The Cheater's Guide to Baseball

The Cheater's Guide to Baseball
by Derek Zumsteg

The Cheater's Guide to Baseball
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Book Summary Information

Author: Derek Zumsteg
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-02
ISBN: 0618551131
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Mariner Books

Book Reviews of The Cheater's Guide to Baseball

Book Review: You will never watch the game in the same way again!
Summary: 5 Stars

I get to begin this by telling you that I am in fact the perfect guy to review a book about baseball. In the past 6 weeks I have read no fewer than 6 books on the subject. The list includes: Management by Baseball (real good book), Fantasyland (compelling for the addicted), Clemente (thanks Mike), Philosophy and Baseball (really not a good book), Juiced (I still hate Jose Canseco) and The Baseball Economist (absolute must read for geeks).

However, the best one I read is clearly The Cheaters Guide to Baseball.

I'll paint the scenery under which I read the book. I had just finished reading a book called "Good Economy" on the flight from Milwaukee to Cabo San Lucas. The book was very good, but frankly it was more of a work thing. Travelling is always tiring so day one of vacation was to be spent reading, drinking and sunning on the beach. The book I chose to read was the Cheaters Guide to Baseball.

The book is simply fascinating. I literally could not put the thing down. I watch a lot of baseball. Hell I played baseball at pretty competitve levels. I can assure you after reading this book, the game has changed for me entirely. Cheating in baseball is in fact strategy. Hell cheating is a strategy.

I won't cover it chapter to chapter (because you should have already purchased it and started reading it). I will cover a few key points that clearly illustrate how important an addition to your baseball library the "guide" will become.

Consider the playing field. in general we all assume that other than the HR distance from the dish to the fence all ballparks are created equal right? Wrong. In fact I had no idea what an important piece of equipment the blowtorch was in baseball. The variety of dirt manipulations and lawn alterings that are employd by baseball executives are astounding. Have you ever wondered why the home teams 3b doesn't charge a weak bunt that goes foul and the away team sprints after it? The home team guy probably knows where the field slopes optimally to suit his team. Watch the visiting pitcher scrape the mound with his shoe trying to unearth some "softer" soil to get some pushoff and find the ground so hard it breaks his cleats. How exactly did that ground get so hard? The section in the book that cover this kind of stuff will render your game watching experience changed forever.

The spitball is a lost art. The section onthe evolution of the rule changes and the impacts the rule change had on the game are fascinating. Gaylord Perry somehow circumvented the very rules he helped create. Also well covered in the book.

We all know how the sign stealing scenario works right? The section of the book that covers the shere chicanery is quite entertaining. Placement of strategic fans, scouts, players, etc. The effort is unreal. The a realization that it may do little or no good? The book covers it in grave detail.

I have always enjoyed Billy Martin. Now I idolize him. John McGraw lasting impact on the game goes well beyond his managing skills. Barry Bonds? I still love him, but I can at least comprehend the argument provided by Derek.

The book is charmingly written and you can clearly hear the author's sarcastic flare. The research is impeccable and frankly I have no idea how he came across some of it with such detail.

Summary of The Cheater's Guide to Baseball

Ever see Mike Piazza block the plate? Or Derek Jeter slide hard into second? Illegal. But it happens every game. Baseball?s rules, it seems, were made to be broken. And they are, by the players, the front office, and even sometimes the fans. Like it or not, cheating has been an integral part of America?s favorite pastime since its inception. The Cheater?s Guide to Baseball will show you how cheating is really done. In this lively tour through baseball?s underhanded history, readers will learn how to cork a bat, steal signs, hurl a spitball, throw a World Series, and win at any cost!
They?ll also see the dirty little secrets of the game?s greatest manipulators: John McGraw and Ty Cobb; Billy Martin and Gaylord Perry; Graig Nettles and Sammy Sosa; and, yes, even Barry Bonds. They?ll find out how the Cleveland Indians doctored their basepaths to give new meaning to the term home field advantage. They?ll delight in a hilarious examination of the Black Sox scandal, baseball?s original sin. And, in the end, they?ll come to understand that cheating is as much a part of baseball as pine tar and pinch hitters. And it?s here to stay.

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