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Pure Baseball
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Customer Reviews
Rating:  - Tedious, but a good read
As previously mentioned, the "Pitch by Pitch" in the subtitle of this book is no lie. Hernandez dissects entire at-bats (not every at-bat, thankfully) and other parts of two regular season games from 1993 involving the Phillies and Braves and the Tigers and Yankees. His preference for National League baseball is evident. Still, he doesn't let this deter him from enjoying the AL game.
The good part about this book: It's very descriptive. The bad part about this book: It's very descriptive. Keith's insights are great and I did learn a fair amount from reading this book. That said, he spends too much time breaking down certain plays. Seven pages on the hit-and-run? Four pages on the pickoff? Way too long. Even I don't love baseball that much. Also, he goes way overboard with his use of exclamation points. It seemed like there was five or six in every paragraph.
Overall, I mildly recommend this book. I wouldn't pay full price for it, but it's worth a read.
Rating:  - outstanding
Easily the best baseball education in print that I've ever seen. It's like taking a master's course in baseball. You have an opportunity to almost sit down with a major leaguer and say "Teach Me" and he does. Keith has a bit of a weakness as far as pitch sequencing and understanding missed spots, but they are not particularly glaring. His understanding of counts, and situations outside of the count (inning, score, particular players involved etc..) are exemplary. Any serious ballplayer's dream.
Rating: - Worth the time for the advanced fan
It takes time and patience to read this book. The title says "Pitch by Pitch for the Advanced Fan," and it means it literally. Hernandez talks about what goes through a player's mind during a game. His descriptions of how a batter thinks about an at-bat are priceless. It takes a while to plow through all this stuff - there's a *lot* of detail - but if you do you'll have a deeper knowledge of the little in-game strategies and decisions that make baseball so special.
Rating: - A MUST read for the real fan
If ever there was a necessary baseball book, this is it!! I reread it every season (as does at least one other reviewer) and always learn something more from doing so.
I have taken Mr. Hernandez' advice and always turn off the sound when watching a game on TV. I find it to be a major improvement and I'm no longer distracted by the content-free, pointless remarks made by most announcers.
Frankly, judging from the mental errors common to the game today, it should be required reading for each and every player from the rookie leagues to the bigs.
If you're not a serious student of the game, then maybe you should pass on this one!!
Rating:  - Pitch by pitch by pitch by pitch ...
I'm a huge baseball fanatic and I *love* reading detailed analysis of baseball strategy and tactics. But even this book was too tedious for me. And I've almost never read a baseball book that I found too tedious. Hernandez, although very knowledgeable, dwells too much on each pitch. The reader might think the title is a metaphor for detailed analysis (pitch by pitch). No, it means *exactly* what it says. Hernandez discusses EACH pitch. At first the analysis is interesting. Then you realize you're a third of the way through the book and he's *still* talking about whether the next pitch will be a curve or a slider, or whether this particular left-handed hitter should be thrown a change-up, or whether the pitcher should challenge the batter with his superior fastball, or whether the pitch should be low, or high, or out of the strikezone. Enough already! As far as baseball strategy goes, this book is 90% about pitch selection and batter analysis. There is not too much discussion of the other elements of baseball. Tim McCarver's book, "Baseball For Brain Surgeons" is much better. So, if you're looking for a wider variety of baseball discussion, I'd recommend you look elsewhere. But if you're mostly interested in the cat-and-mouse game between the pitcher and batter, this is the book for you - because that's what 90% if this book is about.
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