Rating: 
Summary: This book is the epitamy of baseball literature.
Review: I bought this book because I thought that I would learn some of the tricks announcers use to make the game sound interesting. I already new a lot about baseball, but after reading this book I now know about everything there is to know about our "National Pastime." I would reccomend this book to anyone looking for a greater knowledge of baseball.
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly, the title is all too accurate
Review: I grew up listening to Tim McCarver, and have always liked him - that is, until recently, when he has become increasingly insufferable. This book, sadly, seems to continue the trend that has marred his sportscasting in the last few years. It does indeed contain a wealth of information about the game, and no one can deny that McCarver certainly knows his stuff, but the material is just not presented in a particularly useful way. McCarver seems more interested in showing off than in showing the reader, and while I did learn some things from reading this book, I often found it difficult to follow what he was talking about, and I frequently had to force myself to pay attention to keep from drifting off. Not something I want in my baseball books.All of this is a big disappointment since a book about baseball for baseball fans is a mighty fine idea, and I don't know that there are a lot of guys out there as knowledgeable as McCarver. But I've watched baseball my entire life, and if I couldn't follow what he was talking about, I don't know who could.
Rating: 
Summary: Valuable insights from someone who really knows the game
Review: I learned a lot from this book. McCarver is at his best when describing the little things that go into making strategic decisions, like when to steal, when to hit and run, when to try for an extra base and so on. His insights into baserunning are particularly good. I found some of his descriptions of different types of pitches to be perplexing - what does it mean that a certain pitch "topples" (a tree can topple, but how does a round object flying through the air do that?). Overall, this is a very good book, and even long-time fans can get a lot out of it.
Rating:
Summary: A great baseball book
Review: I picked up this book thinking I knew everything there is to know about the game of baseball, boy was I wrong! I have learned so much from this book, I feel that if I told George Steinbrenner that I read Tim McCarvers Baseball For Brain Surgeans and Other Fans, that he would hire me on the spot as manager and fire Torre. This book is that good. This book is also fun to read. You would't be able to enjoy this book if you do not know about baseball already, because it gets a little complex sometimes. So go out and get this book if you like baseball and want to learn more about how the game is played
Rating:
Summary: A great baseball book
Review: I picked up this book thinking I knew everything there is to know about the game of baseball, boy was I wrong! I have learned so much from this book, I feel that if I told George Steinbrenner that I read Tim McCarvers Baseball For Brain Surgeans and Other Fans, that he would hire me on the spot as manager and fire Torre. This book is that good. This book is also fun to read. You would't be able to enjoy this book if you do not know about baseball already, because it gets a little complex sometimes. So go out and get this book if you like baseball and want to learn more about how the game is played
Rating:
Summary: Simply The Best...
Review: I'm a huge baseball fan and I've read my share of baseball books. However, I've never read one that was this insightful and informative. McCarver does an excellent job analyzing baseball strategy. I didn't agree with everything he said, but he made me think more about baseball strategy than I ever have. As an aspiring broadcaster, I also appreciated his discussion on broadcasting. I was at a Mets game recently and I found myself keying in on the cameras and guessing which camera was in use at a given moment. This book isn't for the newcomer trying to pick up the game. It is for the hardcore baseball fan, the fan that already thinks about the game on a higher level.
Rating:
Summary: Suprise! I like this book!
Review: I'm not a big fan of Tim McCarver, the TV analyst. So when I've seen this book I didn't give it much of a glance until just recently. I leafed through a few pages and became intrigued. I read a few more and was hooked. He does a wonderful job explaining the "intricacies" of the game. McCarver takes a kind of 'scientific' approach in explaining the various parts of the game, from the preparation he goes through before a televised game, to the pre-game meetings, to the actual game itself, "working a lineup," what is involved in playing the various positions, pitcher-batter duels, and so on. He also talks about what is going on with each pitch and how everyone, batter, pitcher, catcher and all the other players react to various pitch counts. Since I've read the book, I've tried to be more conscious of what goes on during a game, checking to see if I can tell what signals a first or third base coach is giving, what kind of signs a catcher is giving a pitcher, or the other various strategies going on within a game. These "games within the game" have made watching baseball more fun. I may still at times get aggravated with McCarver's analysis during a game, but this book has made me a more knowledgeable fan.
Rating:
Summary: Rich in interesting knowledge, but a rather drudgin read
Review: If you really care about the game, you will no doubt find this book to be one of the best around to pick up the nitty-gritty of how baseball is played. Just the way McCarver intelligently covers the game on TV, his views especially on the strategic aspect of the game are well founded and explained very logically in this piece. If you were familiar with and liked his broadcasting style (especially with the Mets), you will be pleased to find all his knowledge brewed into a single book like this one. A downside, however, is that the book reads much like a boring textbook. Throughout the book, McCarver scatters anecdotes coming from his experience both as a player and as a TV analyst to illuminate his points, yet not to the extent that they make the book engaging for its historical interest (lots of stuff about Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and other players from the late 60's through 70's). It might even get annoying for some readers when McCarver gets fancy and makes parallels by citing famous literary people and their work. Nevertheless, the baseball knowledge provided in this book will definitely raise the level of your capacity to enjoy baseball, and there lies its value. You wish to keep this book handy for occasional reference and as a company for watching baseball, but you will be somewhat disappointed if you hope for an exciting baseball reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Turgid, lifeless, repetitive boredom
Review: It takes an expert - maybe even a brain surgeon - to make such an interesting topic so monumentally, colossally boring. McCarver does what many former players do when writing about baseball - they assume that their years of experience are the last word, and that no other approach is of any value. After all, he played for 21 years, didn't he? (And that's about how long it seems to take to read this thing.) This failing, on its own, is not so bad - after all, we read books by veteran players because we value their experience and insight - but coupled with some others, it is a disaster. First off, this book has precious little to do with being able to "watch" the game. It has a lot to do with critiquing training styles, different conventions and techniques. It has a lot to do with what pitch to throw on what count under what circumstance - but it's all for coaches and managers, not for those who want to watch and understand the game. Then, McCarver's hubris is compounded by his egocentrism. Naturally, any fan understands the unique position of the catcher and the catcher-pitcher dynamic in the game of baseball. However, McCarver isn't content to point this out once. He has a chapter on The Catcher. Then a chapter on the Battery. Then a chapter on Working the Count. I wish I was making this up. The next chapter is about "Working the Lineup" but by that stage if you haven't hurled the book across the room in a fit of frustrated boredom then you have the patience of a saint: every single chapter is the same! It's all about calling pitches! Even his chapters about how to bat are about how the catcher behind you is calling pitches! By the time you've got to the 700th description of what pitch you might call in a 3-0 count only this time with a man on 3rd but a left-handed pitcher whose birth sign is Taurus, the eyes have long since glazed over. All the fun, passion and intellect of the game is drained and replaced with dull rambling and repetition interspersed with the most unfunny - or just incomprehensible - anecdotes imaginable. There comes a point when the reader turns a page and the eye quails before the sight of two new pages of tedium, and looks for relief to the little cut-out box that should contain a morsel of interest to tide one through. The box will contain a story about the one time that McCarver and some guy you've never heard of were arguing about what pitch to call under what circumstance and how McCarver wanted a fastball or something. It's positively Kafkaesque in its torture of the reader. If you want a fun, well-edited, well-written guide to how to watch the game like an expert, look no further than Nick Bakalar's "The Baseball Fan's Companion: How to Master the Subtleties of the World's Most Complex Team Sport and Learn to Watch the Game Like an Expert". Leave this one to a morose brain surgeon.
Rating:
Summary: Death By Baseball
Review: Lots of baseball fans think they know everything there is to know about the game. Not me. While I've been a fan for 30 years, the game's intricate strategies and nuances sometimes go unnoticed until an astute announcer clues me in. McCarver does a great job of explaining everything there is to know about the strategies and the subtleties alike. However, if you are a casual fan, this book may drive you insane. Sometimes we don't need to know everything. The material here is nice to know, not need to know. Make sure you really want to know every aspect of the game before you pick up a copy.
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