ePub The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches download

by Zack Hample

Author:

Zack Hample

ISBN13:

978-0307475459

ISBN:

030747545X

Language:

English

Publisher:

Anchor; 1st Printing edition (March 8, 2011)

Category:

Humor

Subcategory:

Humor

ePub file:

1109 kb

Fb2 file:

1632 kb

Other formats:

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Rating:

4.4

Votes:

906

Zack Hample Humor English

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In The Baseball, Hample gives us a great look at that little white ball that we all obsess so much over.

In The Baseball, Hample gives us a great look at that little white ball that we all obsess so much over. This is not a book about baseball, the game. This is a book about THE baseball. Part One gives us a glimpse of baseballs in the news, from the souvenir craze to people who have actually been killed either by baseballs, or in the chase for them. Fortunately, that last chapter is relatively small

Zack Hample has written three books about baseball and has appeared on dozens of TV and radio shows. He has snagged more than 4,600 baseballs from 48 different major league stadiums.

Zack Hample has written three books about baseball and has appeared on dozens of TV and radio shows. Hample runs a business called "Watch With Zack" and has a popular blog, The Baseball Collector, chronicling his obsession.

Cannonball Read III: The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets . The second part of the book focuses on his tips for walking home from a major league game with at least one baseball.

Cannonball Read III: The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches by Zack Hample. Hample takes the reader inside the Rawlings Costa Rican baseball production factory - apparently a top-secret operation. He also relates the interesting story of Albert Spalding, a pitcher in the early days of the baseball (1871), who retired from the sport in 1878 to build his business in sporting goods.

Snag a ball at one of Major League Baseball’s premier events and you’ll notice something different about your souvenir: the logo has an artistic flair.

Hample declares his book to be a celebration of the ball and fans of the game, and honestly, you would be hard-pressed to disagree with that assessment. From the outset The Baseball just feels fun. It’s intriguing, informative, and most of all flat out enjoyable. Much has been written about most every other aspect of the game, but rarely have I seen the hardball so deftly front and center as Mr. Hample places it here.

ZACK HAMPLE THE BASEBALL Zack Hample is a baseball fan best known for having snagged 4,662 baseballs (and counting) from 48. .The baseball : stunts, scandals, and secrets beneath the stitches, by Zack Hample. p. cm. eISBN: 978-0-307-74208-7.

ZACK HAMPLE THE BASEBALL Zack Hample is a baseball fan best known for having snagged 4,662 baseballs (and counting) from 48 different major league stadiums.

ebook the baseball baseball zack hample. Direct Download : Product Description: The holy grail, the fountain of youth, the golden fleece, and the baseball: rarely do objects inspire such madness. The Baseball is a salute to the ball, filled with insider trivia, anecdotes, and generations of ball-induced insanity.

The Baseball: Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches.

The Baseball is a salute to the ball, filled with insider trivia, anecdotes, and generations of ball-induced insanity.

The Baseball is a salute to the ball, filled with insider trivia, anecdotes, and generations of ball-induced insanity. Which Hall of Famer once caught a ball dropped from an airplane? Why do balls get stamped with invisible ink? What’s the best ticket to buy for catching a foul ball? Which part of the ball once came from dog food companies? How could a 10,000-year-old glacier help a pitcher grip the ball? In this enlightening, entertaining, and often wildly funny book, Zack Hample shares ballpark legends and lore, explores the history of the baseball souvenir craze, and also details the evolution of the ball, Finally, Hample—who has snagged more than 4,600 balls from 48 different major league stadiums—offers up his secret methods for snagging your own ball from major league games. Features a ballhawk glossary, profiles of legendary ballhawks, top 10 lists, and black-and-white photos throughout.

Thoginn

Zack Hample tries to do two things in this book. First, he gives us a history of the baseball, not the game of baseball but the ball itself. Second, he tells us about the thousands of baseballs he's managed to snag at major league games over the years, and offers us specific advice on how we too can catch or pick up or be handed big league baseballs.

He does a pretty good job of the first part, although to make it entertaining he has to pad the history of the ball quite a bit. This is understandable, as even a devoted fan's eyes will glaze over if all he's reading is a year by year diary of how Spalding or Rawlings changed the quality of the wool yarn inside their baseballs or moved the stitching process from this country to that other country. So there are stories about famous baseballs snagged by fans, or weird incidents like big leaguers who hit baseballs into the stands which struck their wives or mothers, or serious injuries to players or spectators caused by baseballs, and so on. Some of these things seem to be a bit of a stretch in a book supposed to be about the ball itself, but without them this would have been a very skinny book.

The second part, about how fans can get their hands on balls at big league games, I found less interesting simply because I cannot picture myself being as fanatical as Hample is in acquiring baseballs. Hample says he's collected over 9,000 baseballs over the years, and while I don't doubt that the techniques he describes are effective, I have to think he misses a lot of the game by spending his time trying to elbow his way into the right spot to catch a foul ball. It turns out many of the balls in his collection were hit into the stands during batting practice, or were tossed to him by a groundskeeper or a coach rather than being caught, and I guess I just don't see the thrill of getting a ball that went into the stands in batting practice after being hit by an unknown player before an unimportant game. Of course Hample has also snagged some famous balls like Barry Bonds' 724th home run, that sort of thing is impressive. Sure, I sometimes take my glove to the game depending on where I'll be sitting, but I just can't see myself running around the stands for several hours based on whether a left or right-handed power hitter is on deck--for one thing I'd spill my beer trying to emulate Hample's gymnastics.

The book is entertaining, although Hample's book Watching Baseball Smarter is a far better read. A baseball nut will enjoy "The Baseball", but it's well down the list in my baseball library.

Uriel

Good book for baseball trivia lovers. I think it’s out of print.

Androrim

Received as expected in great condition.

Arthunter

For fans of the game of baseball, be sure to check out The Baseball. Hample's third book on the subject of our national pastime goes beneath the stitches and looks at the history of the ball we all know and love. Stunts, Scandals, and Secrets Beneath the Stitches takes the reader on a trip through the history of the game, the players, coaches and managers, fans, and pop culture/trivia that center around this simple (or not so simple) sphere and turns "the baseball" into a sort of character that, like all great characters, goes through an impressive series of changes before becoming what we know it as today. A quick, solid read--pick up a copy if you're even the most casual fan of the game and I guarantee you'll learn something new and you'll be in for a few laughs, too.

Fonceiah

This is a great book to read while waiting for Opening Day to arrive. It's just the sort of book that can whet the appetite for the baseball season to begin.

Zack Hample is a master ballhawk. A ballhawk, by definition, is someone who is an expert at chasing down baseballs at major league baseball games (and even some spring training games). In The Baseball, Hample gives us a great look at that little white ball that we all obsess so much over. This is not a book about baseball, the game. This is a book about THE baseball.

Part One gives us a glimpse of baseballs in the news, from the souvenir craze to people who have actually been killed either by baseballs, or in the chase for them. (Fortunately, that last chapter is relatively small.) There are World Series balls, Barry Bonds home runs, Hank Aaron home runs, Sammy Sosa home runs, foul balls, various stunts by players and others, and even a chapter on "Foul Balls in Pop Culture." Unfortunately, there is a picture of Justin Bieber in that chapter.

Part Two gives us some history, with a great chapter on the evolution of the baseball, from 1847 to 2011. The interesting thing about that chapter is that there have always been controversies about the hotness of the ball, with allegations that the ball is juiced in some eras. The ball manufacturers swear that the ball has been made the same for a long time, now, with no specific changes that would make the ball hotter or less so. There is a great chapter on Rawlings and how the ball is made, followed by one about how they are stored and prepared for games, including a part about the infamous "Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud." Yes, for those who are not aware, mud is rubbed onto the surface of every single baseball used in MLB play. But not just any mud. It is secret mud, from a secret location, somewhere in New Jersey.

Finally, in Part Three, Mr. Hamble gives us some tips on how to snag baseballs, from the master, himself. There are tips about various ballparks, along with some etiquette, what to do, what not to do, what you can get away with, how to talk to the players to convince them to give you a ball, and so on. He lists his favorite ballparks for getting balls (and our local Rangers Ballpark is one of his top ten). He gives a rundown of the top 10 ballhawks that he knows about.

Bottom line is that this is just a fun book about the baseball. I learned a lot, as I read it, and I was entertained by it, as well. Hample's writing style is fun, even when describing the lengthy history of the baseball and its evolution.

I recommend this book for any true fan of the game.

Obong

got my 12 year old son to read a book, that is pretty impressive!

Direbringer

My husband loves baseball so much that he actually placed this book on a wish list. We gave it to him along with tickets to an MLB game. He is very happy and uses the tactics he has learned when he gets to the games.

I bought this book for my Fiance, who loves baseball. This book is actually about base balls not baseball. It's an entire book about base balls themselves.

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