Tim McCarver's Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro

by Tim McCarver, Danny Peary

"I started McCarver's book because I was sure he would teach me something. I finished it as Casey Stengel."--The Cincinnati Enquirer

Tim McCarver, baseball's preeminent analyst, has set down all that he knows about how the game should be played and watched. With his trademark wit and style, McCarver explains the fundamentals and proper mechanics at the level necessary for success in the major leagues.
        Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans is a gold mine for all fans, brain surgeons or otherwise, and anyone learning how to play or coach the game. (Even major leaguers will pick up some pointers.) After the wonderful 1998 season, America's pastime has never been more popular, and with the deeper knowledge and understanding of baseball that Brain Surgeons provides, any fan will be able to watch it like a pro.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Nonfiction

368 pages, Paperback

First published March 16, 1998

Reviews

[Todd · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough discussion of baseball strategy. Written in 1997, it is interesting to read now because he hints at the statistics we now have available. Although, he actually downplays the use of shifting in defense, which is one area he got wrong about what was to come. I especially enjoyed the stories about Bob Gibson.

[Josh Denkmire · Rating 1 out of 5]

Worst. Baseball. Book. Ever.

[Maura · Rating 2 out of 5]

1. This book so needs a glossary.
2. McCarver also needs to learn to define a term when he first uses it rather than waiting 2-5 paragraphs (or, occasionally, chapters).
3. pictures for the visually challenged would also be a plus. i mean, i know that my inability to visualize the difference between left & right without concentrating real hard is my problem and not McCarver's. but still, a few diagrams or photos or stick figures would be helpful.

all that said, it's really not a bad book for someone who's watched a bunch of games and now wants to know more about the details of baseball. you know, like me. :) it's a good conversational tone, even if he does tend to lapse into baseball-specific slang that i'm not completely sure of. i'll probably re-read it after i've got another season under my belt and see if more of it sticks.

what i'd really like to see is a TV mini-series type thing that covers the same material. it would have clips from actual games and maybe some close-up demonstrations of pitches and it would be awesome. either that, or someone should write up a similar book but base it off the 2005 Red Sox. because i kept feeling like if he could have referred to players i recognize rather than players whose names sound familar but that's it, then i would have been able to grasp a bit more of what he was describing.

[Marion Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, but it is for the person who really wants to master intricacies of baseball. I just wanted to try to see the same game my husband is enjoying. If you've heard Tim McCarver call a game, you'll hear his voice come through clearly. He is conversational--"I want to tell you about an obscure but fascinating play that I think the defense can employ against the bunt with men on first and second and nobody out." And he gets pretty technical--"It's obscure because it can take place only in the ninth inning and only if the team in the field is up by exactly two runs." And from there he elaborates. He includes funny stories about many of baseball's characters, mostly those from his time in the game. I am far from mastering the game, but I learned a lot.

[Brad Rode · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am a huge fan of the sport of baseball. I played up until the end of my high school days and what I consider to be a fairly high level of understanding of the game. If you are someone who watches games on TV and listen to the commentators, this book will provide you no information that you do not already know. His brilliant comments such as "the pitcher will throw the ball where the batter does not expect it, unless the batter is expecting it there. In that case he will throw his off speed pitch." Really? This book would be good for someone with limited knowledge of the game looking to get a players perspective on the nuances of the game. For all others, stay away.

[Richard Schwindt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always been a baseball fan but this book moved me ahead by orders of magnitude. It is well written, clear and filled with facts about how the game is played. It is dated now in its references to specific players but the content is still incisive and intelligent. I have never looked at the game, the coaches and the players the same since. Recommended.

[Marianne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Any manager wants to relax while his starting pitcher mows down the opposition. But he relishes the challenge of devising strategies to foil plays that involve base runners, like steals, bunts, and squeezes. It’s great fun for the fan to think along with him.” (p. 295)

I love baseball, and soon this longtime Tigers fan will be going to the first major league game since I was in high school. Boston Red Sox, fyi. So it was time to read the baseball bible – Tim McCarver’s 1998 Baseball for Brain Surgeons and Other Fans: Understanding and Interpreting the Game So You Can Watch It Like a Pro. I wanted to dive into the deep strategy and smarts of baseball, and McCarver delivers big time! I also wanted it to be “fun to think along with him [the manager]" and have a better sense than ever about what’s going on down on that field. McCarver truly delivers.

Someone asked me if this was a history of baseball. No. This is like studying for the SAT in baseball and having great fun doing it. You’ll have pointers like “Throwing a fastball is the best way for left-handed pitchers to get out left-handed batters. Left-handed batters must keep their front shoulders in for a moment longer against left-handed pitchers, so the tailing fastball on the hands is a way for the pitchers to exploit this.” Got it? Take heart, all this deep strategy is presented with wit and great anecdotes.

Here’s the Table of Contents.
1. In and Out of the Booth (being an announcer)
2. In the Clubhouse (managing, game planning)
3. On the Mound (and Behind the Plate) – pitching & catching – the longest section, no surprise
4. In the Batter’s Box (batting, obviously)
5. In the Field (infield and outfield)
6. Around the Bases (running)

Yes, the book is 25 years old. We now have the designated hitter in both leagues and the extra-inning runner on second base (both travesties) – and the brand new pitch clock (seems to be working) and, finally in 2014, the rule that a runner can’t purposely smash into the catcher or other player covering home plate (this isn’t football, after all). But the basics are the basics, and I don’t think anyone can teach us the basics better than Tim McCarver (RIP, 1941-2023).

[Dan Trefethen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is basically a book of baseball strategy, which makes it puzzling as to who his intended audience is. If it's fans, then experienced fans know most of this already. If rookie fans, then it's probably too detailed to absorb, and especially because there are no illustrations or diagrams. It seems at times he's writing this for players and managers, giving his advice on what they should do in certain situations.

Having said that, there have been two times recently that something has happened in a ball game that I said, “Damn, I just read about that in McCarver's book.” I admit that I picked up things about strategy (especially pitching strategy) that I'll be watching for.

McCarver spends a lot of time on pitching because he was a catcher for twenty years, and so that's the part of the game he was most involved in. Catchers are arguably the quarterbacks on the field – the manager can send in a play, but often the catcher is monitoring positioning and other things. Also, he's the most active: He plays all innings, unlike most pitchers these days, and is involved in every pitch. The left fielder can have a boring day on defense, but not the catcher.

Still, I wish this was better written, with illustrations, and a better focus on the intended audience.

[Misty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first read this as a teenage baseball fan, and I ordered a copy again. This is a book dense with baseball strategy and references to players from the 90s, when this book was published. I’m not sure if I needed as much detail as this book gave me — it felt like an unfiltered brain dump — and I skimmed the last 50 pages. But it can now act as a reference book. The 90s references were a good nostalgia trip, and as it did when I read it 30 years ago, it gave me an appreciation for the complexity of the game. It’s not only about the throwing, hitting and catching the ball, it’s this mental game of trying to outguess each other.

[Scott Breslove · Rating 2 out of 5]

Dated references, very dry material, doesn’t really hold up. There’s nothing in there really groundbreaking either, it’s not quite baseball for brain surgeons, more like boring baseball for the casual fan. Most fans should already be in tune to most of the stuff discussed.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A serious baseball book for players, coaches and fans.
Tons of in depth information of every possible aspect of the game.
Too bad the book is so poorly edited - the info needs structure and diagrams. As it was published it is a bear to get through and wastes the resources the McCarver puts forth.

[Bert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't finish. This is a bad book. Very disjointed. McCarver more interested in trying to make himself look smart than writing anything coherent. A reader who didn't know better would think maybe McCarver was the best catcher of all time.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulously informative. Exceptional.

[Tracey Gill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is about as technical description of the game as you can get.

[Steven Wayne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Somewhat dated, players mentioned no longer active, nice overview of the game but not as entertaining as Zack Hample's book.

[Randal · Rating 1 out of 5]

If Tim McCarver didn't pose as an intellectual, his stuff wouldn't be so hard annoying to read.
But every time he tries to provide in depth analysis, he just shows he's out of his depth.
Case in point: Anders Galarraga. For those who can't remember him, El Gato Grande had a huge, looping, golf-like swing, made less efficient by the fact he bailed out toward the third-base coach more and more over the years. It got to the point anybody could and did strike him out with stuff low and away because he couldn't reach it.
He changed his stance until he stood almost facing the pitcher, then stepping into a more-conventional stance as the ball arrived. This forced him to not bail out (you can't stride toward the mound and the third-base coach simultaneously), which kept him on top of those down-and-away pitches and dropped his strikeouts dramatically, turning him back into a feared and productive hitter until they could finally throw high fastballs past him.
McCarver's "analysis" -- laughable -- is that Galarraga's strikeouts went down because he opened up so he could see the pitcher with both eyes, but it wouldn't work because when Galarraga strode into the pitch, his head turned so he could only see with one eye anyway. Think. About. That. McCarver's saying Galarraga is only seeing with one eye. But once the pitch is on the way, Galarraga's head turns to follow the flight of the ball, the same as every other hitter, ever, so he sees the ball with both eyes. Whether he sees the pitcher out of the corner of one eye or not at all is irrelevant ... just like McCarver.
If that was the only howler, it wouldn't be a problem, but the whole book is full of "analysis" like that. His anecdotes are outdated (even for the publishing date) and his references to contemporary players aren't enlightening: He likes Tony Gwynn as a hitter. Wow. Really? That's the best you've got?

[Tommy Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, my mother-in-law decided she wanted to start watching baseball. (To try and form some sort of common interest with her daughter. You've never met two more dissimilar people in your life.) But, she really knows absolutely nothing about the game. So we went looking for a guide. This book wasn't it. We bought her something simpler. But I thought, being a decently informed baseball fan, I would get this for myself.

It's not a bad read. But it doesn't really deliver on what it promises, either. It's billed as a guide to watching baseball like a professional commentator like McCarver. What it actually is is McCarver's view as to how the game ought to be played, complete with examples of players and coaches that either do it right or wrong. Plus, it adds a little behind-the-scenes info.

From that, you can indeed glean some insight into how to watch the game. But you need to tease it out. It's really not presented that way.

Also, while the broad organization of the book is fine, within chapters it all basically falls apart. It's just dense paragraph after dense paragraph. Again, you can tease out the insight, but it takes awhile.

Taken as it is, it's an enjoyable read. Taken as it's billed, it's a challenge.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

McCarver endeavors to go beyond the basic rules of the game and explain the strategies employed by players and managers. Every pitch sets up a slightly different scenario for not only the pitcher and batter, but the defense as well.
This book can be looked at as an informed look behind the scenes. Since no two of the thirty major league managers would choose the same response to all of the possible situations that arise during a game, this book cannot explain everyone’s thinking. The author contributes from his experience as a major league player and broadcaster and gives his opinion on how the game should be played.

I liked this book, as it really requires the reader to put himself in the place of the various players and managers and think about actions and outcomes. I did have a problem with the author’s prejudice towards National League style play. I am an American League fan and value seeing a pitcher facing nine hitters, not eight and see little excitement in the double switch. BASEBALL FOR BRAIN SURGEONS is an excellent thought experiment that I would recommend to any fan, no matter how knowledgeable they are.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tim McCarver writing style is much like his like he announcing style: intelligent, well-informed and almost incomprehensible. Reading this book, I could almost smell the flopsweat from Danny Peary, who must have labored mightily to hammer McCarver's mindgrape squeezings into a halfway comprehensible publications. And, frankly, it was only halfway comprehensible. I had to read this book twice in a row, back to back, to get any information out of it. I did gain a lot of insight into baseball, but I worked for it.

The book jacket says that this book would appeal to expert or beginning fans of the game. Do not be fooled. A beginner would find this book an exercise in frustration. As for the rest of us, read a little before bed every night, and you'll fall asleep in no time (although, you may find yourself having Bob Gibson nightmares--completely normal).

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

This darn well ought to be required reading for every college-level baseball player with dreams of getting to The Show. Would that I might have myself had but baseball been offered at my own high school-(not!) With McCarver's advice, you could do worse than get a decent understanding of strategy- coming from one of the game's greatest catchers- and sense of a manager's logic for the decisions made during the game. Catchers, infielders, pitchers, outfielders, batters... you will get all sorts of advice that if your own coach isn't giving you, maybe you've got the wrong coach. I loved this book! And if you are a baseball fan, you could do worse yourself for ignoring it!

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always enjoyed McCarver as a color man on TV, despite his habit of grabbing onto a point he wants to make and shaking it like a dog with a bone, not letting go until he has sucked the last drop of juice out of it. In a book he can't really indulge in this sort of overkill, so I found the material both interesting and toned down from his on-air commentaries.

Of course McCarver isn't the only baseball person who knows these things; and it's also true that the serious baseball fan knows a lot of this stuff already. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the presentation, and consider it one of the better baseball books on the strategy and tactics of the game that I've read.

[Yong Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A position by position, match by match perspective of the game, including more nuanced understanding of base running, pinch hitting and coaching. No doubt McCarver's book helps you understand the game. He apparently likes history as well, frequently using historical metaphors. They are however not always factually accurate and comes across as someone trying to look smart. I appreciate McCarver for his baseball expertise. I'm sure he is plenty smart. No need for McCarver to try to up the game using random, obscure historical analogies that is not always appropriate insightful or even entertaining.

[Larry Coleman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A decent look at baseball from someone who spent years as a player. While there's no particularly groundbreaking exposition here, and at times it is overly dry, it's worth a read for the true baseball fan. If you're one of those people who thinks baseball is boring, this won't change your mind and probably isn't something you'll want to read. If you're one of those people (like me) who love the stately pace and cerebral aspect of baseball and would appreciate a somewhat technical examination of the game from both sides of the plate, this is a good read for you.

[Claudia Sorsby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect off-season reading, as I had hoped.

Not a fast read, but only because so many scenarios are detailed and I had to slow down to envision them.

And while I suppose I learned more about strategy and baseball thinking by the analytical parts, I confess the stories are what I always like best. It's going to be hard to forget the image of Tommie Agee sliding into McCarver so hard at home plate that his spike got stuck in McCarver's shin guard, and he actually had to take it off to get the spike out.

Yikes.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, most of us can agree that Tim McCarver is a big doofus on TV. Surprisingly, Baseball for Brain Surgeons is well organized, interesting, and insightful-- all in all a terrific book. Apparently Danny Peary was able to translate McCarver's verbal diarrhea into a cohesive look at inside baseball.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim McCarver knows baseball. He knows how to play it, how to announce it, and, as the title indicates, how to watch it. He shares his knowledge in this book, which in both interesting and well written. I recommend it to any baseball fan.

[Jean · Rating 3 out of 5]

My brother recommended this book to me. I don't like McCarver at all as a commentator, but I did find this an interesting book, with some good suggestions for watching baseball and understanding all that goes into the strategies of the game.

[Mary L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Any one who is interested in baseball, either playing the game or sitting in the stands, will enjoy the game better in the best interpretation of baseball I have ever read. It will definitely help young players just learning as well as older fans who have been around the field for a long time.

[John Timmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think partly because McCarver has so much knowledge to impart, it's not the best written/organized book but the information is priceless. Even before I read this book I was convinced that nobody knows more about the game of baseball( between the lines) than Tim McCarver.

[Eric]

I renounce this book based purely on T-Mac's "color commentary" on FOX.