If you love baseball, then The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstown, a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the zany side of America's National Pastime, will have you laughing out loud. Where else could you read about Bob Feller who, during his major league debut on Mother's Day, threw a pitch that was fouled off and clocked his mother right in the face? Or the secret elixir of doe urine Kevin Millar put on his bat for good luck? Or the time Manny Ramirez abandoned his position in left field in the middle of a game to use the bathroom?
Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo's inglorious, irreverent collection contains more than 200 cream-of-the-crop baseball goofs and gaffes compiled from four previous installments in the Hall of Shame series published between 1985 and 1992, as well as some new stories to bring the concept up to date. The format shies away from statistics about the worst in batting, fielding and pitching performances. Instead, it chronicles the human element behind the stats, or what Nash and Zullo call "the unintended, hilarious, red-faced moments when a player, manager, coach, or fan screwed up in a funny way or did something else that would make you laugh."
Their offbeat anecdotes include inauspicious major league debuts, wacky plate appearances, base-running and fielding mix-ups, spring training shenanigans, player practical jokes and superstitions, obnoxious fan and managerial behavior, and other baseball diamond and ballpark mishaps. Photographs accompany these short, amusing stories of major leaguers who epitomize the philosophy that "fame and shame are part of the game." --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines