The Complete Book of Baseball Signs and Plays
by Stu Southworth

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Book Reviews of The Complete Book of Baseball Signs and Plays

Book Review: More plays than signs
Summary: 3 Stars

It's not clear who the book is written for: serious fans and coaches at any level will already be familiar with all but the most unusual strategies described, while casual fans may not find the repetitive descriptions and diagrams all that engaging. The author begins by providing some historical background to the origin of signs and plays that most readers will find informative. Then he moves on to break down offensive signs and plays to a degree that is almost unncessary (e.g., listing all possible base-running situations -- "nobody on, man on first, man on second..."). The author provides a nice summary of the types of signals (flash, holding, block, etc.), but leaves one with the false impression that all possible signals have been described (e.g., "folding the arms: delayed steal"). In the same chapter, he also includes a number of strategies that teams can use to produce more offense, and then lists almost seven pages of "points to remember as base coaches... duites of base coaches...," once again leaving the reader wondering about the central purpose of the book. Consequently, the bulk of this second chapter is probably of most value to little league and high school coaches with limited experience.

The longest chapter, "Defensive Plays and Signs," details over 50 plays with separate charts that illustrate the positioning and movement of defensive players, but again, this section may tax the patience of readers who are not serious students of the game.

Chapter Four is one section that strikes me as a bit odd to include in this text: "Umpires' Calls and Signs" gives us an interesting window into the "third team" (p. 250) on the field, but it takes the reader some time to wade through all 77 situations that describe and illustrate how umpires position themselves for plays and how they communicate verbally and nonverbally with players, coaches, and each other. Again, coaches, players, and serious fans will be well versed in the bulk of the chapter's content, while casual readers may find this section of the text too involved and repetitive.
The book ends with two short chapters, an intriguing section on stealing signs, and a collection of humorous anecdotes that the author witnessed -- entertaining, to be sure, but one gets the impression that the closing chapter is an unncessary add-on.
"The Complete Book of Baseball Signs and Plays" is written in a fairly clear, albeit repetitve, style, and the diagrams do attempt to clarify the various complex situations. Its strength lies in its organization, while it is somewhat lacking in overall content. This book will be most valuable to little league and high school coaches as a reference tool that attempts to summarize a wide range of offensive and defensive plays.

Summary of The Complete Book of Baseball Signs and Plays

Baseball Books

• Subjects > Sports & Outdoors > Coaching > Baseball