Pitchers

From School Library Journal Grade 3-6-As he did with hitters in Sluggers! (Atheneum, 1991), Sullivan now offers brief biographies of the individuals he deems to be the greatest hurlers in baseball history. The emphasis is on Hall of Famers; only three men were still active players in 1993. Compiling such a list is difficult, and every fan will find a personal favorite omitted, but every player here is worthy of inclusion. The profiles are interesting when Sullivan concentrates on personal incidents that have affected the pitchers' careers, such as Three Finger Brown's childhood farming accident, which enabled him to put a unique spin on the ball. Unfortunately, the presentation soon turns into a blur of statistics, some of which are repeated throughout the text. For example, Bob Gibson's 1.12 ERA record is mentioned three different times. A number of "All Time Records" are appended at the back of the book along with an explanation of how such statistics as Earned Run Average are computed. Loaded with great full-color and sepia-toned photographs, this title will undoubtedly be popular and useful despite the sometimes dry text.