Baseball Bafflers: Quizzes, Trivia, and Other Ballpark Challenges for the Hardball Know-It-All

It's the ultimate collection for armchair umpires and baseball fanatics: Fun and perplexing facts, trivia, games, quotes and zany moments from our nation's favorite pastime. The only thing a true baseball fan enjoys as much as cheering on his or her team is swapping stats, facts, trivia and golden moments from the Great American Sport. This thoroughly enjoyable compilation of all-things-baseball includes such fan-talizing topics as Little-known Rules, Trick Plays, Quotes of the Game and Funny Moments. And, perhaps most fun of all, readers can play coach, making such tough calls as these: - Can a runner ever steal first base? - What happens when a catcher fields a ball with his mask? - Can a game continue with eight players on the field? With information and anecdotes, this big little book is sure to hit a homerun with fans of every stripe.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1579121675
• ISBN13: 9781579121679
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.5" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Some of the unusual characters and situations that are part of the great game of baseball

Baseball is a game where many very unusual things can happen. While the rule book is thick and detailed, it cannot cover every situation. Furthermore, the people who have played the game over the years have tended to be more unusual that those who made their living in other professional sports. This book describes some of the unusual people and events that have graced the great game of baseball over the years. There was the home run that Henry Aaron hit that was disallowed because he stepped out of the batters box. The runner who actually ran from second back to first, not by mistake, but in an attempt to confuse the opposition. There is also the famous incident where three runners actually ended up on third base. My favorite stories are those that involved unusual situations where the umpires had to make a judgment call and reinterpret the rules. For example, what happens if a runner accidentally loses his batting helmet and the batted ball hits the helmet? Suppose the plate umpire calls a pitch a ball and the team on field appeals to a field umpire about a possible swinging strike. What happens if there is a runner running on the play? What happens if a player refuses to get back into the batter's box after arguing a call? All of these questions are answered and there were many answers that I did not know. Baseball is simultaneously a simple and a complex game, after over one hundred years, there are still situations that arise that force the creation of new rules. I really enjoyed reading this book, devouring it in one sitting.

Baseball Bafflers: Fun for Kids

This book, Baseball Bafflers, is fun for kids (hence this review's title). Fastball Makov wrote an interesting book about strange and funny plays in baseball. It requires some knowledge of baseball to comprehend, however. The trivia was interesting, but answerable if you read the rest of the book beforehand. So, if you are going to read it, read the trivia section first. Also, the Baseball's Strangest and Baseball's Funniest Moments sections of the book were enjoyable. They were certainly unusual and descriptive. You're the Manager and You're the Umpire were my two favorite chapters. This was because they allowed you to use baseball-thinking skills to make decisions. Like the trivia, these sections should be read before the first two. My conclusion is that this book is enjoyable if you're under the age of 14 and you know just the minimal amount about baseball rules.