Fall 2023
Shohei Ohtani
From the Set Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball's Best Players
Major League Baseball went a long time without a true two-way player. So, when word of Japan's Shohei Ohtani's exploits in Nippon Professional Baseball reached fans of MLB, people began to question whether someone could do it again. Ohtani answered that question by immediately writing his name in the record books alongside the legendary Babe Ruth, reaching heights as a two-way player not seen since the 1930s, and in some cases, doing things even Ruth could not do. From on-the-field exploits to off-the-field insights, the continuing series, Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball's Best Players gives the reader a close-up look at some of the very best of today's pro baseball stars. Statistical leaders and championship winners go under the spotlight in a fun-to-read and visually interesting examination of each player's outstanding career.
Ballpark Greats: Pro Baseball's Best Players - School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up –Readers who have been enduring football season just to make it to baseball spring training will be happy to find this on the shelves. Each player is given the full biographical treatment, including “The Greatest Career Moments,” which are accompanied by QR codes linking to videos of the specific plays. A chapter dedicated to player quotes rates the sound-bites on their originality; some are more cliché than others. It would be an interesting research project to analyze the ingenuity of these short speeches. Text-dependent questions and research project suggestions cap off each chapter. Each book concludes with a chapter about charitable work and personal details. While mostly good, there is some questionable formatting that complicates reading. “The Greatest Career Moments” are inserted into chapter one of each book, breaking up the narrative (in the case of Justin Verlander, splitting a sentence with a nine-page break).
VERDICT Cherry-pick based on local popularity.
Author: Jeremy Pike
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