There's trivia, and then there's knowledgeÑdeep, extensive, obsessive knowledgeÑmasquerading as trivia. It's the kind of trivia that, if you know the answer, makes you feel triumphant, and if you don't, gives you an education. The kind of trivia based not on what we shouldn't be expected to know, but on what we shouldÑif we're to consider ourselves true fans. Dennis Purdy, author of the just-published Team-by-Team Encyclopedia of Major League Baseball, has been collecting baseball trivia since before he could shave, and now presents the best of the best: a massive collection of over 1,000 trivia games. Not solo questions, but half-page games, every one involving matching multiple players to their accomplishments, or evaluating multiple clues to discover a mystery subject's identity, or digging deep into a round-up of terms, nicknames, phrases, awards, events, individual teams, locations, and more. The games cover three centuries of baseball history. Home run calls and the announcers who made them famous. The peculiar geography of a baseball fieldÑ where's the garden? the gateway? the firing line? Inimitable slang: cackler, chucker, clinker, and squibber. The lesser-known career feats of baseball's ÒBig 3,Ó Ruth, Aaron, and Bonds. World Series potpourriÑThey won the first night game in World Series history. . . . The team that lost the most World SeriesÑ13 . . . The only American League team to lose the World Series in three consecutive seasons . . . And much, much, much more.

Tim McCarver, major league baseball's premier analyst, has been surprising and delighting viewers for years with his remarkable insight. Fans who once were content to merely watch baseball were stimulated into wanting to think baseball as well. McCarver brings to the booth a combination of twenty-one years of major league service and nearly twenty more in broadcasting. There is nobody better at explaining the game than McCarver, and it is a rare game in which the viewer does not learn something new and unusual. Now he is putting down on paper all he knows about the sport, producing this unique perspective on how America's pastime should be played and watched. With his unmistakable wit and storytelling verve, McCarver succinctly explains the fundamentals and proper mechanics of baseball at the level necessary for success in the major leagues. Once the skills have been learned, the viewer can devise smart strategies, getting into the heads of the players, coaches, and managers: When should a player or manager be conservative or aggressive; what factors change as the count goes deeper; how do you set up an effective running game, and how can a defense try to sabotage it? This book is a gold mine for all fans, from brain surgeons and rocket scientists to beginners who want to start with the basics. (Even major leaguers will be able to pick up some pointers.) With a deeper knowledge and understanding of baseball, any fan will be able to watch it like a pro.

Jackson is ready for his first baseball game, but a pesky bee might just ruin his big day. This Starting Line Reader is sure to be a home run for every new reader.

“A must-read for the cerebral sports fan . . . like Moneyball except nerdier. Much nerdier.” —Sports Illustrated Why couldn’t Michael Jordan, master athlete that he was, crush a baseball? Why can’t modern robotics come close to replicating the dexterity of a five-year-old? Why do great quarterbacks always seem to know where their receivers are? On a quest to discover what actually drives human movement and its spectacular potential, journalist, sports writer, and fan Zach Schonbrun interviewed experts on motor control around the world. The trail begins with the groundbreaking work of two neuroscientists in Major League Baseball who are upending the traditional ways scouts evaluate the speed with which great players read a pitch. Across all sports, new theories and revolutionary technology are revealing how the brain’s motor control system works in extraordinarily talented athletes like Stephen Curry, Tom Brady, Serena Williams, and Lionel Messi; as well as musical virtuosos, dancers, rock climbers, race-car drivers, and more. Whether it is timing a 95 mph fastball or reaching for a coffee mug, movement requires a complex suite of computations that many take for granted—until they read The Performance Cortex. Zach Schonbrun ushers in a new way of thinking about the athletic gifts we marvel over and seek to develop in our own lives. It’s not about the million-dollar arm anymore. It’s about the million-dollar brain.

You can flex your mental muscle and learn interesting facts about baseball with Brain Games Baseball Puzzles. All the puzzles are related to baseball and are sure to provide a season's worth of fun. Enjoy word searches full of common baseball terms, All-Star picture puzzles, major league mazes, and more. Offers a variety of puzzles including: anagrams, crosswords, language puzzles, logic puzzles, mazes, memory puzzles, visual logic puzzles, word searches. Different puzzles stretch different parts of the brain and can enhance the following cognitive functions: analysis, attention, computation, creative thinking, general knowledge, language, logic, planning, problem solving, spatial reasoning, spatial visualization, visual logic, visual search. 200 puzzles, divided into five levels, from easy to difficult. Spiral-bound, 192 pages. Yogi Berra famously said, Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical. And like in baseball, where teams hold spring training to get ready for a long season, you need brain training to sharpen your mind and protect it from decline. Hone your mental capacity to ensure that you stay on the top of your game with Brain Games Baseball Puzzles. The book, part of the popular Brain Games series, is designed to make you feel the burn (mentally, of course) by working different cognitive functions.

Ruppert Jones is an eleven-year Major League Baseball veteran, a two-time MLB All-Star outfielder, and a World Series Champion. He came from nothing to fulfill his dream of playing Major League Baseball. He battled injuries throughout his career but repeatedly bounced back stronger. In 1980, Ruppert collided with the outfield wall while chasing down a fly ball. The result was a traumatic brain injury that went undiagnosed for over 30 years, during which his personality slowly changed. He turned to drugs and alcohol. He flirted with suicide. His life spiraled out of control, and he lost his family and friends, but he never gave up. Ruppert's story is about a search for answers during a time when there were no answers. Ruppert's story is more common today than ever, though now the effects of traumatic brain injuries and CTE are well known, and athletes are doing everything possible to prevent head injuries. The story of Ruppert Jones is not just an athlete memoir - it's a story intended to help those who have suffered a similar fate and don't understand what's happening to them.