The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baseball

This is for certain: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Baseball is, at over 400 pages, more complete than most Opening Day rosters; but, with Hall of Fame catcher Johnny Bench giving the signs, it's not just for idiots. Much of it is pretty sophisticated stuff. Before knuckling down to the basics of how the game is played, Bench touches base with baseball's history, traditions, and the glory of its most magnificent records, like Cal Ripken's consecutive game streak, and moments, like Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World." Both clear and thorough on baseball's ABC's--this is a good coaching aid for parents trying to introduce baseball to children--Bench ratchets things up a sophistication notch when picking apart pitcher-catcher dynamics, which is certainly fitting from the best catcher to ever play the game. He also makes solid contact on the art of hitting and goes fairly deep into the complexities of offensive and defensive strategies.

Still, you don't have to play to enjoy what the Guide is hurling. A section directed at fans analyzes everything from the business of baseball to how to watch a game on TV to Bench's predictions for the future. And there's still more. Appendices include a glossary, a who's who, and, most fun of all, a guide to the game between the covers, on the screen, and via the Web that's so extensive it could actually interfere with your going to the ballpark. --Jeff Silverman