Book Description

How to Talk Baseball hits a home run with fans who enjoy playing, watching, and talking our national game. The fascinating profiles of baseball's most famous stars will delight all aficionados, and the hilarious terms defined here will add pepper to anyone's game-watching.Beginning with a superlative line-up of people who have enriched America's favorite pastime, the first part of the book draws lively portraits of baseball's superstars and super characters, including Pete Rose, Dizzy Dean, Dennis Eckersley, Red Barber, Red Smith, Yogi Berra (It ain't over till it's over), and Casey Stengel. Find out who was the first to say Can he hit, hit with power, run, throw and field?, now the five dimensions of measuring a baseball player; How sweet it is; and Can't anybody here play this game? How to Talk Baseball's illustrated lexicon tells the origin and meaning of baseball's unique language--seventh-inning stretches, southpaws, spitballs, ohfers, hit-and-runs, foot in the bucket, beanballs, circus catches, Baltimore chops--terms indigenous to baseball, brought together in a comprehensive glossary. You'll learn whether a player is a bad-ball hitter, a bench jockey, a bonus baby or a clubhouse lawyer, and how to tell the difference. Even a novice fan can sound like a network sportscaster, describing how ducks on the pond are waiting for their MVP to dial 8 to a shutout. How to Talk Baseball is a fun read and will help readers warm up their vocal cords and get ready to talk their best game.