conservation

"Super Shortstops: Jeter, Nomar, and A-Rod" asks the burning question: "Are three of the greatest shortstops in baseball history playing right now?" Certainly this is a question a lot of baseball fans have been asking, especially last year when all three of these shortstops were named to the American League team (along with two other, including Miguel Tejada, who ended up being the MVP). Towards answering that question James Buckley, Jr. begins by reviewing the history of the position, from Honus Wagner to Cal Ripken, Jr. Over another dozen former and current great shortstops are mentioned throughout the book in the margins and the concluding, "Who's Next" section, but the focus is clearly on the big three. Rodriguez is "A-Rod!", Jeter is "King of the Yankees," and Garciapara is "The Pride of Boston." The career highlights of each shortstop are covered and the statistics of these "Three amigos" through 1999 are provided in the back. However, if Buckley really wanted to make his case he could have offered up some similar statistics for Wagner, Banks, et al. to show exactly how this trio matches up with the best of all time. I think this would clearly prove that Jeter, Nomar, and A-Rod all deserve to be in the Top 10 of all-time and that offensively Rodriguez would be at the top of the list. Of coruse, this raises some other interesting questions as well: Who would you rather have? A-Rod with his 40-50 home runs or Jeter with his four World Series rings?

This is a level 4 Dorling Kindersley Reader, intended for proficient readers. It is filled with nice photographs and perhaps an over abundance of information in the margins on everything from batting gloves to what a yellow jacket is (besides the Georgia Tech mascot). Buckley brings a nice sense of the history of the shortstop position to this volume, which should be of interest to all young baseball fans, even if they root for teams other than the Yankees, Red Sox, and whoever A-Rod is playing for this year.