Young readers will delight in learning about their favorite players’ laugh-out-loud goofs. Full-page photos capture the bloopers, and easy prose includes fun facts and stats.

How did a pitcher throw a no-hitter and lose? How did a twelve-year-old boy help the Yankees win a championship game? Baseball fans young and old will find out in this book of wacky-but-true baseball stories published just in time for the playoffs and World Series.

Showcases some of baseball's worst moments with true stories of men like Fred Snodgrass, who dropped a fly ball in 1912, and Bill Buckner, who let an easy grounder dribble through his legs to blow the '86 World Series

BLOOPER: BALL SQUIRTS THROUGH BILLY BUCKNER'S LEGS. BLUNDER: BILLY BUCKNER'S MANAGER LEFT HIM IN THE GAME. Baseball bloopers are fun; they're funny, even. A pitcher slips on the mound and his pitch sails over the backstop. An infielder camps under a pop-up...and the ball lands ten feet away. An outfielder tosses a souvenir to a fan...but that was just the second out, and runners are circling the bases (and laughing). Without these moments, the highlight reels wouldn't be nearly as entertaining. Baseball blunders, however, can be tragic, and they will leave diehard fans asking why...why...why? Rob Neyer's Big Book of Baseball Blunders does its best to answer all those whys, exploring the worst decisions and stupidest moments of managers, general managers, owners, and even commissioners. As he did in his Big Book of Baseball Lineups, Rob Neyer provides readers with a fascinating examination of baseball's rich history, this time through the lens of the game's sometimes hilarious, often depressing, and always perplexing blunders. · Which ill-fated move cost the Chicago White Sox a great hitter and the 1919 World Series? · What was Babe Ruth thinking when he became the first (and still the only) player to end a World Series by getting caught trying to steal? · Did playing one-armed Pete Gray in 1945 cost the Browns a pennant? · How did winning a coin toss lead to the Dodgers losing the National League pennant on Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard 'round the World"? · How damaging was the Frank Robinson-for-Milt Pappas deal, really? · Which of Red Sox manager Don Zimmer's mistakes in 1978 was the worst? · Which Yankees trade was even worse than swapping Jay Buhner for Ken Phelps? · What non-move cost Buck Showalter a job and gave Joe Torre the opportunity of a lifetime? · Game 7, 2003 ALCS: Pedro winds up to throw his 123rd pitch...what were you thinking? These are just a few of the legendary (and not-so-legendary) blunders that Neyer analyzes, always with an eye on what happened, why it happened, and how it changed the fickle course of history. And in separate chapters, Neyer also reviews some of the game's worst trades and draft picks and closely examines all the teams that fell just short of first place. Another in the series of Neyer's Big Books of baseball history, Baseball Blunders should win a place in every devoted fan's library.

Young readers will delight in learning about their favorite players’ laugh-out-loud goofs. Full-page photos capture the bloopers, and easy prose includes fun facts and stats.

In place of a 3rd printing of his original book, Youth, Sports, & Self-Esteem: A Guide for Parents, Dr. Darrell Burnett, a published authority on parenting, decided to revise his popular book, adding some sportsmanship checklists, and changing the title to It's Just a Game! to reflect the importance of keeping youth sports in the proper perspective. While discussing the psychology of youth sports, Dr. Burnett not only points out how sports can strengthen a child's self-esteem, he offers specific practical positive parenting guidelines to help make it happen. Topics include: •The four cornerstones of self-esteem •12 guidelines for promoting children's self-esteem through youth sports •Case examples, photos, cartoons, references •Skill, behavior, and sportsmanship checklists •A Parent Attitude & Behavior Checklist for youth sports •A list of 86 Ways To Say "Very Good!" The book's theme is straightforward: kids have enough pressure in life, and youth sports should not add to it. Youth sports can and should promote self-esteem, offering every youngster an opportunity to enjoy the simple fun of participating in sports, while learning skills, feeling good, and building positive childhood memories. Dr. Burnett's book gives parents a blueprint for building those memories.

The dying art of the hidden-ball trick dates back to the early days of pro baseball, with seven successful executions documented in 1876 alone. This ruse occurs when a baseman conceals the ball instead of returning it to the pitcher. When the runner steps off the base, he is summarily tagged out with the hidden ball. The trick has been used some 264 times with success, a rarity roughly in the class of the no-hitter. The hidden-ball trick has produced many hilarious stories throughout the years, and even enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in 2013 when it was employed twice late in the season. In Finding the Hidden-Ball Trick: The Colorful History of Baseball’s Oldest Ruse, every known execution of the hidden-ball trick in the major leagues is documented, compiled from decades of research. This book recounts how the hidden-ball trick has completed triple plays, ended games, resulted in two arrests, cost a Hall of Famer a managing job, and even occurred in a World Series. Stories include how Fred Merkle gained revenge on Johnny Evers, how Gary Carter was caught to end a game—on his birthday—and how Lou Boudreau was nabbed the day after saying the play was obsolete. In addition to a complete chronological listing of every documented ruse, Finding the Hidden-Ball Trick also includes descriptions of tricks that went awry and a list of unsubstantiated accounts. This unique compilation of baseball stories will be of interest to baseball scholars and fans alike.