BASEBALL: Then to WOW!
By: Editors of Sports Illustrated for Kids
Published: April 5, 2016
Publisher: Sports Illustrated
NonFiction
With the official baseball season starting this week, this offers the perfect opportunity to share some great baseball books perfect for baseball fans of any age. Our family has been rooting for the Chicago Cubs, but love watching all levels of baseball from our own kids playing, our high school team, our local AAA league and to the pros. My husband grew up in Norway, Iowa (think the movie THE FINAL SEASON) and baseball has been part of his life since he can remember.
This book covers all aspects of baseball and its evolution from the 1800’s to the present. Whether you played baseball in your back yard or on a meticulously cared for diamond, this book is for you. The pages are full-color and offer awesome statistics and little-known facts about baseball.
I loved the evolution of the uniforms, the gloves, and the catcher masks. Did you know the Chicago White Sox experimented with wearing shorts in the 70’s? That obviously didn’t work out. But the uniform pages are hilarious to look at and see the evolution of style as well as the different hairstyles of the players.
Even the umpires of baseball have a section, noting their changes in protection behind the plate to how many were used in a game. These images show examples of the captivating photos on each and every page.
My sons would have loved this book when they were younger. They were all about stats and knowing particular statistics of all the top athletes. Even now, they found the milestone section very interesting. This section lists all the players with 300 Wins, 3,000 Strikeouts, 500 Home Runs, and 3,000 Hits. When I set out the books, my oldest son grabbed this one right away and started looking through it.
All the information is presented in an easy to understand and concise format and isn’t overwhelming. The pictures are fun to look at whether you are a child or an adult.
Our sons and even my husband have been collectors of baseball cards and I found that section interesting as well. I learned that Topps is the only brand that has the contract to actually print the league logos on the cards. All the other brands can only use player images on their cards. So, if that is important to you, be sure you buy Topps baseball cards.
If you are a family that loves baseball, this book of interesting facts and history is perfect. It’s a nice hardcover for use as a display/coffee table book or to add to your library. Covering a section at night at the supper table would offer lots of great discussion for a baseball loving family.
To purchase a copy of BASEBALL: Then to WOW!, click the photo below:
Posted Under baseball, Beth Bugler, Bill Hinds, Book Review, Children's books, Kid Konnection, Mark Bechtel, non-fiction, sports, Sports Illustrated
These look like terrific books for young sports enthusiasts. I'm sure my nephew would have loved them.
That is hilarious that we both covered the same books. You were much more thorough! I thought these books were fantastic!