Play Baseball the Ripken Way: The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Fundamentals

by Cal Ripken Jr., Bill Ripken, Larry Burke

Book Overview

Every year, hundreds of thousands of children play "Cal Ripken Baseball" in the largest division of Babe Ruth League, Inc. Play Baseball the Ripken Way is the ultimate guide to playing the game, by one of the sport's living legends.

Baseball is America's national pastime, but that doesn't mean we're all born naturals. Kids of all ages (and their parents) are eager to improve specific skills, and now they can learn from one of the most...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0812970500
• ISBN13: 9780812970500
• Release Date: January 2005
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 276 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 9.2"
• Age Range: 11 to 15 years
• Grade Range: Grades 6 to 10

Customer Reviews

Bookworm's Crash-Course in Baseball

I picked up this book at the local sporting goods store while I was buying gloves, bats, socks, pants, and etc. for my two sons who were starting little league baseball. Just a few weeks earlier, I had declined a spot as an assistant coach due to not being "athletic", and I saw Ripken's book as an opportunity to learn some of the things that other dads had learned as kids. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I have not read it cover-to-cover, but have browsed and spot-read it throughout the season. As a result, I now understand more of the things other dads are yelling out. For example, for those in the field, "keep your eye on the ball" means watch the ball from the beginning of the pitch, all the way to the bat, as it connects with and leaves the bat, then all the way to the glove. Chapters are given for each of the aspects of the game, pitching, fielding, hitting, catching, running, and so forth. Text narratives are easily understood, avoiding or explaining the sports "jargon" that confuses many beginning players (e.g. "choke up on the bat", "take two"). Pictures explicitly illustrate concepts such as batting and fielding stances. Ripken's narrative also provides fun training excercises used by coaches (both major and little leagues) to develop baseball skills. I have kept this book within an arm's reach in my office all summer long. Ripken's baseball insights have enabled me to help my sons develop their own throwing and batting skills. Maybe next year, I might take that assistant coach position!

What You would Expect from Cal Ripken: Excellent

I am a baseball fan. I played as a kid and go to seem MLB games in my home town of Toronto. We are in the same conference as the Baltimore Orioles (American League East), Cal's old team so I saw him play quite a bit. He is a graceful and thoughtful player. His four trademarks were a love of the game, natural ability, a lot of practice, a thinking player, and he has a lot of experience. Also he comes from a baseball family. In short he is among the best all round players to have ever played the games and to our benefit he stayed late after every game signing autographs - a rarity today. If I was going to pick one recent player to write a book an learning baseball he would be the man. He has intelligence, experience and the love for the game. Many other players might be faster, or better hitters, etc. but he was the total package, a guy that could pace himself on and off the field and a person that really loved the game and cared for the fans. So that brings us to the book. It is impressive! It is a work of love by the authors. It is well laid out with a chapter by chapter review of the game with lots and lots of bright color photographs, some in a time sequence so they show how the action evolves. He and the other authors appear in the photos wearing simple black and white uniforms demonstrating baseball fundamentals. He tries to explain some of the more subtle yet important parts of the game. He covers all the basic aspects such as pitching, how to hold the pitched ball, catching, playing the infield, the outfield, hitting, etc. Excellent for all levels of baseball, playing or a fan. Highly recommend. Everyone will learn something new, even old fans like me.

Ripken Baseball Book Review

I really enjoyed reading this book. I felt that as a serious baseball player, who strives to play the proper way, I learned a ton through Cal Ripken's easy to follow baseball teaching methods. A must have for all baseball players!

Excellent book

A previous reviewer asks, "What would you expect from Cal Ripken?" Well, from any major league player, I would expect a half baked, ghosted book with a lot of reminiscenses and some trite advice. Fortunately, that is not the case with this book. The Ripkens have obviously thought deeply about the fundamentals of baseball and how to teach them to young players. They boil the instruction down to the essence, and explain why. For example, I have always heard "get your butt down," to field a ground ball. The Ripkens explain that's so you can see the ball better as it comes to you. How many times have you heard coaches tell young players to "get the back elbow up" when hitting? I know that's wrong - now I know why it's wrong. All in all, this a great instructional book. It really does stress the fundamentals and doesn't get bogged down in the details only a double A player would care about.

Great Fundamentals

Coach John Wooden said a good player with good fundamentals will become a good player and a good player with great fundamentals will become a great player. If you're like me, a Father of a 10-year-old boy who loves playing baseball and you have been looking for that one book that can show you the fundamentals of baseball from hitting to fielding and pitching. Look no further, because this book has everything you will need and a whole lot more. The Ripkens have put together a baseball book that tells the how to, in an approach easy to understand and not only the how to but the why, which as Cal points out, all kids ask. Many thanks to the Ripken family from late Father Cal to sons Cal and Billy and their fine staff who have put together a great baseball book of fundamentals for the Father, Coach and ballplayer.