Baseball: Then to WOW!

Gr 1–3—Every aspect of our national pastime is covered in this attractive title. Using a time line format to tackle various decades, the editors provide details on players, umpires, dynasties, minor league teams, and even marketing. Readers learn about equipment, the evolution of many of the game's techniques and strategies, stadiums, and the best fielders, pitchers, and sluggers. Especially appealing are the lists of milestones for home runs, hits, and strikeouts. Though books such as Janet Wyman Coleman's Baseball for Everyone and Howard Bryant's Legends: The Best Players, Games, and Teams in Baseball contain more in-depth chapters, this title covers more ground. For instance, in addition to presenting a discussion of the first African Americans into the major leagues, this work offers information on Latin American players' influence on the sport. The chapter entitled "Fan-tastic" covers the fan experience and describes everything from baseball cards to ballpark foods. The text is complemented by well-placed photographs of teams and players as well as pencil drawings.