Cool at the Old Ballgame: Watching Baseball Smarter by Zack Hample

Whether you're a Little League star or you just want to sound cool when you take in the game with the guys, self-proclaimed baseball geek Zack Hample's Watching Baseball Smarter: A Professional Fan's Guide for Beginners, Semi-Experts, and Deeply Serious Geeks has the answers to all those questions you always wanted to ask and a lot that you never knew to ask.

Why do hitters hold on to their batting gloves even after they get on base? (To make sure that their hands will be in fists to avoid injury if they have to slide.) What's the best writing implement to use if you get a star to autograph a ball? (Blue ballpoint ink: black Sharpies fade and feather, and black inks are more easily faked.) What's a "dying quail?" (A blooper hit just beyond the infield.) Why do baseball players spit so much? (Boredom; baseball is a game of strategy, not action.) Why do players tug at their, er, boxer shorts so much? (Really uncomfortable cups).

There are illustrations of the grip for a variety of pitches, a dictionary of baseball slang, coaching strategies for different game scenarios, and trivia by the ton that can make anyone sound like an expert. Publisher's Weekly (starred review) said "Hample hits the equivalent of a reference book homerun with his witty, loose, and readable style," and Booklist quips that his book "is just the ticket to get fans in the right frame of mind for opening day!"

If you're a hardcore collector of baseball memorabilia, you might also want to take a look at Hample's How to Snag Major League Baseballs. Hample covers over 100 tips for putting yourself in the right place at the right time, including 1) Buying your tickets in advance and getting to the ballpark early to get field-level seats; 2)Bringing a glove; 3)Wearing the right team cap (bring one for each team); and 4) Asking players for balls (in their native language, if necessary!). Hample claims to know how to beg practice balls in over 50 languages, and he has 3,123 major league balls to show for it!