Odd Ball

Gr 3—6—Tocher and Curtis serve up an enjoyable, offbeat collection of trivia, from unusual pitchers (including Mark "the Bird" Fidrych) to the intervention of nonhuman fans, such as the seagulls that made their home in the Cleveland Indians' ballpark and sometimes interfered with on-field play. There are accounts of ballplayers playing with and without mitts; balls dropped from airplanes, blimps, and the Washington Monument; and the poor Phillies fan who was struck by two foul balls, once as she sat in the stands and again as she was being carried out on a stretcher. Tocher's deftly limned accounts are broadly humorous and supplemented by Curtis's giggle-inducing cartoons. One section focuses on differently abled athletes, such as one-armed fielder Pete Brown, and Jim Abbott, who pitched for the Angels for 11 seasons though he was born with only one hand. Ranging from baseball's early days to the present, this collection offers an appealing selection of entertaining baseball facts.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA