Major league baseball season is in full swing and there’s a lot more to the game than balls and strikes. Last month ALWAYS in the MIDDLE participated in the Book Blast for IT’S A NUMBERS GAME! BASEBALL. The big Giveaway is over but now I can give you a better idea of what you’ll find inside this colorful guide to America’s pastime.

First up is the official synopsis:

With every hit, ball, strike, and home run numbers are being calculated on the baseball field. Get ready to learn all the ways digits and math factor into the game, from the countless statistics used to measure an individual player’s game to the exact timing used to steal a base.

Read about all the greatest players from baseball history and get fun facts, like what the most retired jersey number is. Discover what countries dominate in the Little League World Series and check out cool graphics that show the frequency of hits to every part of the field. Jam-packed with sports trivia, awesome photos, and fun activities at the end of every chapter, this number-focused look at the game is the ultimate grand slam.

Photos of the greatest players and descriptions of every aspect of the game fill the seven chapters. Even if you are a die hard baseball fan, be prepared to learn something new.

Ever wonder how Slugging Percentage is figured or even what it means? Everything is explained with sample math problems. The same goes for ERA (Earned Run Average), BAPIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play, and RANGE FACTOR to name a few. Yes, stats rule the game and drive decisions both before and during a game.

I especially enjoyed the closing chapters on the World Series and 9 crazy numbers baseball is known for with the player given their due. A 2-page glossary brings you up to date on unfamiliar words and a third page covers all the abbreviations.

Baseball fans won’t want to miss this one. I’ve been to quite a few games myself in three different ball parks and this put me in the big leagues for how the game is played and scored. A homerun on my scorecard.

About the Author

JAMES BUCKLEY, JR. is the author of more than 100 books for young readers on basketball, baseball, football, soccer, and more. A former editor at Sports Illustrated and NFL Publishing, he is also the author of the top-selling annual Scholastic Year in Sports. In the non-sports world, he has written a dozen titles in the New York Times best-selling Who Was…? biography series. He lives in Santa Barbara, California, where he runs the Shoreline Publishing Group, a leading producer of nonfiction for kids.

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