Overview
Just in time for opening day, the ultimate book for baseball fans.
"Makes you the smartest kid on the sandlot." -- American Profile (on the first edition)
Baseball Now! celebrates the latest players of America's pastime. This new edition delivers up-to-date profiles of more than 70 stars of the National and American Leagues, which are complemented by more than 100 full-color action photographs.
Fully revised, this edition includes up-to-date coverage of the 2010 regular season, the league playoffs and the World Series. Starring players and winning teams, stragglers and fumblers, all of the highlights, and lowlights, are included.
Baseball Now! takes the reader with Tim Lincecum and Roy Halladay into the late innings, with Jonathan Papelbon and Mariano Rivera getting the team out of a jam, with Derek Jeter and Chase Utley turning a double play, with Torii Hunter and Ichiro Suzuki making a leaping catch on the warning track, and with Albert Pujols and Josh Hamilton hitting a walk-off homer.
Baseball Now! is ideal for the fan who wants the stories behind the numbers.
Synopsis
A book for all baseball fans: well illustrated short biographies of 70 of the greatest players today, organized by six positions and up-and-comers, with coverage to the 2007 regular season.
VOYA
Baseball fans will flip through this book to find their favorite current players and then settle down to read each engaging player profile. Many players will be familiar from their recent All Star Game appearances. These players have earned MVP, Silver Slugger, and Gold Glove awards. Many were first-round draft picks and have gone on to earn Rookie of the Month or Year titles. Each profile details the player's beginnings, stats for early seasons, contributions to the 2007 season, and career potential. The chapters highlight a particular field position and include players from both the American and National Leagues. "Outstanding Outfielders" covers the outfielders currently playing while "Backstops" highlights the amazing catchers. "Armed and Dangerous" profiles pitchers, and "Firemen" described the game-ending closers. Each player has a two-page spread indicating their team and division, including two, full-color action shots. Although the text is filled with baseball statistics, the profiles are highly readable and entertaining. They include both well-known and lesser-known stories, showing players' personalities. A clever graphic design of a baseball ticket for each player contains the career highlights, number, and position in an easily accessible font and format. The book concludes with a chapter called "Rough Diamonds," drawing attention to up-and-coming new players. Bartoletti has done his research, using Internet sources as well as baseball publications. Although the material will become dated quickly, it will remain interesting as a yearbook of important players playing now. Reviewer: Cindy Faughnan