Baseball for Brain Surgeons

[tbuck]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I'd say books by Bill James and George Will are better suited for people who already have a deep passion for the game. For someone developing that love, i'd recommend books that tell stories about the game and entertain you. Bill James can come off pretty dry to the casual fan.

[tbuck]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I'd say books by Bill James and George Will are better suited for people who already have a deep passion for the game. For someone developing that love, i'd recommend books that tell stories about the game and entertain you. Bill James can come off pretty dry to the casual fan.

[sdrotar]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I gave George Will's "Men at Work" to my sister-in-law, who was just starting to enjoy baseball and wanted to know more.

She loved it, and said it changed the way she looked at baseball - now she enjoys it so much more with her greater understanding of the game.

I'm with Clay, though - keep watching. All of a sudden, you'll realize you're addicted...

[sdrotar]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I gave George Will's "Men at Work" to my sister-in-law, who was just starting to enjoy baseball and wanted to know more.

She loved it, and said it changed the way she looked at baseball - now she enjoys it so much more with her greater understanding of the game.

I'm with Clay, though - keep watching. All of a sudden, you'll realize you're addicted...

[jake]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I think McCarver knows too much about baseball and to that end drolls too much over extreme minutia. Additionally, Ive seen times where he is being critical of a decision of a manager when the manager had a good reason to do what he did. McCArver launhces into a 10 minute criticism of the decision. So people at home who see how it made sense have to tolereate his nonsense. MAnagerial decisions are calculated risks based what the manager sees from his players every day but no decision is risk free and they dont all work out. Within McCarver there seems to be a struggle between his knowledge and opinion and it seems when this is the case the opinion wins. Its too bad Joe Garagiola isnt doing games anymore, he had a nice balance of analyst and old stories. I think if yo can find something from Costas it might be decent. Some managers who may have written books is an idea. Some of the better strategists are Weaver and Herzog, esp Herzog.

[jake]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

I think McCarver knows too much about baseball and to that end drolls too much over extreme minutia. Additionally, Ive seen times where he is being critical of a decision of a manager when the manager had a good reason to do what he did. McCArver launhces into a 10 minute criticism of the decision. So people at home who see how it made sense have to tolereate his nonsense. MAnagerial decisions are calculated risks based what the manager sees from his players every day but no decision is risk free and they dont all work out. Within McCarver there seems to be a struggle between his knowledge and opinion and it seems when this is the case the opinion wins. Its too bad Joe Garagiola isnt doing games anymore, he had a nice balance of analyst and old stories. I think if yo can find something from Costas it might be decent. Some managers who may have written books is an idea. Some of the better strategists are Weaver and Herzog, esp Herzog.

[TexasJedi]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Does anyone recall that dustup a few years back between McCarver and Deion Sanders? I think Deion, who was playing for the Braves at the time, poured some chapagne on McCarver and he didn't take too kindly to it.

That was almost as good as Jim Gray grilling Pete Rose at the World Series on national tv.

[TexasJedi]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Does anyone recall that dustup a few years back between McCarver and Deion Sanders? I think Deion, who was playing for the Braves at the time, poured some chapagne on McCarver and he didn't take too kindly to it.

That was almost as good as Jim Gray grilling Pete Rose at the World Series on national tv.

[tbuck]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Earl Weaver does have a book about baseball strategy available.

I remember the Deion/McCarver incident. Deion ended up looking like an idiot, as usual.

[tbuck]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Earl Weaver does have a book about baseball strategy available.

I remember the Deion/McCarver incident. Deion ended up looking like an idiot, as usual.

[abravo83]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Ahaha, oh man. Joe Morgan? That man is an idiot! Sure, he is nice enough, but he often doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. He goes into this wild rambling that doesn't make much sense, and at some point Jon Miller will point out an obvious flaw in Morgan's reasoning and he'll say "Oh, well.." and fade back into silence. He is persistant, though.

[abravo83]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Ahaha, oh man. Joe Morgan? That man is an idiot! Sure, he is nice enough, but he often doesn't seem to know what he's talking about. He goes into this wild rambling that doesn't make much sense, and at some point Jon Miller will point out an obvious flaw in Morgan's reasoning and he'll say "Oh, well.." and fade back into silence. He is persistant, though.

[CheckMate]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Deion dumped like 3 buckets of ice water on McCarver.

And Joe Morgan is great.

I like Joe Buck too.

[CheckMate]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

Deion dumped like 3 buckets of ice water on McCarver.

And Joe Morgan is great.

I like Joe Buck too.

[ryan36]

Re: Baseball for Brain Surgeons

You guys, baseball color commentary is HARD. I do it for a college team on radio. It's even harder than on TV. The problem is, that you (as an "insider"), don't know what the casual fan doesn't know. As a baseball guy, I talk strategy, signs that pitchers may be tired, and predict what you can expect to see in the current situation. It's hard to explain details generally enough to keep them interesting...and at the college level, there aren't a whole bunch of anecdotes and stories to tell. I know I lean toward the technical, but people like my analysis...at least they tell me they do to my face. It's hard to find a balance between speaking layman, not insulting your audience's intelligence, AND trying to point things out that may not have occured to your average fan. Nobody wants a color guy that says "he did a nice job of getting that bunt down there", and "what a great jump he got on that steal." Anyway, that's my two cents' worth...