Synopsis
Advice from a sportscaster on how to watch baseball on TV more insightfully.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1998-04-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 344 pages | | Height: | 10.0 in | | Width: | 6.8 in | | Thickness: | 1.5 in | | Weight: | 23.2 oz |
Publisher's Note
For over a decade, Tim McCarver has been the most refreshing, funny, and intelligent baseball telecaster in the game. Now, using the TV camera lens as a fan's eyes, McCarver explains what to look for on the diamond on your screen. Photos throughout.
Tim McCarver, major league baseballs premier analyst, has been surprising and delighting viewers for years with his remarkable insight. Fans who once were content to merely watch baseball were stimulated into wanting to think baseball as well. McCarver brings to the booth a combination of twenty-one years of major league service and nearly twenty more in broadcasting. There is nobody better at explaining the game than McCarver, and it is a rare game in which the viewer does not learn something new and unusual. Now he is putting down on paper all he knows about the sport, producing this unique perspective on how America's pastime should be played and watched.With his unmistakable wit and storytelling verve, McCarver succinctly explains the fundamentals and proper mechanics of baseball at the level necessary for success in the major leagues. Once the skills have been learned, the viewer can devise smart strategies, getting into the heads of the players, coaches, and managers: When should a player or manager be conservative or aggressive; what factors change as the count goes deeper; how do you set up an effective running game, and how can a defense try to sabotage it? This book is a gold mine for all fans, from brain surgeons and rocket scientists to beginners who want to start with the basics. (Even major leaguers will be able to pick up some pointers.) With a deeper knowledge and understanding of baseball, any fan will be able to watch it like a pro.
Industry Reviews
Fox-TV broadcaster and former All-Star player McCarver (Oh, Baby, I Love It!, with Ray Robinson, Villard, 1987) is known for his keen baseball analysis. His coauthor, Peary, compiled a book of baseball interviews, We Played the Game (LJ 2/94). Unlike Jon Miller and Bob Costas, McCarver does not offer any bromides for the problems facing baseball. Instead his is a fan's guide to viewing ball games. In the wrong hands this kind of book could be deadly dull, since some points may seem obvious. But McCarver actually offers a fascinatingly quick-paced, easy-to-read explanation of what goes on during a game. Sections include pitching, hitting and running, defense, and strategy. There are boxed sections with oddities and humorous insights that give the book spice. Both the advanced and the casual fan will enjoy this book. Recommended for most libraries.
Adil
YA-Although this instructive overview is a bit complex for novices, its entertaining look at the strategies of the game will delight and educate curious readers. There are no diagrams of suggested plays and there is minimal explanation of basic terms. For avid baseball fans, however, McCarver's stories and point of view on strategy are both fun to read and informative. The authors go beyond an explanation of baseball to an interpretation of the game, often play by play. Writing with similar intent but with less emphasis on history than George Will in Bunts: Curt Flood, Camden Yards, Pete Rose and Other Reflections on Baseball, (S & S, 1998), McCarver and Peary use humor and experience as touchstones to their ideas. Together, they present baseball as a game of intellect as well as physical strength and make its plays easier to understand for TV viewers. This is an entertaining commentary that will delight fans eager to learn more about "the inside story" of baseball.-Catherine Charvat, King's Park Library, Burke, VA
Fredrickson
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