The Baseball Fan's Companion: How to Master the Subtleties of the World's Most Complex Team Sport and Learn to Watch the Game Like an Expert (Paperback)

~ (Author) "In 1951, the Dodgers played the Giants in a three-game playoff for the National League Championship and the right to face the Yankees in the..." (more)
Key Phrases: fielder backs, run from scoring, pivot man, World Series, Major League Baseball, Babe Ruth (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

For the fan who just needs to brush up on America's favorite pastime or the novice learning the finer points of the game, “The Baseball Fan's Companion” stands ready at the plate to answer all your questions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (March 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028608488
• ISBN-13: 978-0028608488
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #97,825 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This Book Made Me a Fan of the Game Again, March 14, 2000

By	Andrew D. Muhlbach (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

Although I played baseball every day as a kid and was a major league fan, as I grew older I stopped watching the game and became a fan of the other 3 major pro sports. I found watching baseball to be a bore. However, reading this book opened my eyes to baseball and made me a fan once again.

If you are a baseball nut, there may not be much to learn from this book (but you might be surprised). For everyone else, this witty, fun to read treatment of the game's rules, strategy and history can teach you what you need to know to appreciate the game. It teaches you the subtleties of the game, what to watch for and why. The tone is completely irreverent and the author does not take himself or the game too seriously. When I was done reading this book, I realized that the game is not boring at all if you know what to watch for. I now enjoy watching baseball, even on TV where the stock camera angles don't show all the action away from the ball. And thanks to this book, I now know that half the game is played away from the ball.

This book delivers on the promise in it's title. What more can you ask?

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A top-notch comprehensive guide, February 20, 2000

By	Ben Walsh (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews

This is a book that badly needed to be written, and written well. Many people who watch the game on a regular basis - even relatively hard-core fans - do not necessarily know everything they think they do. Bakalar's talent lies in expressing complicated and arcane baseball minutiae concisely. For example, most respectable fans know what a balk is. Sort of. We know basically what it entails, and we can slog through the legalese in the rule book to figure it out. Bakalar sums the rule up neatly and advises the reader how to spot a balk for fun and profit. He also advises how to watch players away from the ball, and how they move in certain circumstances, how to watch the coaches and managers and how information flows between players, the dugout and the coaches' boxes.

Bakalar also brings an understated dry wit to all of his topics, and covers on-the-field details of how to defend in a possible hit-and-run situation with the same depth and tenacity as the history of Major League labor relations.

This book is probably a bit much for an absolute neophyte, but handy for almost everyone else and might even contain a few surprises or revelations for the hoariest old baseball sage.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars LETS PLAY BALL!!!, August 13, 1999

By A Customer

I am a woman who loves the game of baseball. Nick Bakalar makes it easier with his facts, tidbits, and complete knowledge of the game. His book makes it more fun to watch the game. Without a doubt he is a humorous baseball fan, who must enjoy this sport to the max. His book makes you want to go out and PLAY BALL!!!