Baseball Hall of Shame™ The Best Of Blooperstown

by Nash, Bruce; Zullo, Allan

• ISBN13: 9780762778454
• ISBN10: 0762778458
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-03-06
• Publisher: Lyons Press

Summary

From 1985 to 1992, The Baseball Hall of Shame series chronicled more than 100 years of baseball goofs and gaffes, selling more than 700,000 copies. Now, the authors of the most offbeat baseball books ever written are back, featuring their looniest lineup of classic stories and inducting their first new class of Hall of Shamers in twenty years. Bruce Nash and Allan Zullo cover everything from the battiest batters and craziest fielding fiascoes to the dumbest ballpark promotions and screwiest fan behavior. Hall of Shamers include outfielder Lou "The Mad Russian" Novikoff, who insisted his wife taunt him from the stands because it made him a better hitter... Pitcher Burleigh Grimes, who was so mean that he threw a beanball at the on-deck hitter... Outfielder Ping Bodie, who out-ate Percy the ostrich for the spaghetti-eating championship of the world... and Babe Ruth, who wore ladies' silk stockings for good luck. Among the new inductees are Ken Griffey Jr., who put a cow in manager Lou Piniella's office to pay off a steak dinner bet... Manny Ramirez, who abandoned left field to go to the bathroom during a game... and David "Big Papi" Ortiz, whose underwear was smeared with peanut butter as payback for the pranks he pulled on teammates. Filled with more than 200 stories and packed with photos, The Baseball Hall of Shame: The Best of Blooperstownis the most hilarious homage to the national pastime ever assembled, and a fitting testament to the Hall's motto: "Fame andshame are part of the game."

Author Biography

BRUCE NASH, president of Nash Entertainment, is the creator and producer of more than 80 television series and specials, including "Before They Were Stars," "Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed," "Meet My Folks," and "Who Wants To Be A Superhero?" His "Modern Marvels" series is one of cable's longest running programs, with more than 500 one-hour episodes. On the sports front, Nash created and produced the critically acclaimed series "Amazing Sports Stories," which was nominated for four Sports Emmys. His company is headquartered in Hollywood, California.  ALLAN ZULLO has written more than 100 nonfiction books on such subjects as sports, the supernatural, history, animals, war, survival, heroism, and grandparenting. His latest book is Heroes of 9/11. Among his many sports books are When Bad Things Happen to Good Golfers, Golf is a Funny Game and March to Madness. He writes two best-selling series for Scholastic, Haunted Kids and Ten True Tales.  He lives in Fairview, North Carolina.

Table of Contents

From Cooperstown to Blooperstown	p. xi
Opening Daze	p. 1
The Most Embarrassing Opening Day Debacles
Welcome to the Bigs!	p. 13
The Most Inauspicious Major League Debuts
Batty Batters	p. 23
The Wackiest Plate Appearances
Run for Your Lives!	p. 36
The Most Outrageous Baserunning Boners
The Blights of Spring	p. 55
The Zaniest Spring Training Shenanigans
Holey Mitts!	p. 70
The Goofiest Fielding Fiascoes
Pranks a Lot!	p. 83
The Wildest Practical Jokes
Snooze Plays	p. 98
The Most Mind-boggling Mental Miscues
Every Trick in the Book	p. 116
The Sneakiest Cheating
The Fall Follies	p. 129
The Most Atrocious World Series Screw-ups
All Fouled Up	p. 143
The Foulest Foul Balls
Heave Ho-hos	p. 151
The Most Inglorious Ejections
A Mound of Trouble	p. 165
The Most Pitiful Pitching Performances
Booing the Boo Birds	p. 174
The Most Obnoxious Fan Behavior
Pilot Error	p. 193
The Most Outlandish Managerial Actions
Round Trip-ups	p. 202
The Most Ridiculous Home Runs
Pitiful Pickoffs	p. 214
The Most Boneheaded Pickoffs
Super-Silly Superstitions	p. 222
The Nuttiest Habits and Idiosyncrasies
Anger Mismanagement	p. 241
The Most Hotheaded Meltdowns
Out of Left Field	p. 251
The Most Far-fetched Excuses for Missing a Game or Blowing a Play
Turnstile Turn-offs	p. 257
The Most Undignified Ballpark Promotions
Adding Insult to Injury	p. 270
The Most Bizarre Diamond Mishaps
About the Authors	p. 280
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