Excerpts from “The Book of Baseball Literacy: 3rd Edition”
Here’s some sample content from The Book of Baseball Literacy: 3rd Edition. You can also have a longer excerpt sent directly to your Kindle, Nook, or iPad by following these links:
From Chapter 1: Players and Managers
Tommy John
Pitcher, 1963–1989
John was a solid, if unspectacular, pitcher for the Indians, White Sox, and Dodgers who, in 1974, blew out his elbow, and then proceeded to change baseball. That year, the lefty John was cruising along with a 13-3 record, on track for the best season of his career at age 31. Then he permanently damaged the ulnar collateral ligament in his pitching arm and hit the disabled list. In the past, such an injury would have meant premature retirement. But John had the good fortune of being close to a true pioneer in orthopedic surgery, Dr. Frank Jobe. Jobe’s radical idea was to replace the damaged ligament with the healthy ligament from John’s other elbow. It was a risky surgery, and Jobe laid odds on John’s recovery to pitch in the majors again at 1 in 100. Rehabilitation was grueling and took a full 18 months, but it was all worth it when John returned to the majors in 1976 literally better than ever. He went just 10-10 that year, but in 1977, at the age of 34, he won 20 games for the first time ever and finished second in Cy Young Award balloting. He followed that season with win totals of 17, 21, and 22. He continued pitching until the age of 46 and finished his career with 288 victories.
Today, Tommy John surgery, as it’s known, occurs frequently enough that the recovery rate is about 85 to 90 percent and rehabilitation requires only about a year for pitchers and six months for position players. In fact, many pitchers discover they can throw harder than they could before the surgery (most likely as a result of all the strength training during the rehabilitation period, not as a result of the new elbow ligament). It is an understatement to say that Tommy John surgery has saved the careers of countless pitchers, making baseball today a better game.
From Chapter 3: Timeline of Important Events
1932: Ruth calls his shot. Or does he?
One of the most famous moments in baseball history came in the 1932 World Series, when Babe Ruth came to bat in the fifth inning of Game 3 having already hit one home run in the game. But he had misjudged a fly ball the previous inning to allow the tying run to score, and the Cubs players and fans were really letting him have it. When he took the first two pitches for called strikes, the razzing got louder and more abusive. Ruth stepped out of the box. What happened next is the stuff of legend. Ruth either (a) pointed his index finger at pitcher Charley Root and the Cubs dugout to indicate he still had one strike remaining, (b) pointed his middle finger at the Cubs players to let them know what he thought of their abuse, or (c) pointed to center field to indicate where he was going to slug Root’s next pitch. Whatever the truth, Ruth slammed Root’s next pitch over the outfield fence in the general area where he did or did not point, helping the Yankees to victory in that game before finishing the Series sweep in Game 4.
But did he really call his shot? The Associated Press thought not; its story the next day was headlined “Ruth Enjoys Razzing Cubs / Raises His Fingers To Show Strike Count, Then Hits Homer.” Cubs pitcher Burleigh Grimes agreed, saying Ruth “[held] up his finger as if to say, ‘I’ve got one left.’” But Hall of Fame sportswriter Fred Lieb wrote that Lou Gehrig, who’d been on-deck when it happened, had told him, “What do you think of the nerve of that big monkey calling his shot and taking those two strikes and then hitting the ball exactly where he pointed?” Meanwhile, Ruth, ever the showman, liked to claim he did call his shot, but former Dodgers outfielder Babe Herman said he heard Ruth once say to Root years later, “I know I didn’t [point], but it made a hell of a story, didn’t it?” It sure did.
In 1999 actual home movie footage of Ruth was discovered, and it showed Ruth pointing in the direction of… either Root, the center field fence, or the Cubs dugout. It didn’t really resolve the issue. (The movie is still an amazing artifact.)
From Chapter 6: Folklore, Literature, and Diversions
rounders
One of the games upon which baseball is based, rounders was invented in England and has been played for centuries. It’s played with a bat, a soft, rubbery ball, and three “bases,” which are actually four-foot sticks poking out of the ground, between two teams of eight or more players. There’s no foul territory. Batters are put out when the defense catches the batted ball on the fly or on one bounce or when a defensive player hits a runner with the ball when he’s running to a base. The team bats until all its members are retired, then they switch sides. It’s a great game for people of all ages because it doesn’t require loads of skill. Pitchers don’t throw fast—they just toss it in—and batters are only expected to make contact, not drive the ball 350 feet.
From Chapter 7: Records, Statistics, and Awards
762
The current record for home runs in a career, held by Barry Bonds. Home run number 756—the one that broke Hank Aaron’s record—came at home against Washington pitcher Michael Bacsik, and the last one of Bonds’s career came against Ubaldo Jimenez in Colorado.
Like Bonds’s chase for the single-season home run record in 2001, the chase for Aaron was about as joyless and plodding as a trip to the dentist. Outside of San Francisco, nobody in baseball wanted to see the record broken because they didn’t believe that the steroid-tainted Bonds had any right to appear in the record books. Commissioner Bud Selig, a friend of Aaron’s, pointedly refused to attend Bonds’s games. Some commentators even urged Bonds to reach 754 or 755, then retire immediately. But if they thought Bonds would even consider doing that, then they clearly knew nothing about the man. He was about the most driven, insular superstar of our generation. He acted as if he truly did not care what other people thought of him, and it showed in the way he treated reporters and even some teammates.
So Bonds had steroids, and Aaron put up with racist death threats when he was chasing Ruth. Maybe someday, a player will break the record without any BS. Let’s all root for Albert Pujols.
From Chapter 8: Rules, Game Terms, and Baseball Business
leadoff hitter
The hitter who bats in the number one spot in the batting order. The test of a good leadoff man is whether he regularly scores 100 runs for your team. To be able to achieve that milestone, he generally has to get on base around 40 percent of the time and be smart on the bases. Rickey Henderson is acknowledged as baseball’s greatest lead-off hitter because of his deadly combination of speed and strike zone judgment—in addition to his excellent power.
After Henderson, it’s a tough call as to who would be the number two leadoff hitter. In the first part of the century, batters such as Honus Wagner, Ty Cobb, and Tris Speaker—who, like Henderson, could hit well and steal bases—batted third or fourth. From 1920 through the 1950s, few players stole many bases. Luis Aparicio led the league in steals for many years, but his career on-base percentage was .313, so he didn’t get on base enough to really help his team; Maury Wills had the same problem. During that era, Richie Ashburn, who didn’t steal that much, probably dominated the leadoff men.
By the 1970s, Lou Brock had helped introduce the all-around player to the leadoff position; Brock could steal bases, draw a few walks (though not enough to bring his on-base percentage up to .400), and hit for power. Since the 1980s, we’ve witnessed the golden age of leadoff hitters: Henderson, Tim Raines, Kenny Lofton, Len Dykstra, and Craig Biggio, Jose Reyes, and Jimmy Rollins among others. Alas, MVP voters usually overlook the number one hitters when filling out their ballots: Of all the lead-off men in recent times, only Henderson and Rollins have captured an award (Dustin Pedroia was mostly a number two hitter when he won his MVP).
