just 15. Although he was nervous he pitched well and was signed to a contract with the Cincinnati Reds at 16 years old (he was the youngest player ever to play major league baseball).
Matthew Christopher added great little details to every story to kind of add some drama to each one. For example, he told the audience how even though Babe Ruth was old and out of shape he could still hit three homeruns in a baseball game and have fun doing so. Another example is in the story of the pitcher with cancer, Christopher added in the detail of how he "might" be able to play catch with his son in the backyard to add some drama to the already dramatic situation. There are also so great word usages in the stories and he places every one of them in the perfect spot to help the reader make sense of everything.
Great Moments In Baseball History is a great book about heart warming, funny, and enlightening stories and people. Every story is different and exciting in that one special way that you can always remember. Also the author describes everything very well and it is easy to understand every word that is being said. Finally you can learn a lot from every person in the book and a piece of their life that may reach out and touch your own life.