Baseball's Biggest Bloopers: The Games that Got Away

by Dan Gutman

A collection of baseball quotes and bloopers recounts the story of the 1912 dropped fly ball, Bill Buckner's bungling of an easy grounder in the 1986 World Series, and the most famous mistake in baseball history.

Some ball players are remembered for their home runs and great plays--but imagine being famous for blowing the game. Offering play-by-play descriptions of the games, historical trivia, and lifetime statistics of key players, this book shows how life goes on even after the worst moments--and how a little mistake can sometimes make a very big difference.

Genres: Baseball, Sports

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

The author of over 80 books in a little over a decade of writing, Dan Gutman has written on topics from computers to baseball. Beginning his freelance career as a nonfiction author dealing mostly with sports for adults and young readers, Gutman has concentrated on juvenile fiction since 1995. His most popular titles include the time-travel sports book Honus and Me and its sequels, and a clutch of baseball books, including The Green Monster from Left Field. From hopeful and very youthful presidential candidates to stunt men, nothing is off limits in Gutman's fertile imagination. As he noted on his author Web site, since writing his first novel, They Came from Centerfield, in 1994, he has been hooked on fiction. "It was fun to write, kids loved it, and I discovered how incredibly rewarding it is to take a blank page and turn it into a WORLD."

Gutman was born in New York City in 1955, but moved to Newark, New Jersey the following year and spent his youth there.

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

The baseball events chronicled in this book are generally part of the folklore of the game. As the title suggests, they are about errors committed by umpires as well as players. Gutman does a good job in pointing out that the errors were not committed in a vacuum, others contributed to the loss of the game. In fact, in many cases the player considered the goat was not the one that made the most significant mistake.
For example, in the World Series of 1941, Brooklyn catcher Mickey Owen missed a third strike on Yankee Tommy Henrich that allowed him to safely run to first base. The Yankees then went on to score enough runs to win the game. However, it was later revealed that Brooklyn pitcher Hugh Casey crossed Owen up by throwing an illegal spitball. Therefore, the real goat should have been Casey and not Owen.
Another example is the blown call at first made by first base umpire Don Denkinger in the 1985 World Series. There was no question that the runner was out when Denkinger called him safe. Yet, what led to the defeat of the Cardinals in the series was that they let a bad break completely unnerve them and affect their play. Bad calls are part of the game and winners play over them, especially when they already have the advantage. It was the reaction of the Cardinals that led to their defeat, not one single call at first.
Gutman is very clear and explicit in the descriptions of the events, explaining what happened both on that play and all the other components of the event. No single play ever decides a baseball game, a win or loss is a combination of the actions of all the players.

[Read1000books · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book for the baseball fan. Mr. Gutman begins each chapter with a photo of the player or the action, as well as the date, place, and description of the event (called "The Situation"), such as "The New York Mets versus the Boston Red Sox. Game 6 of the World Series. Bottom of the tenth, tie score, two outs, full count". Each account is quite interesting, some dramatic, others comical. And the author's sense of humor is rib-tickling also: "...a turtle with a cast on its leg should be able to score from first on a double" and "Instead of standing there [on second base] looking like Columbus searching for sight of land, Smith should have been looking at his third-base coach...". One of my favorite baseball books so far.

[Herman · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is dated...1993 edition. Still, it doesn't keep it from the hilarity of dumb plays in major league baseball. Even more important, dumb plays that cause the loss of a World Series. An excellent example of how "50 attaboys can be wiped out by one 'aww shit'". All these players are outstanding ballplayers in their own right. Excellent career statistics, yet their legacy is one play that cost their teams a world championship.
One can argue that it's only a game. Or that one play does not define the man. But life can be crueler than that. So sad to know that Bill Buckner was an excellent ballplayer but for that one play....he lived the rest of his life with that awful legacy.

[RA · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, easy read about the legendary mistakes in baseball history. The most astounding one is the Fred Merkle play - just an unbelievable scenario took place during & after the play.

[Garrett Young]

Baseball’s Biggest Bloopers is written by Dan Gutman. It is clearly about baseballs’ biggest boo- boos. Some of these errors include missed fly balls, ground balls going between player’s legs, and base running mistakes. The book gives play-by-play stories from the games, trivia that happened about the same type as the bloopers, and also gives the lifetime statistics of the unfortunate ball players which proves that their one mistake did not define their career.
The book tells about people whom are not the only ones to do things wrong, but they get blamed for it. In one story, Fred Snodgrass “didn’t deserve his fate. Yes, he was responsible for putting the tying run on base. But his teammates – Mathewson, Merkle, Meyers, and others – had all made mistakes and played a part in blowing a sure-thing victory” (Gutman, 31). His team committed seventeen errors in the World Series, but Snodgrass had dropped a routine fly ball that ultimately put the winning run on base. That runner later scored and caused the Giants to lose the World Series.
It also shows that the best players also make mistakes, but they get up and do not let other people bring them down. Hack Wilson had a .471 batting average in the World Series, but is remembered for “the way he stumbled around the outfield, misjudging two fly balls in that disastrous seventh inning” (Gutman, 96). Wilson played for the Cubs, and they were up 8-0 in the sixth inning. However, after dropping two fly balls, the A’s went ahead to win 10-8. Instead of tying up the World Series, the Cubs went down three games to one, and eventually lost the Series. However, “the next year Hack had his best year and perhaps the best year anybody ever had. He drove in an astounding 190 runs. Nobody has ever driven in more in a single season. He hit 56 home runs..” (Gutman, 97) and had a batting average of .356.
Gutman did a good job of showing that even though people make mistakes, they cannot let their mistakes define them. He did it in a way that I do not think that other authors would use. He used mini-stories to tell the tales of the tragic events that happened to others. Each story had different individual points, but all of the points contribute to the overall theme that mistakes happen and should be overcome. The stories prove that the best athletes may fall, but if they have the right attitude, then they can climb the ladder faster to rise to the top.
Gutman wrote this book for no apparent reason, but it was written in a narrative style. Even though the stories could have been told in a description style, it is more effective as a narrative because it gives the author a better way of telling about the events in a play-by-play style. It also allows him to give the lifetime statistics of the player and to tell about other events that happened in the league in the same year as the blooper. By writing a different chapter for each blooper and telling about what happened to each player after the unfortunate events, Gutman’s style was very likable and easy to read. The many short stories each had their own turn of events and their own minor themes. Every chapter was about a different individual and the fluke events that happened to them; each becoming a pennant-losing event in a World Series. I have not read any other books that used this style of writing, but enjoyed how simple it was to read and understand.

[Lee Perry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I picked this book because I am always so fascinated by baseball. I love baseball so any books that are about baseball usually interest me. So I knew this book would be great especially because of how funny the bloopers are which is what this book is about. I liked how this book listed stuff about the series or the game that was going on leading up to the exact moment. Then when it got to it, they would freeze the whole scene and go through the moment slowly which would give me a really good visual in my head of what's going on. I wish though that the author didn't leave some little notes. Like sometimes he would leave little jokes or like reasons why he was saying something that wasn't necessary for him to say. The only things that surprised me were like how funny and stupid these bloopers were because they were hilarious, sometimes they had me laughing. Also how stupid these people look by making these errors. Moving forward I would like to read more sports books by Dan Gutman because he really describes sports stories and events well.

[Timmy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you have remembered someone for doing something great? Well the guys I'm about to tell you about are remembered for making a mistakes that will be remembered for a lifetime.Fred Merkle was on the New York Giants team in 1908. It was this nine-teen year old kids first game in the majors. They were playing the Chicago Cubs Thursday,September 23, 1908. The Giants and the Cubs were battling for first place with the season coming to a end.The Giants and Cubs were tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th inning. The Giants were up to bat they had a man on third and Fred Merkle on first Al Birdwell was up to bat. What happened next would be remembered for a lifetime Al Birdwell hit a single witch advanced the runner on third home that meant the Giants won but Fred Merkle did not go and touch second he ran to congratulate his teamate Al Birdwell that cost him and since he didn't touch second it was a force out and he was out.

[Jordan713]

This book is probably one of the best sports books for me. It has detailed descriptions of what the date, situation, and location the day the player made the mistake. This book also includes fun facts, lifetime statistics, and what also happened the year the event took place. From Babe Herman to Hennie Zimmerman and Hank Gowdy to Bill Buckner, this book tells you 12 tall tales of mishaps, that leave the reader thinking: what went wrong?

[Daisy009 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baseballs Biggest Bloopers was a very good book, there were many statistics throughout the book. This shows that Gary Paulsen really did his reseach! I would reccomend this book to any baseball loving fans that want to see many well known players mess up in big games! In the back of each chapter, Pualsen writes about some other things that happend the year of that blooper, also, he put in some facts about the player that made the blooper.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that Dan Gutman did a great job researching so many of these interesting baseball stories when he wrote this book in the early 90s. I also like the way Dan explains each situation as well as what happened to the player after the specific boneheaded play for which he became known. In many instances, it shows that it really wasn't that one player and play that caused the loss of the game.

[Aniel Luna · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book I read about errors baseball players have made to loose a big game. From this book I learned that even the greatest players could make mistakes. Now I don't only play baseball but I also know a bit of history of baseball too. I really like this book because it was about baseball.

[Travis Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

good book. i would recommend it to all baseball lovers.

[Noah Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a little knowledge about the past that I wouldn't have known without reading this book. All in all it was an awesome book that I would read if it were a basketball bloopers.

[Mas5thgrade2014 · Rating 5 out of 5]

sure this is bloopers but these are great bloopers. players made mistakes they shouldn't have made.

-thediamondback

[Fsmelecio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read for children as well if you're trying to get them into baseball. It reads like a fairy tale book and Gutman does a great job vividly describing each incident.