cover image The Baseball Uncyclopedia: A Highly Opinionated, Myth-Busting Guide to the Great American Game

The Baseball Uncyclopedia: A Highly Opinionated, Myth-Busting Guide to the Great American Game

Michael Kun, Howard Bloom. Clerisy Press, $14.95 (256pp) ISBN 978-1-57860-233-9

As a rule, serious baseball fans can never have too much information, so it's unlikely that a devotee wouldn't enjoy Kun and Bloom's hyper-informative volume, which challenges and debunks the beliefs, legends and ""common knowledge"" that circulate among fans-among other statements both controversial and benign, they claim that ""Joe DiMaggio was never the greatest living baseball player,"" and ""Baseball is not a metaphor for life."" Throughout their discursive, stat-filled journey from Aardsma to Zwilling, the authors maintain a snide but playful back-and-forth that showcases clearly their obsession for the sport. This is not a book for the casual fan: Kun and Bloom are out to engage in arguments among readers well-versed in the lingo and history of the game, as well as other books in the genre (from the start, there are constant references to the obscure details that fuel authors, such as Bob Buhl, a player best remembered for having gone 0-70 batting for a season). Though a bit juvenile and sarcastic, Kun and Bloom live up to warmest of the baseball fan stereotypes: the wide-eyed idealist whose heart swells for any worthy player, and whose scorn is saved for obscenity-yelling fans, sore losers, or anyone else trying to ruin the game for everybody.