| Why
Weed Baseball?
 "Baseball,
mom, and apple pie." "The national pastime."
Fans or not, everybody seems to accept the place of baseball
in the cultural history of America. Students today may have
a different approach to the sport: selecting their trading
cards on the web instead of random chance with chewing gum
packs, and competing in Internet fantasy baseball leagues
instead of at the local lot. Is your collection updated
enough to attract their interest?
Suggested
Dewey Numbers to Check:
Most titles on baseball will be found in the 796s. Review
individual and collected biographies and fiction titles
with baseball as a theme.
Specific
Criteria for Weeding:
 Baseball
titles in the non-fiction section should be accurate, attractive,
and up-to-date. The 796s are an opportunity to draw in reluctant
readers due to their interest in sports, keeping old and
boring titles on the shelf will do more harm than any possible
good nugget of information that may be found between the
covers. Your users will be ruthless here so be sure you
are as well. While reviewing content, watch for signs of
gender and race bias--sometimes blatantly as in the title,
at other times more subtly in the illustrations.
Interest in some baseball subjects will be fueled by current
events. The stem cell research issue may stimulate student
interest in Lou Gehrig and prompt you to update his biography;
past baseball scandals ("say it ain't so, Joe")
could use refreshing when new information is available;
Ted Williams biographies should be updated to reflect his
death if not the cryonics afterlife controversy.
Fiction titles with a theme of baseball will be harder to
locate on the fiction shelves since they are scattered,
but search to find those that are hopelessly out of touch
with students of today. There are lots of new titles on
the market that will encourage reading and maybe even inspire
your students to experience that American "joy in Mudville."
Consider
Weeding Titles Like These:
- 100
greatest baseball, [1974].
- 30
years of baseball's great moments, [1974].
- All
the home run kings, [1972].
- All-star
baseball since 1933, 1980.
- Amazing
baseball teams, [1970].
- Baseball
: baseball facts, records, statistics and figures about
pro baseball since the beginning (beaner, 1977.)
- Baseball
: records, stars, feats, and facts, c1979.
- Baseball
All Star Game thrills, [1968].
- The
Baseball encyclopedia : the complete and official record
of major league baseball, 1976.
- Baseball
for boys, [1960].
- Baseball
rookies who made good, 1966.
- Baseball's
great, [1975].
- Baseball's
greatest all-star games, c1979.
- Baseball's
greatest catcher, Johnny Bench, [c1977].
- Baseball's
greatest managers, 1960.
- Baseball's
greatest players, 1963.
- Baseball's
most valuable players, [1966].
- Baseball's
ten greatest pitchers, 1979.
- Careers
in baseball, [1973].
- The
complete all-time pro baseball register, c1979.
- The
complete book of baseball, 1980.
- Complete
guide to baseball slang, 1980.
- The
fine art of baseball; a complete guide to strategy, skills
and system, c1964.
- The
great American baseball card flipping, trading, and bubble
gum book, [1973].
- Great
baseball stories : today and yesterday, c1978.
- Great
moments of baseball, [1973].
- Great
no-hit games of the major leagues, [1968].
- Greatest
World Series thrillers, [1965].
- How
to play baseball, 1955.
- How
to play big league baseball; complete playing instructions
for every position, [1951].
- How
to star in baseball, [c1960].
- Modern
baseball strategy, 1955.
- Modern
baseball superstars, [1973].
- More
modern baseball superstars, c1978.
- My
turn at the bat: the story of my life, [1969].
- New
breed heroes in pro baseball, [1974].
- Rookie
of the year [videorecording], 1972.
- The
science of hitting, [1971].
- Something
queer at the ballpark, a mystery, [1975].
- Sports
greats past and present: basketball, baseball, football,
hockey, [c1973].
- Sports
illustrated book of baseball, c1958.
- Stars
of the series; a complete history of the world series, [1964].
- Stories
of champions : Baseball Hall of Fame, [1965].
- There've
been some changes in the world of sports, 1962.
- Today's
game : a novel, [1965].
- Trade
him! : 100 years of baseball's greatest deals, c1976.
- What
a baseball manager does, [1970].
- A
wife's guide to baseball, [1970].
- The
World Series : a complete pictorial history, c1976.
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