Watching Baseball Smarter
A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks
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Watching Baseball Smarter
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Narrated by:
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Barry Abrams
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By:
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Zack Hample
About this listen
This smart and funny fan's guide to baseball explains the ins and outs of pitching, hitting, running, and fielding, while offering insider trivia and anecdotes that will appeal to anyone - whether you're a major league couch potato, lifelong season ticket-holder, or a beginner.
- What is the difference between a slider and a curveball?
- At which stadium did "The Wave" first make an appearance?
- How do some hitters use iPods to improve their skills?
- Which positions are never played by lefties?
- Why do some players urinate on their hands?
Combining the narrative voice and attitude of Michael Lewis with the compulsive brilliance of Schott's Miscellany, Watching Baseball Smarter will increase your understanding and enjoyment of the sport-no matter what your level of expertise.
PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.
©2007 Zack Hample (P)2017 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Abridged
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2 out of 5 stars
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-
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Ninety Percent Mental
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5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars 162
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2 out of 5 stars
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Narration
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1 out of 5 stars
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If you sorta like baseball--save your money
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2 out of 5 stars
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Bad Narration
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Ball Four
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,859
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,623
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When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 519
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 479
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5 out of 5 stars
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The Science of Hitting
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 87
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Story5 out of 5 stars 86
Ted Williams was arguably the greatest pure hitter who ever lived. A lifelong student of hitting, he sought advice from every great hitter - and pitcher - he met. Drawing on that advice, as well as his own legendary life in baseball, Williams produced the all-time batting classic, The Science of Hitting. Using its detailed and concise coaching, players of all skill levels will learn how to improve their fundamentals and gain keen insights into the finer points of hitting.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent take on hitting
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Where Nobody Knows Your Name
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 393
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 355
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 360
John Feinstein is one of the most influential sportswriters of the last three decades. In his masterful new audiobook, Where Nobody Knows Your Name, Feinstein delivers a fascinating account of the mysterious proving ground of America’s national pastime, pulling back the veil on the minor leagues of baseball.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Living on the Cusp of a Dream
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The Inside Game
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 127
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 125
In this groundbreaking book, Keith Law, the ESPN baseball writer and author of the acclaimed Smart Baseball, offers an era-spanning dissection of some of the best and worst decisions in modern baseball, explaining what motivated them, what can be learned from them, and how their legacy has shaped the game....
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4 out of 5 stars
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Narrator is negative value compared to replacement
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By: Keith Law
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The Baseball Player’s Guide to Hitting Like a Pro
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
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Story5 out of 5 stars 47
Every good hitter is fighting a battle.... Do you know what yours is and how to turn it to your advantage on the field? Three out of every four appearances at the plate result in an out. You probably know this...so why are you doubting your skills? To hit like a pro, you need to think like a pro - and that means mastering a specific mental attitude as well as your physical technique.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Very Helpful for My Son
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The MVP Machine
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 563
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 485
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Instead of out-drafting, out-signing, and out-trading their rivals, baseball's best minds have turned to out-developing opponents, gaining greater edges than ever by perfecting prospects and eking extra runs out of older athletes who were once written off. Lindbergh and Sawchik take us inside the transformation of former fringe hitters into home-run kings, show how washed-up pitchers have emerged as aces, and document how coaching and scouting are being turned upside down. The MVP Machine charts the future of a sport and offers a lesson that goes beyond baseball.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Just too much cussing!
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Play Hungry
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Pete Rose was a legend on the field. As baseball’s hit king, he shattered records that were thought to be unbreakable. And during the 1970s, he was the leader of the Big Red Machine, the Cincinnati Reds team that dominated the game. But he’s also the greatest player who may never enter the Hall of Fame because of his lifetime ban from the sport. Perhaps no other ballplayer’s story is so representative of the triumphs and tragedies of our national pastime.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Playing the Right Way
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5 out of 5 stars
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Excellent!
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5 out of 5 stars
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Book with good premise follows through
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For 53 years, San Francisco waited. Waited for a team like the 2010 Giants to come along. Waited for a team that could end a title drought that started in New York and carried on for more than five decades after a move to the West Coast. Waited for that one magical postseason run that could unleash more than a half-century of pent-up frustration. At long last, the 2010 Giants hopped on that magic carpet and made it happen. San Jose Mercury News beat reporter Andrew Baggarly captured the 2010 Giants' incredible run through the regular season, playoffs and World Series in his new book.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The first All Black and Brown Baseball Line-up.
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- By: Buzz Bissinger
- Narrated by: Jeffrey Nordling
- Length: 9 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 345
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 217
Given unprecedented access to La Russa and his team, best-selling journalist Bissinger captures baseball's strategic and emotional essence. We watch from the dugout as La Russa's Cardinals take on their archrivals, the Chicago Cubs, in a thrilling three-game series.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Book with good premise follows through
- By Peter on 11-18-05
By: Buzz Bissinger
-
A Band of Misfits
- Tales of the 2010 San Francisco Giants
- By: Andrew Baggarly
- Narrated by: Brian Troxell
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
For 53 years, San Francisco waited. Waited for a team like the 2010 Giants to come along. Waited for a team that could end a title drought that started in New York and carried on for more than five decades after a move to the West Coast. Waited for that one magical postseason run that could unleash more than a half-century of pent-up frustration. At long last, the 2010 Giants hopped on that magic carpet and made it happen. San Jose Mercury News beat reporter Andrew Baggarly captured the 2010 Giants' incredible run through the regular season, playoffs and World Series in his new book.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Relived that season!
- By jeff olson on 12-20-18
By: Andrew Baggarly
-
The Team That Changed Baseball
- Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates
- By: Bruce Markusen
- Narrated by: Kevin Free
- Length: 8 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In The Team That Changed Baseball: Roberto Clemente and the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates, veteran baseball writer Bruce Markusen tells the story of one of the most likable and significant teams in the history of professional sports. In addition to the fact that they fielded the first all-minority lineup in major league history, the 1971 Pirates are noteworthy for the team's inspiring individual performances.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The first All Black and Brown Baseball Line-up.
- By Matthew Tsien on 05-22-16
By: Bruce Markusen
-
Power Ball
- Anatomy of a Modern Baseball Game
- By: Rob Neyer
- Narrated by: Rob Neyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 172
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 147
The former ESPN columnist and analytics pioneer dramatically recreates an action-packed 2017 game between the Oakland A’s and eventual World Series champion Houston Astros to reveal the myriad ways in which Major League Baseball has changed over the last few decades.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Solid overview of Baseball in 2018
- By Tyler Burch on 11-21-18
By: Rob Neyer
-
Game Six
- Cincinnati, Boston, and the 1975 World Series: The Triumph of America's Pastime
- By: Mark Frost
- Narrated by: Andrew Garman
- Length: 13 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 82
Best-selling author Mark Frost takes listeners back to the 1975 World Series in this thrilling account of the greatest baseball game ever played. The Reds and Red Sox endured three soggy days of inactivity to reach game six. But all that downtime could not prepare them for what happened when the skies finally cleared.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
For the love of Baseball
- By Al on 03-23-10
By: Mark Frost
-
The Best Team Money Can Buy
- The Los Angeles Dodgers’ Wild Struggle to Build a Baseball Powerhouse
- By: Molly Knight
- Narrated by: Hillary Huber
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 216
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 191
In 2012 the Los Angeles Dodgers were bought out of bankruptcy in the most expensive sale in sports history. Los Angeles icon Magic Johnson and his partners hoped to put together a team worthy of Hollywood. By most accounts they have succeeded, if not always in the way they might have imagined.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
BOTH BOOK AND TEAM NEED TO BE BETTER
- By Ray on 09-06-15
By: Molly Knight
-
The Only Rule Is It Has to Work
- Our Wild Experiment Building a New Kind of Baseball Team
- By: Ben Lindbergh, Sam Miller
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 369
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 368
It's the ultimate in fantasy baseball: You get to pick the roster, set the lineup, and decide on strategies - with real players, in a real ballpark, in a real playoff race. That's what baseball analysts Ben Lindbergh and Sam Miller got to do when an independent minor-league team in California, the Sonoma Stompers, offered them the chance to run its baseball operations according to the most advanced statistics.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Narrarators have never watched baseball. Ever!
- By Anon on 06-02-16
By: Ben Lindbergh, and others
-
As They See 'Em
- A Fan's Travels in the Land of Umpires
- By: Bruce Weber
- Narrated by: Charley Steiner
- Length: 13 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 70
Millions of American baseball fans know, with absolute certainty, that umpires are simply overpaid galoots who are doing an easy job badly. Millions of American baseball fans are wrong. As They See 'Em is an insider's look at the largely unknown world of professional umpires, the small group of men (and the very occasional woman) who make sure America's favorite pastime is conducted in a manner that is clean, crisp, and true.
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4 out of 5 stars
-
Judging Umpires
- By Bruce on 11-28-09
By: Bruce Weber
-
1954: The Year Willie Mays and the First Generation of Black Superstars Changed Major League Baseball Forever
- By: Bill Madden
- Narrated by: David Drummond
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 33
Jackie Robinson heroically broke the color barrier in 1947. But how—and, in practice, when—did the integration of the sport actually occur? Bill Madden shows that baseball’s famous black experiment” did not truly succeed until the coming of age of Willie Mays and the emergence of some star players—Larry Doby, Hank Aaron, and Ernie Banks—in 1954. And as a relevant backdrop off the field, it was in May of that year that the US Supreme Court unanimously ruled, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that segregation be outlawed in America’s public schools.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Acumen bugaboo
- By steve finkelstein on 04-25-21
By: Bill Madden
-
Summer of '68
- The Season That Changed Baseball - and America - Forever
- By: Tim Wendel
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 8 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
From the beginning, ’68 was a season rocked by national tragedy and sweeping change. Opening Day was postponed and later played in the shadow of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s funeral. That summer, as the pennant races were heating up, the assassination of Robert Kennedy was later followed by rioting at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago. But even as tensions boiled over and violence spilled into the streets, something remarkable was happening in major league ballparks across the country. Pitchers were dominating like never before, and with records falling and shut-outs mounting, many began hailing ’68 as “The Year of the Pitcher".
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Detroit Upsets St. Louis in 1968 World Series.
- By Matthew Tsien on 05-01-18
By: Tim Wendel
-
The Chicago Cubs
- Story of a Curse
- By: Rich Cohen
- Narrated by: Adam Grupper
- Length: 9 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 85
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 84
For Rich Cohen and millions of other fans, the Chicago Cubs have always been more than a team: they've been the protagonists of a King Arthur epic, in search of the Holy Grail that is winning the World Series. A chronicle of the last few miraculous seasons as experienced through the prism of Cubs history, The Chicago Cubs tracks the famous curse, which was placed on the team in 1945 by the infamous owner of the Billy Goat Tavern, who was ejected from Wrigley Field when he tried to bring his goat into the grandstand for the fifth game of the World Series.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
just listen and it all happens again
- By Z. Kuhn on 10-28-17
By: Rich Cohen
-
Ten Innings at Wrigley
- The Wildest Ballgame Ever, with Baseball on the Brink
- By: Kevin Cook
- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
- Length: 7 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
It was a Thursday at Chicago's Wrigley Field, mostly sunny with the wind blowing out. Nobody expected an afternoon game between the Philadelphia Phillies and Chicago Cubs on May 17, 1979, to be much more than a lazy early-season contest matching two teams heading in opposite directions - the first-place Phillies and the Cubs, those lovable losers - until they combined for 13 runs in the first inning. Ten Innings at Wrigley is Kevin Cook's vivid account of a game that could only have happened at this ballpark, in this era, with this colorful cast of heroes and heels.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Baseball stars of my youth
- By Hebern on 05-26-20
By: Kevin Cook
-
The Captain
- The Journey of Derek Jeter
- By: Ian O'Connor
- Narrated by: Nick Pollifrone
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 294
-
Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 274
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 271
Every spring, Little Leaguers across the country mimic his stance and squabble over the right to wear his number, 2, the next number to be retired by the world’s most famous ball team. Derek Jeter is their hero. He walks in the footsteps of Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle, and someday his shadow will loom just as large. Yet he has never been the best player in baseball. In fact, he hasn’t always been the best player on his team. But his intangible grace and Jordanesque ability to play big in the biggest of postseason moments make him the face of the modern Yankee dynasty, and of America’s game.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great book, terrible narrator.
- By Butter on 05-09-14
By: Ian O'Connor
-
The Bad Guys Won
- A Season of Brawling, Boozing, Bimbo Chasing, and Championship Baseball with Straw, Doc, Mookie, Nails, the Kid, and the Rest of the 1986 Mets, the Rowdiest Team Ever to Put on a New York Uniform - and Maybe the Best
- By: Jeff Pearlman
- Narrated by: Jeff Pearlman
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 188
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 171
It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Maybe 3.5
- By Lifeisshort on 02-15-22
By: Jeff Pearlman
-
Dollar Sign on the Muscle
- The World of Baseball Scouting
- By: Kevin Kerrane
- Narrated by: Patrick Kerrane
- Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Humorous case histories and profiles of great baseball scouts accompany a discussion of the trade secrets of baseball scouts, the economics of scouting, player development, and the history of the profession. In a new epilogue Kevin Kerrane explores the world of baseball scouting in the late 1990s.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good for diehards, but dated and riddled w errors
- By Kindle Customer on 03-02-17
By: Kevin Kerrane
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Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
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2 out of 5 stars
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Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
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It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Maybe 3.5
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By: Jeff Pearlman
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Ball Four
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- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,859
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,623
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,619
When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
- By Byron on 08-09-12
By: Jim Bouton
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Smart Baseball
- The Story Behind the Old Stats That Are Ruining the Game, the New Ones That Are Running It, and the Right Way to Think About Baseball
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- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 486
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 432
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Predictably Irrational meets Moneyball in ESPN veteran writer and statistical analyst Keith Law's iconoclastic look at the numbers game of baseball, proving why some of the most trusted stats are surprisingly wrong, explaining what numbers actually work, and exploring what the rise of Big Data means for the future of the sport.
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1 out of 5 stars
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If you sorta like baseball--save your money
- By david ortega on 05-11-17
By: Keith Law
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Ballpark
- Baseball in the American City
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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From the earliest corrals of the mid-1800s (Union Grounds in Brooklyn was a "saloon in the open air"), to the much mourned parks of the early 1900s (Detroit's Tiger Stadium, Cincinnati's Palace of the Fans), to the stadiums we fill today, Paul Goldberger makes clear the inextricable bond between the American city and America's favorite pastime. In the changing locations and architecture of our ballparks, Goldberger reveals the manifestations of a changing society.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book!
- By S. O. on 12-27-19
By: Paul Goldberger
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The Baseball Codes
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Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. What truly governs the Major League game is a set of unwritten rules, some of which are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), and some of which only a minority of players are even aware of (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box).
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3 out of 5 stars
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A bit dry, both in content and narration...
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By: Jason Turbow, and others
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The Baseball 100
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Longer than Moby-Dick and nearly as ambitious,The Baseball 100 is a one-of-a-kind work by award-winning sportswriter and lifelong student of the game Joe Posnanski that tells the story of the sport through the remarkable lives of its 100 greatest players. In the book’s introduction, Pulitzer Prize-winning commentator George F. Will marvels, “Posnanski must already have lived more than 200 years. How else could he have acquired such a stock of illuminating facts and entertaining stories about the rich history of this endlessly fascinating sport?”
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2 out of 5 stars
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Just OK. Too Tangential & Distracting
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The Bad Guys Won
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3 out of 5 stars
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Maybe 3.5
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Ball Four
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,859
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,619
When Ball Four was published in 1970, it created a firestorm. Bouton was called a Judas, a Benedict Arnold and a “social leper” for having violated the “sanctity of the clubhouse.” Baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn tried to force Bouton to sign a statement saying the book wasn’t true. Ballplayers, most of whom hadn’t read it, denounced the book. It was even banned by a few libraries. Almost everyone else, however, loved Ball Four.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Three Ten Year Updates Give Bouton a 5th Star
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1 out of 5 stars
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If you sorta like baseball--save your money
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Ballpark
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 41
From the earliest corrals of the mid-1800s (Union Grounds in Brooklyn was a "saloon in the open air"), to the much mourned parks of the early 1900s (Detroit's Tiger Stadium, Cincinnati's Palace of the Fans), to the stadiums we fill today, Paul Goldberger makes clear the inextricable bond between the American city and America's favorite pastime. In the changing locations and architecture of our ballparks, Goldberger reveals the manifestations of a changing society.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fantastic book!
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Everyone knows that baseball is a game of intricate regulations, but it turns out to be even more complicated than we realize. What truly governs the Major League game is a set of unwritten rules, some of which are openly discussed (don’t steal a base with a big lead late in the game), and some of which only a minority of players are even aware of (don’t cross between the catcher and the pitcher on the way to the batter’s box).
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3 out of 5 stars
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A bit dry, both in content and narration...
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By: Jason Turbow, and others
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Baseball
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- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
Best-selling author George Vecsey is an esteemed and award-winning sports journalist for the New York Times. In Baseball, he recounts the history of America's national pastime. Baseball has been around in various forms for thousands of years, but only within the last 200 years has it become an American institution. Growing from a sport played in open fields and big-city streets, baseball has seen its share of innovators and detractors, heroes and villains.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
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By: George Vecsey
-
The Greatest Summer in Baseball History
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- Narrated by: Barry Abrams
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- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 12
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 12
In 1973, baseball was in crisis. The first strike in pro sports had soured fans, American League attendance had fallen, and America's team—the Yankees—had lost more games and money than ever. Yet that season, five of the game's greatest figures rescued the national pastime. Hank Aaron riveted the nation with his pursuit of Babe Ruth's landmark home run record in the face of racist threats. George Steinbrenner purchased the Yankees at a bargain basement price and began buying back their faded glory.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Terrible, Just Terrible.
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The Last Innocents
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- By: Michael Leahy
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
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- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 42
Legendary Dodgers Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Wes Parker, Jeff Torborg, Dick Tracewski, and Tommy Davis encapsulated 1960s America: white and black, Jewish and Christian, wealthy and working class, pro-Vietnam and anti-war, golden boy and seasoned veteran. The Last Innocents is a thoughtful, technicolor portrait of these seven players - friends, mentors, confidants, rivals, and allies - and their storied team that offers an intriguing look at a sport and a nation in transition.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Reliving my youth
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By: Michael Leahy
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How Baseball Happened
- Outrageous Lies Exposed! The True Story Revealed
- By: Thomas W. Gilbert
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 101
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
The fascinating, true origin story of baseball - how America’s first great sport developed and how it conquered a nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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superb reading. ate it up in 2 days.
- By Bill on 01-13-22
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Baseball in the Garden of Eden
- The Secret History of the Early Game
- By: John Thorn
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 16
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
This is the true story of how organized baseball started, how gambling shaped the game from its earliest days, and how it became our national pastime and our national mirror. Baseball in the Garden of Eden draws on original research to tell how the game evolved from other bat-and-ball games and gradually supplanted them, how the New York game came to dominate other variants, and how gambling and secret professionalism promoted and plagued the game.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Good analysis of game origins but . . .
- By Mallard on 04-19-22
By: John Thorn
-
Why We Love Baseball
- A History in 50 Moments
- By: Joe Posnanski
- Narrated by: Joe Posnanski, Ellen Adair
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 182
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 162
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Story5 out of 5 stars 162
New York Times bestselling author Joe Posnanski is back with a masterful ode to the game: a countdown of 50 of the most memorable moments in baseball’s history, to make you fall in love with the sport all over again. Posnanski writes of major moments that created legends, and of forgotten moments almost lost to time. It's Willie Mays’s catch, Babe Ruth’s called shot, and Kirk Gibson’s limping home run; the slickest steals; the biggest bombs; and the most triumphant no-hitters.
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2 out of 5 stars
-
Narration
- By Peter on 01-10-24
By: Joe Posnanski
What listeners say about Watching Baseball Smarter
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Shay hilton
- 07-06-23
basic baseball
What a great book for basic baseball knowledge. great for levels of all types
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kirk D
- 12-12-17
Needs updates
I read the book years ago when it came out. It is a great overview of the game and really does make the reader baseball smarter. But, baseball evolves and this book needs some minor updates to maintain relevancy. Overall, I was still happy to listen - a very easy and quick and enjoyable time!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- CCM
- 06-11-19
I'd rather read the text
There's nothing that wrong with this book or the enthusiastic reading of it; it's just that it turned out to be the kind of nonfiction book I'd rather dip into at my own pace; this one is filled with facts and moves very fast. I'm learning that for me, baseball audiobooks probably work better as journalistic stories (such as, talking of baseball, the fine "Where Nobody Knows Your Name," about life in the Minor Leagues). I'll continue looking for good baseball books as it's a fascinating subject to me and I have so much to learn, but I'm reluctantly returning this one and will probably buy it in a print format instead. The audiobook might work very well for other listeners, though.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- JD Berryman
- 04-05-18
good book!
lots of stuff I didn't know about the game and subtle nuances I never realized
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- amarkstone
- 12-15-17
No New Information
This is an overview of rules and statistics that is already well known to baseball fans. I would only recommend to new baseball fans.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Tim
- 06-04-19
Not For Experts or Serious Geeks
Too many rules simply explained. Very basic. Beginners may enjoy it. Lots of facts, stats and figures.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Michael W.
- 09-09-19
Disappointing
I enjoy Zack Hample's youtube videos as a ball hawk. I thought this would be a lot more of that. The in's and out's of not just watching the game, but a look at the best ways to collect game day memorabilia. I'm not interested in doing this, but am entertained by his videos and thought he would give more detail to the crazy lengths he goes for his collection of 11,000 baseballs.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Donald
- 09-19-18
NOT FOR BASEBALL GEEKS
I know Baseball very well, with one or two exceptions this book didn't teach me anything I didn't already know. If you're just starting to watch the game it's probably well worth your while, otherwise look for something else. For an actual Baseball Geek (like this book implies it would be good for), look to Brian Kenny's "Ahead Of The Curve", a great book for fans to learn about Sabermetrics and the new way that baseball is done.
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1 person found this helpful