Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook

Sorry to break the news, but I’ve never been a fan of baseball.  Now that you know, I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you I didn’t know much about the game.  Well, I didn't but I do now, at least about the old days, thanks to the entertaining book Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook.  Did you know that in the early days they didn’t have team uniforms, they all wore heavy wool flannel, like something you’d wear in winter, but their socks were different colors?  The Chicago team wore white socks which is why they’re now called the White Sox.  Okay, that’s not news, not even for me, but the Dodgers got their name because the fans had to dodge trolley cars to get to the stadium.  Oh, and the guys didn’t like wearing numbers on their shirts because they thought it was a form of ranking best to worst and it made them feel like prisoners. Oh, and players could be traded just like today, but for one guy the asking price was a bag of oysters and for another guy it was a bag of prunes! So whether you like baseball or not, this book is as fascinating as it is funny.

Book review posted by Steve Browne, Youth Technology Librarian