I'm Fascinated by Sacrifice Flies

May 1, 2016

The title of this book by ESPN analyst and ESPN The Magazine contributor Kurkjian might strike people as odd, but it serves as the ideal springboard for capturing baseball's timeless intrigue by showcasing the sport's "there is an exception to every rule" implausibility. The author shows how players can get an RBI (run batted in) by technically not earning a hit, landing on base, or even hitting the ball in fair territory. Armed with an uncanny arsenal of funny and insightful encyclopedic facts (and a comedian's sense of timing), Kurkjian proves to be a stalwart color commentator as he probes baseball's lengthy history, tying the present to the past with the stories and characters that still make the sport appealing. With enthusiasm and immediacy, readers will time-travel between old and new players, game superstitions, the best and worst baseball movies, which players' swings produce the loudest sound, and why these athletes are more well rounded than other performers. VERDICT Kurkjian's thoughtful approach and blissful meanderings show why the game fascinates legions of fans on both the micro- and macrolevels: a pitch, an at-bat, an inning, a game, a season. The delightfully unpredictable narrative always comes back to make epiphanic sense.--Benjamin Malczewski, Toledo-Lucas Cty. P.L.

Copyright 2016 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2016
Longtime ESPN baseball analyst Kurkjian lays out a nice seasonal platter of snacks for fans: a salute to the box score, quirky baseball stats (Quirkjians), player superstitions, an appreciation of Padres great Tony Gwynn (.338 lifetime batting average, five Gold Gloves as a right fielder), the hit-by-pitch (how it looks and feels to the batter: not good), and the punchlines only baseball, of all the major sports, provides, like Orioles pitcher Mike Flannery's comment after his team's mascot, the Bird, fell off the roof of the dugout and needed help off the field: I told him to take two worms and call me in the morning. Ephemeral? Sure. Ungainly title? Yep. But Kurkjian's celebrity and the joyous contents within the covers merit the investment.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)