It's Your Call!: Baseball's Oddest Plays

by Baseball America and Baseball America (Firm)

This book is guaranteed to drive any baseball fan batty. Compiled by the editorial staff of Baseball America, It's Your Call puts the reader in the role of the umpire to provide the correct--and instantaneous--judgment. Illustrated.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0020281412
• ISBN13: 9780020281412
• Release Date: January 1989
• Publisher: Collier Books
• Length: 116 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Required reading for any and all aspiring umpires

No matter how well versed you are on the legends and lore of baseball, this book will prove to you that you have neither heard nor seen it all. "It's Your Call!: Baseball's Oddest Plays" was put together by the editorial staff of "Baseball America," a newspaper on professional and amateur baseball, aided and abetted by the umpires who had to make these calls. The book begins with "Historical Hysteria: Twenty True Tales That Will Shock and Amaze," and any true baseball fan knows about the Merkle Boner and the Pine Tar Rag, and should remember all of the ruling involved. Maybe you have heard about Dave Bresnahan's trick play with the peeled potato, but the question is whether you can make the right call on each of these real world examples. "Part Two: True Confessions," is a collection of real life stories from professional umpires, from the famous Harry Wendelstedt and Ron Luciano to Pam Postema and a host of other minor league umps. No matter how well you did on the first part, this is the section where you are going to hear a whole bunch of tales you hvae never heard before, about bizarre plays, embarrassing moments, and practical jokes. Then, "Part Three: Hypothetical Horrors" tests your knowledge of the rules with ninety questions, arranged by innings, that will determine whether you could cut it on the field or whether you should just stay home in your comfortable chair and keep your mouth shut. I should warn you: the very first situation in this test is going to shoot you down. You will think that you know the rule, but clearly you do not. Remember, it is not simply a question of whether the call should be "out" or "safe," but knowing WHY that is the correct ruling. So pay attention to the details, because the fact that the hypothetical says the infield is playing in can actually matter in what should be the proper ruling (pay attention to the names in the examples, because you will recognize Bump Bailey and Roy Hobbs from "The Natural" and other recognizable name from history and fiction). I thought "It's Your Call" was just an amusing little book, but it is clear when you get to the final part that this is major league hard ball. At the end you total up your score and find out where you fit on the "Umpiring Promotion Schedule," which can take you any where from the La-Z Boy League to Cooperstown. You are going to end up in the low minors, so just accept it that you are not good enough to criticize the major league umps let alone do their job. Ultimately, "It's Your Call!" is more than a collection of "Baseball's Oddest Plays," it is a celebration of the complexity of the national pastime and the men who have to make the calls. It is one thing to see a shortstop charge a groundball only to see the ball roll up his shirtsleeve and down into his uniform. It is another thing to have to make the call, make it right away, and get it right, even when Larry Bowa is kicking dirt and lime into your eye.