Giant Book Strange But True Sp

by Howard Liss

More than 150 amusing and amazing stories about the real world of sports--from football to flagpole sitting. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0394832876
• ISBN13: 9780394832876
• Release Date: October 1976
• Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
• Length: 147 Pages
• Weight: 1.22 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 8.1" x 10.9"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 3

Customer Reviews

Some of the unusual events that took place in a sports venue

All sports have their odd moments and some of the oddest are captured in this book. My favorite of all was the baseball game between the Boston Braves and Brooklyn Dodgers on June 28, 1941. The legendary Casey Stengel received a telegram that the umpires were fogbound on a boat and would be late for the game. Stengel showed the telegram to opposing manager Leo Durocher and they agreed to start the game by having one player from each team serve as an umpire. They completed the first inning without incident before the real umpires showed up. Oddities from baseball, basketball, track and field, tennis, football, soccer, hockey, golf, auto racing and even flagpole sitting are included. There are no great moments depicted, just unusual events that happen in any sport from time to time. Written for young readers, this is an amusing way for the next generation of fans to be introduced to sports.

A large amount of material for sports history and trivia buffs

The wide variety of sports and the infinite number of permutations of what can happen during the action leads to a significant number of bizarre occurrences. Among other things, there is the hidden ball trick in football, baseball games played without umpires, lacrosse players who used to hide the ball in their mouths, the wrestler who literally threw his purse into the crowd to avoid being arrested as a spy, blocking a field goal by jumping up over the crossbar, the legend that soccer began when soldiers began kicking the head of the defeated general, why basketball players are known as cagers, a perfect game in bowling that was completed over the course of a week and the outfielder that leapt up at the wall and had his belt stick so that he was dangling in the air. These incidents are amusing and part of the lore of every major sport. True sports fans study them, as they are great conversation starters among aficionados and trivia buffs. In this book, there is a large amount of material to start and continue such conversations.

What were you thinking?

A review of four stars may be generous, but it does not nearly do justice to a book of such brilliance. The stories were definitely strange and also true; hence, the book lived up to its billing. The stories were constantly amusing, and taught me new and interesting facts about sports and athletes with which I would otherwise not be familiar. In conclusion, anything less than a five star rating is intolerable for such a classic childhood book.

A fun book for young readers w/ an interest in sports.

This book introduced me to many sports that my environment never did. I was probably 10 when I read it and I learned stories about golf, tennis, and others sports that were not played by anyone where I lived. The stories are short and were offered in big print with a funny drawing. I probably read it 20 times! Buy this for your young sports fan!