10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Baseball's Unique Quirkiness, May 18, 2010
This review is from: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without (Paperback)
I'm a baseball junkie who's not content just knowing the mundane statistical trivia associated with our National Pastime - such as Cobb's .367 lifetime batting average, Henry Aaron's 755 career home runs & Bob Gibson's 17 strikeouts in Game 1 of the '68 World Series - I want to know the weird stuff too; why Wade Boggs just had to eat chicken every day (for good luck), and why the Baby Ruth candy bar is still popular today, while the Reggie Bar never quite made the big time.
For anyone fascinated with every possible aspect of the game; especially the ludicrous and zany antics from all sections of baseball's inner sanctum; this book is for you. I loved it.
I also loved the reverse psychology Robert Schakenberg uses to convince readers they really need to have this book; the title explains that strategy. The truth of the matter is, the baseball junkie may be able to live without this particular piece of irreverent folklore, but life's more interesting knowing all this ridiculous stuff. So get a copy for yourself; you won't regret it.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Less than impressive on purpose, August 2, 2010
This review is from: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without (Paperback)
The subtitle is indeed accurate, but still, it would be a shame NOT to know much, if not most, of the trivia, minutia, and flotsam in this volume. The randomness of what is included and what is not may be part of the charm, but it did leave me a bit wistful for something more, well, encyclopedic. Trivia does have to BE trivial. But that aside, I certainly enjoyed the read, learned a little, laughed routinely and found myself reaching for other references to follow up on a morsel or ten as I went along. A good time, all in all.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fun read, great gift idea for all sports fans!, May 22, 2010
This review is from: The Underground Baseball Encyclopedia: Baseball Stuff You Never Needed to Know and Can Certainly Live Without (Paperback)
If you're like me, you fondly recall playing RBI Baseball on Nintendo,
remember watching Jose Canseco on The Simpsons, and think the name
Rusty Kuntz is funny. Those are the kinds of things you'll read about
in the Underground Baseball Encyclopedia, a book that takes a
historian's commitment to research and accuracy and unleashes it on
baseball's pop culture connections, minutiae, and inanity. Not only is
this a great trip down memory lane, I also learned a few things I'd
never heard about (did you know the woman behind Mrs. Fields cookies
was an Oakland As ballgirl?). It's also got a lot of unusual and
interesting photos of mascots, board games, baseball cards, and so on.
One of the more enjoyable baseball books I've read in some time, and
one of those books your friends will want to borrow.
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