Inspiration.
I recently watched the black & white movie, It Came From Outer Space. The 1953 movie slowly builds tension while the viewer learns about the aliens and their intention. The main character is fairly ordinary, an amateur astronomer. The movie was fun and imaginative. And the aliens crashed in the Arizona desert, yet another reason for Diamondbacks fans to see the movie.
I enjoy reading baseball books, especially old books. When I discovered a book title, They Came From Center Field, it had three reasons
to recommend it, it was baseball book, it was an old baseball book, and it’s title was similar to a movie I liked. I immediately bought it.
The Book.
I read the 90 pages in one sitting. The book was written by Dan Gutman and it was first published December 31, 1994.
The book was written for children aged 7 to 10 who like baseball. The vocabulary is simple. Although some of the book’s humor is targeted at children, nevertheless it includes some clean adult humor.
The book is fun and imaginative. Like the movie, the reader slowly learns about the aliens and their intentions.
An important part of the book is knowing that baseball rules, although complex, are worthwhile knowing. That’s not really a big revelation. Baseball words often have meanings that are baseball specific. In case you need tip-of-the-tongue answers a child’s questions about the book, a couple answers follow:
- During a baseball game, it’s traditional to vocalize light and good-natured teasing of opposing players. The chants and teasing are clean, clever, and focused on the game.
- Infield Fly Rule. “An infield fly is any fair fly ball (not including a line drive or a bunt) which can be caught by an infielder with ordinary effort when first and second or first, second and third base are occupied, before two men are out. The rule is in place to protect against a team allowing a shallow fly ball to drop in with the intention of causing a force play at second and third or second, third and home. Otherwise, the team would be able to force out baserunners who had stayed put on a routine fly ball.” — Glossary Definition.
“If you’re going to break the rules, you might as well break them correctly.” — Dan Gutman, author of They Came From Center Field
Where can I find more rules explained? Here!
Perhaps one weakness of the book is that the reader may need to suspend their disbelief of some of the fun and imaginative things described by the book. On the other hand, this is a common requirement for many entertaining books and movies.
“Up until this point, all my books were non-fiction. I never thought I would be any good at creating a story, but in 1994, I decided to give fiction a try. Surprisingly, I sold the first novel I wrote (They Came From Centerfield). 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.” — Dan Gutman, author of They Came From Center Field
Summary.
Similar to the movie It Came From Outer Space, They Came From Center Field is short, fun, and imaginative. I enjoyed each of them. The movie is most enjoyed by adults, while the book is most enjoyed by children.
If you know children who like baseball, they would likely very much enjoy the book. The simple language allows even younger children to read and enjoy the book. It’s always the right time to add to your collection of baseball books.
