My most recent read is yet another gift from my thoughtful friends @kayakgal and @BlueberryCat. They know what a big baseball fan I am and sent me what I believe is the most unique baseball book ever. "Flip Flop Fly Ball" has relatively little text; it is made up mostly of infographics. It was so much fun to read!In order to make the whole thing even more interesting, the author, Craig Robinson, is English. He didn't even grow up with baseball! I am amazed how he has taken the Great American Pastime and combined it with American pop culture. If he had not described how he began watching and learning about baseball, I never would have guessed that he wasn't American himself.
This book gave such a fresh perspective on the game of baseball. It compared teams, players, stadiums and uniforms in ways I never thought about. A few of my favorite infographics from the book were: A comparison of players homeruns and their involvement with performance enhancing drugs; outlines of each of the Major League fields (I picked out Fenway with no problem!); Green Monster height comparisons; and Kevin Costner's baseball movies vs. his non-baseball movies.
If you are a fan of the game of baseball you really must take a look at this book. It not only looks at Major League Baseball, but Minor League Baseball, Independent Leagues, Japanese Baseball and even the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.
On his website, FlipFlopFlyBall.com, Craig Robinson mentions that Kauffman Stadium is his favorite stadium that he has never visited. I want to offer Mr. Robinson an open invitation to come to Kansas City and visit the K with me (it could even be for a Yankees game). That way I can tell him in person how spot-on he was with his infographic "Ichiro Is Awesome."
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