ESPN's Tim Kurkjian's Is This a Great Game or What? a Great Fit for Any Baseball Fan

Any avid baseball fan should swing right into the new book by ESPN's Tim Kurkjian. Stats, stories, oddities and other rare gems of the baseball realm have been weaved into his insightful book that brings the drama of baseball leaping off its pages.

Kurkjian, mostly known for his stints on ESPN's Baseball Tonight and SportsCenter, has compiled a book loaded with memories of his past 25 years covering the sport he loves -- baseball.

Kurkjian began his career working at a daily newspaper in Dallas covering the Texas Rangers. He has since moved up the ranks of journalism working for Sports Illustrated and eventually ESPN. He has always worked on the baseball beat and throughout the book his passion for the game is obvious.

Kurkjian starts out by explaining his love for the game and the desire that drives many major leaguers to play ball. He also argues (and makes a good argument!) as to why major leaguers are the best well-rounded athletes out of any in professional sports. He makes many valid points and almost convinces the reader that he is right.

The core of Kurkjian's book centers around stats, oddities and more stats. But as a man that has covered baseball for over 25 years, he also pitches some excellent stories from the mouths of major leaguers that most average joes will not find anywhere else.

Kurkjian almost seems to be a walking encyclopedia for baseball statistics. He can tell the reader the answer to who were the two players with the longest combined names to hit home runs back-to-back. Useless information? Maybe--but fascinating for any true fan of baseball. But he can also tell the reader why statistically Eric Karros was a better base stealer than Joltin' Joe DiMaggio.

One especially interesting chapter covers the effect of Kurkjian's "white pearl" or in other words, a baseball. He writes about how something so little can affect so much. He dwells mainly on players being hit while in the batter's box, on the pitching mound or in the field. The fear that strikes deep within the hearts of almost every major league player and how that fear can sometimes ruin a career.

For fans of ESPN's Baseball Tonight, Kurkjian reveals many inside jokes from the show and explains why his co-anchors use certain phrases in certain situations. It leaves the reader eager to tune into the popular show.

Kurkjian touches on many aspects of the baseball world--scouts and their struggles, general managers and the new generation of "youth" in front offices, and steroids and how it may or may not taint the national pastime. Throughout the book, Kurkjian is neither preachy nor redundant--he just exudes his overwhelming passion for baseball.

His love is of the game is perhaps most evident in his closing chapters when he petitions parents, coaches and others associated with the game to encourage kids to love baseball. He fears baseball is losing out to other "safer" sports such as soccer or tennis. He believes it is because the atmosphere is too intense in the beginning stages of a baseball career and most kids quit out of fear or out of failure. He calls out major leaguers to show their love and passion for the game in hopes that they will somehow set a better example and encourage the youth of today to pursue the greatest game on earth, in Kurkjian's mind.

Although several parts of the book seem to be never end with name upon name or stat upon stat or the next "funniest" situation, "Is this a Great Game or What?" should satisfy any baseball fan with its knowledge and depth. Many readers probably will not be able to set the book down--unless of course, there's a game on.