Customer Reviews

Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I'm not a big fan of Tim McCarver, the TV analyst. So when I've seen this book I didn't give it much of a glance until just recently. I leafed through a few pages and became intrigued. I read a few more and was hooked. He does a wonderful job explaining the "intricacies" of the game. McCarver takes a kind of 'scientific' approach in explaining the various parts of the game, from the preparation he goes through before a televised game, to the pre-game meetings, to the actual game itself, "working a lineup," what is involved in playing the various positions, pitcher-batter duels, and so on. He also talks about what is going on with each pitch and how everyone, batter, pitcher, catcher and all the other players react to various pitch counts.

Since I've read the book, I've tried to be more conscious of what goes on during a game, checking to see if I can tell what signals a first or third base coach is giving, what kind of signs a catcher is giving a pitcher, or the other various strategies going on within a game. These "games within the game" have made watching baseball more fun. I may still at times get aggravated with McCarver's analysis during a game, but this book has made me a more knowledgeable fan.

I picked up this book thinking I knew everything there is to know about the game of baseball, boy was I wrong! I have learned so much from this book, I feel that if I told George Steinbrenner that I read Tim McCarvers Baseball For Brain Surgeans and Other Fans, that he would hire me on the spot as manager and fire Torre. This book is that good. This book is also fun to read. You would't be able to enjoy this book if you do not know about baseball already, because it gets a little complex sometimes. So go out and get this book if you like baseball and want to learn more about how the game is played

Let me begin by saying that I like so many baseball fans have two thoughts regarding McCarver. 1) I appreciate this former Major League catcher's immense understanding of the game and 2) I get tired during broadcasts of listening to his endless (and seemingly self-serving and self-inflating) ramblings about what is going on in the heads of players and coaches. That said, the only problem I really had when reading this book was getting McCarver's voice out of my head.

Once I did that I found the material within its pages useful (even in coaching youth baseball) and interesting. It is not however, for the faint hearted or simply casual fan. I think to fully appreciate McCarver's insights, one has to have a little more that rudimentary knowledge of the game. Having been involved in baseball for youth through college I found an easy grasp of his theories and thoughts...I'm not sure the simple newcomer to the game will (but they may).

All-in-all I found the book very enjoyable and it is actually one of the few books that I have actually read TWICE!

I always thought I was a baseball "FAN" .[ I followed the Mets since I was a kid in little league.] After reading this book I can watch a baseball game on TV intelligently. McCarver has transformed me into a TRUE FAN. The book includes WHAT to look for when watching a game on TV and how the manager will/should react. I began to notice the pitch locations, catcher's role, the batting stances, lineups, pitch count and fielding positions. I sit back and try to guess what pitch will be thrown or how a manger will react in a given situation. Baseball is a game of strategy not just hit the ball and run. In the past I always loved going to the baseball park [Shea] and watching a game. I found watching a baseball game on TV to be very boring- NOT ANY MORE! I truly enjoy watching ANY baseball game on TV. In addition, I enjoyed the short vignettes located thoughout the book. They were informative and humorous.

Baseball for Brain Surgeons gave me a penetrating look behind the surface of baseball. This is a very challenging book, so challenging that those who don't love the game might find it intimidating or boring. If you're an intelligent baseball fan, however, McCarver will "raise your game" at least a notch, and probably more. He'll answer a number of possibly nagging questions along the way--Why didn't the runner tag in that situation?...What IS the difference between a two-seam and a four seam fastball? My own enjoyment of the game has increased tremendously because I invested some time in this book. I notice that some reviewers were put off by the level of analyis. Please don't blame the writer (so what if he is showing off). Baseball, as they say, is as boring as the person who is watching it. So is Baseball for Brain Surgeons.

Lots of baseball fans think they know everything there is to know about the game. Not me. While I've been a fan for 30 years, the game's intricate strategies and nuances sometimes go unnoticed until an astute announcer clues me in. McCarver does a great job of explaining everything there is to know about the strategies and the subtleties alike. However, if you are a casual fan, this book may drive you insane. Sometimes we don't need to know everything. The material here is nice to know, not need to know. Make sure you really want to know every aspect of the game before you pick up a copy.

I learned a lot from this book. McCarver is at his best when describing the little things that go into making strategic decisions, like when to steal, when to hit and run, when to try for an extra base and so on. His insights into baserunning are particularly good. I found some of his descriptions of different types of pitches to be perplexing - what does it mean that a certain pitch "topples" (a tree can topple, but how does a round object flying through the air do that?). Overall, this is a very good book, and even long-time fans can get a lot out of it.

"Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans" opened up my eyes to many sides of baseball I never even knew about. The strategy potentials of this game are mind boggling. It's amazing that games even get completed with the amount of thinking that has to go on. (And it's amazing that more managers don't get ulcers!)

McCarver's book should be read and understood by every baseball player in every league on every level. I know I would if I was blessed with the talents to play professional ball.

My only quibble is that he spends too much time talking about the different TV cameras and what they do during a broadcast. (That may be interesting to him, but it certainly doesn't affect the outcome of the game!) Other than that, this book reminds me of books about Quantum Physics. There is so much information there, it could take years to absorb and understand it all. But you're going to have fun doing it.

I'm a huge baseball fan and I've read my share of baseball books. However, I've never read one that was this insightful and informative.

McCarver does an excellent job analyzing baseball strategy. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he made me think more about baseball strategy than I ever have.

As an aspiring broadcaster, I also appreciated his discussion on broadcasting. I was at a Mets game recently and I found myself keying in on the cameras and guessing which camera was in use at a given moment.

This book isn't for the newcomer trying to pick up the game. It is for the hardcore baseball fan, the fan that already thinks about the game on a higher level.

I bought this book based on the other, glowing reviews posted here at amazon.com, and a quick look at the book in a real bookstore. McCarver's own comments on his book are your best guide to its charms and problems. He says that he started out to write a book about broadcasting baseball games on Fox, then got off into other elements of baseball strategy. That statement is correct: McCarver starts off on stuff that probably doesn't interest 90% of his readers (for example, where the cameras are located in most ballparks and what they're used for on Fox) and then discusses the defense from position to position, the types of pitches, base-runners and what they should do, etc., throwing in lots of stories about Carlton and Gibson along the way. The book moves through everything in an excess of detail, providing often insufficient information about some things (like exactly what a "two-seam" vs. a "four-seam" fastball looks and moves like) and restating other things too many times, like how competitive Bob Gibson was. The book ends abruptly, leaving the reader wondering if McCarver just got tired of writing and refused to "wrap it up" by writing a conclusion. Overall, the material herein is interesting but excessively complete, as it were. A good editor could have taken what is here, cut about 10%, reorganized the rest, and had a real gem. As it is, I'll call it an uncut diamond, and give it three stars, barely. A better choice for almost everyone would be Hernandez's _Pure Baseball,_ if you haven't read that yet.