Customer Rating:  
Summary: Solid Guide for Serious Fans
Comment: Tim McCarver brings his wealth of baseball knowledge to nearly every facet of the national pastime. Readers learn about pitching and working the count, catching, hitting, baserunning, defense, the batting order, etc. By far the strongest sections (from this ex-catcher) dealt with the battery, including pitch selection, how-to-throw various pitches, and working the hitters. Students of the game should enjoy these pages, and, of course, learn quite a bit as well. Not that you will always agree with him - he suggests runners only slide feet first (Rickey Henderson showed headfirst can be better), usually favors fastballs over breaking pitches, and practically disdains pitch counts for judging a tired starter's arm. But McCarver usually makes sense, while admitting some of his views may be open to debate. McCarver also inserts interesting anecdotes about players and various situations, usually from his playing days (1959-1980) before he started broadcasting.
I gave just four stars because the book's style is a bit thick and occasionally repetitive. Also, the book arrived shortly before the steroid scandals and other matters. Still, this is a solid guide for professional and amateur coaches, players, and serious fans.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Everything you need to know about the battery
Comment: When I first bought this book I thought the title was just a gimmick and that this would just be another half hearted attempt to explain baseball to wives and girlfriends everywhere. Well I was wrong. The info in this book even I at times find hard to follow. The only problem I have is that Mccarver spends 3/4 of the book explaining pitches and hitting counts. Balls are good for hitter, strikes good for pitcher. Its not that hard to figure out. I thought he would explain baserunning and outfielding the same way he explained the battery. He did not so I gave 3 stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: the best book I've ever read about baseball
Comment: McCarver having been a catcher, this book contains a treasure trove of knowledge concerning what goes on in the showdown between the batter vs. the pitcher and catcher at every single pitch (and that showdown accounts for 90% of the action in any given baseball game). I have never watched a baseball game the same way since then; thanks to McCarver I understand the game and love watching it more than I ever have. I re-read this book often... it's the definitive field-guide to my favorite sport.
Customer Rating:
Summary: You Could Do Much Worse
Comment: There have been quite a few reviews posted already, and strangely enough, I agree with almost all of them.
A few years ago, I found this book at a library sale and purchased it for about $2. It's definitely worth $2. I question whether it's worth $20.
STRENGTHS
- To my knowledge, no other single baseball book has ever tackled this many topics at once. Most tactical situations that could ever arise in MLB are covered.
- Fans of Bob Gibson and Steve Carlton will not be disappointed.
- The book is organized in such a way that you can casually read individual sections during a game, on the bus, or...well, you know.
- From a technical standpoint, virtually all of the "skills" information is excellent. (There is only one correct way to throw a knuckler, after all.)
- Anyone will learn at least one new fact from this book. For example, I did not know that LH batters tended to curl the bat, being a righty myself. Subsequent observation has confirmed this.
WEAKNESSES
- Here's the rub. Most of the strengths are also weaknesses. The book is too long and repetitive. For example, if you put it down, you can't remember if you were just reading the chapter on "Pitchers vs. Batters" or "Batters vs. Pitchers."
- Given recent developments in baseball, the book really isn't that "current" anymore. More importantly, McCarver tends to explain the games in the term of how it was played in the 1980s, throwing in more recent players as examples.
- The style is very uneven, alternating between breezy anecdotes and almost textbook-like passages. Tim McCarver: Broadcaster rears his head at times.
- McCarver gives excellent advice on how baseball should be broadcasted, which he now largely ignores himself. Oh, the irony...
- Just four to six pages of b&w photographs (even line drawings, for that matter) would have garnered at least another half star in my review. One of the reasons that the book seems long is that pages of ink are often spilled on something that could have been conveyed with "See Figure 1-3."
Overall, you could do a lot worse. That said, you would eventually glean most of this information from reading a few George Will books, as another reviewer mentioned.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Must read for the hard core fan
Comment: If you love the ins and out of baseball and want to know more about the tactics and stratigies...this is your book. You should have a good grasp of baseball before reading this however. I look at baseball different now.....I appreciate the nuances more.....
Cav
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