Thursday, November 7, 2013

Steve Rushin's 'The 34-Ton Bat' is a 'must-read' for baseball fans

The best sports book that I’ve read so far this year is “The 34-Ton Bat: The Story of Baseball as Told Through Bobbleheads, Cracker Jacks, Jockstraps, Eye Black, and 375 Other Strange and Unforgettable Objects” by Steve Rushin. Not only is it the best sports book that I’ve read this year, but it’s also arguably the best baseball book that I’ve ever read. It’s that good.

Released on Oct. 15 by Little, Brown & Co., this 352-page book gives readers the history of baseball as told through stories about the game’s objects, equipment and memorable characters. For me, it also answered a lot of questions that I’ve always had, but never took the time to look up. Why do some baseball uniforms include stirrups over socks? Does eye black really work? What good is a batting glove? Who invented “The Cup”? You’ll find the answers to all of these questions and many more in “The 34-Ton Bat.”

Much of the book discusses the evolution of baseball equipment, starting with the sport’s humble beginnings and taking us through the state-of-the-art equipment used by players today. Believe it or not, hindcatchers used to catch big league pitchers barehanded and the first catchers to use gloves were considered sissies. The same goes for batting helmets. Despite the evidence that helmets saved lives, players who first wore these protective devices were viewed as effeminate. Rushin explains that these innovations didn’t become mainstream until the game’s most famous players began using them.

One of the more entertaining chapters of the book detailed early “stunt catches” where players and fans would attempt all sorts of outrageous feats including catching balls dropped from the top of the Washington Monument, blimps and airplanes. These types of stunts were all the rage at one time, and for years, many of these acts were considered impossible.

At first glance, some of these acts might not seem that spectacular, but consider that when dropped from a height of several hundred feet, a baseball is traveling much faster than any human pitcher could ever throw it. For example, it was estimated that a ball dropped from 1,500 feet reaches speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, resulting in an impact of 8,050 foot-pounds, which would be like catching an 8,000-pound box dropped from one foot above.

This book will also make you want to hit the road to visit some of the nation’s old ballparks and the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Rushin, a writer for Sports Illustrated magazine, researched much of the book at the Hall of Fame’s library and many of the objects he talks about are now behind display cases at the Hall of Fame. Nowhere else will you see items like an inflatable batting helmet, a ball from the 51st floor of the World Trade Center’s North Tower that survived the Sept. 11 attacks and Lou Gehrig’s glove.

In the end, if you like baseball, you will love “The 34-Ton Bat.” Not only is it extremely interesting, but it’s also hilarious. I laughed out loud more than a few times and stayed up past my bedtime several nights as I lost track of the time between the covers of this book. Christmas is just around the corner, so if you’ve got a baseball or sports fan on your gift list, you can’t go wrong if you give them this book as a present.

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The tenth week of our local ESPN College Football Pick ‘Em contest came to a close on Saturday night and resulted in a shake up of the standings.

Hunter Norris remained in first place for the second straight week. The Matheny brothers, Joey and Jeremy, were tied for second place. Last week, Jeremy was in second place, and Joey was in third.

Ricky Taylor went from sixth place to fourth place. Mike Dailey remained in fifth place. Aaron Albritton dropped from fourth place to sixth place.

I went from eighth place to seventh place, and my brother, Mark, dropped from seventh to eighth place. Steve Stacey was in ninth place, and Terry Peacock was in tenth place.

We’ve only got five more weeks to go in the contest, and it’s still anybody’s game. Who cane say who will be in the top spot this time next month, especially when you take into account all the big games that are coming up.

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Football action in the Southeastern Conference is heating up, and this weekend, we’ve got six head-to-head match ups to look forward to. Those games will include LSU at Alabama, Auburn at Tennessee, Arkansas at Ole Miss, Mississippi State at Texas A&M, Missouri at Kentucky and Vanderbilt at Florida. Other games involving SEC teams this week will include Appalachian State at Georgia. South Carolina doesn’t play this week.

If you’re interested, here are my picks for this week’s games. Use at your own risk. I like Alabama over LSU, Auburn over Tennessee, Ole Miss over Arkansas, Texas A&M over Mississippi State, Missouri over Kentucky, Florida over Vanderbilt and Georgia over Appalachian State. Last week: 6-0. So far this season: 69-14.

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Week 10 of the NFL regular season schedule kicks off tonight (Thursday) with a game between the 3-5 Washington Redskins and the 1-7 Minnesota Vikings. That game will kick off at 7:25 p.m. at Mall of America Field. Twelve games will follow on Sunday, and the Monday night game will feature the Miami Dolphins and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Cleveland, Kansas City, New England and the New York Jets don’t play this week.

Tonight, I look for Washington to beat Minnesota. On Sunday, I like Tennessee over Jacksonville, Green Bay over Philadelphia, Pittsburgh over Buffalo, the New York Giants over Oakland, Indianapolis over St. Louis, Seattle over Atlanta, Cincinnati over Baltimore, Detroit over Chicago, San Francisco over Carolina, Arizona over Houston, Denver of San Diego and New Orleans over Dallas. In the Monday night game, I like Miami over Tampa Bay. Last week: 9-4. So far this season: 93-40.

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