Customer Reviews

Play Baseball the Ripken Way: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Fundamentals

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A previous reviewer asks, "What would you expect from Cal Ripken?" Well, from any major league player, I would expect a half baked, ghosted book with a lot of reminiscenses and some trite advice. Fortunately, that is not the case with this book. The Ripkens have obviously thought deeply about the fundamentals of baseball and how to teach them to young players. They boil the instruction down to the essence, and explain why. For example, I have always heard "get your butt down," to field a ground ball. The Ripkens explain that's so you can see the ball better as it comes to you. How many times have you heard coaches tell young players to "get the back elbow up" when hitting? I know that's wrong - now I know why it's wrong.

All in all, this a great instructional book. It really does stress the fundamentals and doesn't get bogged down in the details only a double A player would care about.

Coach John Wooden said a good player with good fundamentals will become a good player and a good player with great fundamentals will become a great player. If you're like me, a Father of a 10-year-old boy who loves playing baseball and you have been looking for that one book that can show you the fundamentals of baseball from hitting to fielding and pitching. Look no further, because this book has everything you will need and a whole lot more. The Ripkens have put together a baseball book that tells the how to, in an approach easy to understand and not only the how to but the why, which as Cal points out, all kids ask. Many thanks to the Ripken family from late Father Cal to sons Cal and Billy and their fine staff who have put together a great baseball book of fundamentals for the Father, Coach and ballplayer.

I am a baseball fan. I played as a kid and go to seem MLB games in my home town of Toronto. We are in the same conference as the Baltimore Orioles (American League East), Cal's old team so I saw him play quite a bit. He is a graceful and thoughtful player. His four trademarks were a love of the game, natural ability, a lot of practice, a thinking player, and he has a lot of experience. Also he comes from a baseball family. In short he is among the best all round players to have ever played the games and to our benefit he stayed late after every game signing autographs - a rarity today.

If I was going to pick one recent player to write a book an learning baseball he would be the man. He has intelligence, experience and the love for the game. Many other players might be faster, or better hitters, etc. but he was the total package, a guy that could pace himself on and off the field and a person that really loved the game and cared for the fans.

So that brings us to the book. It is impressive! It is a work of love by the authors. It is well laid out with a chapter by chapter review of the game with lots and lots of bright color photographs, some in a time sequence so they show how the action evolves. He and the other authors appear in the photos wearing simple black and white uniforms demonstrating baseball fundamentals. He tries to explain some of the more subtle yet important parts of the game. He covers all the basic aspects such as pitching, how to hold the pitched ball, catching, playing the infield, the outfield, hitting, etc.

Excellent for all levels of baseball, playing or a fan. Highly recommend. Everyone will learn something new, even old fans like me.

I picked up this book at the local sporting goods store while I was buying gloves, bats, socks, pants, and etc. for my two sons who were starting little league baseball.

Just a few weeks earlier, I had declined a spot as an assistant coach due to not being "athletic", and I saw Ripken's book as an opportunity to learn some of the things that other dads had learned as kids.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have not read it cover-to-cover, but have browsed and spot-read it throughout the season.

As a result, I now understand more of the things other dads are yelling out. For example, for those in the field, "keep your eye on the ball" means watch the ball from the beginning of the pitch, all the way to the bat, as it connects with and leaves the bat, then all the way to the glove.

Chapters are given for each of the aspects of the game, pitching, fielding, hitting, catching, running, and so forth. Text narratives are easily understood, avoiding or explaining the sports "jargon" that confuses many beginning players (e.g. "choke up on the bat", "take two"). Pictures explicitly illustrate concepts such as batting and fielding stances.

Ripken's narrative also provides fun training excercises used by coaches (both major and little leagues) to develop baseball skills.

I have kept this book within an arm's reach in my office all summer long. Ripken's baseball insights have enabled me to help my sons develop their own throwing and batting skills.

Maybe next year, I might take that assistant coach position!

Bought this book to help in training our 8 year old little leaguers. Although some of the content is a little too advanced for 8 year olds, it does lay out some good basic information to get them started. And you could follow it through right up to college ball. Excellent book for the price!

Gives insight that can be used for any age player. Breaks down to a fundamental level. Recommend for any youth coach.

I really enjoyed reading this book. I felt that as a serious baseball player, who strives to play the proper way, I learned a ton through Cal Ripken's easy to follow baseball teaching methods. A must have for all baseball players!

EXCELLENT book. A Coach or parent must read . Easy to understand with a vast amount of effective baseball knowledge with great illustrations . I especially like section that covers understanding kids emotions and psychological effects of ups and downs on players . Most parents and coaches do not realize how they can have a long term negative effect on a player. This book brings a whole new light on to the subject.

I've already coached one kid from tee-ball thru the 11-12 group. Just about to start again with a 4 year old next season so figured I'd buy a few books to do a better job. Got some personal validation when I found out that I have much of the same philosophy as the Ripkens, and also got some great new drills and coaching advice to go along with that. I bought two books, Play Baseball The Ripken Way, and Coaching the Ripken Way, and both have great tips from dealing with parents and then going on to cover just about every aspect of youth baseball coaching and playing that you will need to know, including illustrated drills. I'm a slow reader, these books are interesting and very easy to read, I had no trouble at all getting through them and will definitely continue to use them once the practices start up again. And for the price, way worth it! In my opinion paying ten bucks for even just a good really good drills would be money well spent, but these books have way more than that.

Very well written, very informative down to earth explanations and philosophy.