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Little League's Official How-To-Play Baseball Book: Based on the bestselling video by MasterVision®. More than 125 illustrations! Plus the Official Little League playing rules
For more than sixty years youngsters have looked to Little League for a wholesome, friendly field on which to play baseball. This newly revised and updated edition of Little League’s Official How-to-Play Baseball Book provides baseball instruction the Little League way, written especially for eight- to fourteen-year-olds.
Special tips, informative quizzes and scores of illustrations complement easy-to-follow instruction in all the skills beginning players need to master the game—how to throw, hit, and field all the positions—while promoting good sportsmanship. Based on the bestselling MasterVision® video, Little League’s Official How-to-Play Baseball Book is informative enough to help even the brightest young stars shine brighter.
This comprehensive introduction to America's favorite pastime includes:
Hitting and Pitching
Baserunning and Sliding
Playing All the Defensive Positions
Fitness and Warm-Ups
Offensive and Defensive Strategy
The Complete Official 2003 Little League Rules
And much more
Special tips, informative quizzes and scores of illustrations complement easy-to-follow instruction in all the skills beginning players need to master the game—how to throw, hit, and field all the positions—while promoting good sportsmanship. Based on the bestselling MasterVision® video, Little League’s Official How-to-Play Baseball Book is informative enough to help even the brightest young stars shine brighter.
This comprehensive introduction to America's favorite pastime includes:
Hitting and Pitching
Baserunning and Sliding
Playing All the Defensive Positions
Fitness and Warm-Ups
Offensive and Defensive Strategy
The Complete Official 2003 Little League Rules
And much more
- GenresBaseball
240 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1990
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 19, 2026
This book explains how to play each position in baseball. It details how each body movement is made and has illustrations to support the text. It also talks about strategy.
After each of the fielding positions, there is a quiz that presents a situation, and asks what you would do. Answers are provided that explain the strategic reason for one choice over another (e.g. throwing to first base versus third base). The end of the book includes the official rules for little league.
There is a lot of terminology in baseball. A lot of terms are defined in a section at the back of this book. Still, there are plenty of terms not defined. Some of the writing was so deep in baseball jargon that I had to re-read sections multiple times to follow what was being explained, such as an explanation of a particular play. Here's an example of something I had to re-read to follow:
"The pitcher uncorks a wild pitch, but the catcher blocks it. You're covering second and the throw beats the runner from first by a country mile. You have the runner trapped in a rundown." P. 91
'Rundown' and 'Wild pitch' are among the defined terms, but uncork and country mile are the author's jargon. The verbs: block, cover, beat, and trap are also jargon.
The final chapter of the book talks about how baseball seems like an individual sport since positions are played individually, but it only comes together with teamwork. Here's a couple good quotes:
"Part of teamwork is realizing that no matter how good you are at what you do, you wouldn't be half so good if it weren't for other people." Intro section
"On every play your success is in some way dependent on the support of your teammates, and their success depends on you." P. 156
After each of the fielding positions, there is a quiz that presents a situation, and asks what you would do. Answers are provided that explain the strategic reason for one choice over another (e.g. throwing to first base versus third base). The end of the book includes the official rules for little league.
There is a lot of terminology in baseball. A lot of terms are defined in a section at the back of this book. Still, there are plenty of terms not defined. Some of the writing was so deep in baseball jargon that I had to re-read sections multiple times to follow what was being explained, such as an explanation of a particular play. Here's an example of something I had to re-read to follow:
"The pitcher uncorks a wild pitch, but the catcher blocks it. You're covering second and the throw beats the runner from first by a country mile. You have the runner trapped in a rundown." P. 91
'Rundown' and 'Wild pitch' are among the defined terms, but uncork and country mile are the author's jargon. The verbs: block, cover, beat, and trap are also jargon.
The final chapter of the book talks about how baseball seems like an individual sport since positions are played individually, but it only comes together with teamwork. Here's a couple good quotes:
"Part of teamwork is realizing that no matter how good you are at what you do, you wouldn't be half so good if it weren't for other people." Intro section
"On every play your success is in some way dependent on the support of your teammates, and their success depends on you." P. 156
Displaying 1 of 1 review