Wednesday, February 25, 2015

Why Would a Baseball Be Muddy?

I was surprised with Margo’s pick from the library this week, but I was not disappointed! She insisted on getting Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud that Changed Baseball by David A. Kelly. She does like to get messy, so maybe the dripping mud attracted her to the story, because she's normally not a big baseball fan. Margo has been chanting “mud” all around the house since we finished reading it; maybe she’s just hoping for the mud that is sure to come this spring- once all the snow melts. I'm sure when it does she'll get down and dirty in our yard.  

This is the true story of how a special mud became the standard by which professional baseballs got prepared for games. Lena Blackburne wanted to play professional baseball and make it to the Baseball Hall of Fame. But, his baseball skills weren’t good enough for his dreams to come true. He still loved the sport and stayed part of it in any way that he could. One problem was the soggy baseballs that batters couldn’t hit very far. The baseballs needed the shine to be taken off of them, and most people used dirty water to do this (or other even more disgusting methods). When Lena discovers a mud that can do the job, he changes the way baseballs are prepared for play. His mud was a miracle, not only to him, but to all the baseball players who have used it over the past seventy five years. I was so stunned when I read this book with Margo. She loved the mud, but I was amazed by the fact that professional baseballs need to get “dirtied” before they can be used to play. I immediately started looking up facts and was shocked by what I learned. I also enjoyed the pictures, which are done in a way that your eye focuses on parts of the illustrations that tied into the text. The pictures made me ready to go to a baseball game and enjoy some time in the sunshine.

Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne and the Secret Mud that Changed Baseball is a great book for baseball fans, those who like to learn the story behind interesting facts, or people, like Margo, who like to get dirty. A short picture book that is sure to be a hit during baseball season. With the facts at the end, I bet you will learn something new too!

Happy reading! ~ F


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55 comments:

  1. I'm not a baseball fan, but it's interesting facts about baseballs and mud. I had no idea how the balls are prepped. And glad Margo enjoyed the book too.

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    1. Natalie- I love books that teach me something new! :) ~F

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  2. Sounds like this is both entertaining and educational.

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  3. Whilst hardly a fan of baseball I am somewhat a connoisseur of unusual facts. Great sounding book, I should think it is as interesting and fun as it is informative.

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  4. this sounds wonderful...I love me some Yankees :)

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    1. Beth Ellyn Summer- It is great and so interesting! :) ~F

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    2. Tracy- It won't let me comment near you! I love collecting interesting facts too! This is a great book! :) ~F

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  5. I love it when you learn something new from a book. Not much better.

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  6. I didn't know this about the baseballs; very interesting! Does sound like a good book for a young reader!

    betty

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    1. Betty- It is a great book for young readers and many adults will learn something too! :) ~F

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  7. Sounds like an interesting book. Who knew baseballs needed to be dirty before they could effectively be played with? Love the book cover!

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    1. Anna- I had no idea! I agree with you that the cover is great! :) ~F

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  8. I am a huge baseball fan and I knew about this, but why did I never think to write a book about it? I;ll be checking this one out for sure. Thanks for telling me about it.

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    1. Rosi- I think it is a great book topic- especially since so many people probably don't know this fact. So cool that you knew! :) ~F

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  9. That's one messy way to play baseball. I kinda wish I had taking the idea of playing the game more seriously when I was younger. :)

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    1. David- I had no idea mud and baseball went together in this way! :) ~F

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  10. Thanks for reviewing the book, and all the comments below! I had a great time writing the book, and sharing the story of baseball mud with readers. It's an interesting story that not a lot of people (even baseball fans) know about.

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    1. David- Welcome! Thanks so much for visiting with us. So glad you enjoyed the review and the comments. :) You have written a wonderful book. :) ~F

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  11. What? Really? It has to be muddy? The book sounds awesome!

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    1. Kelly- It is awesome and interesting! :) ~F

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  12. Sounds like an interesting book and the cover is awesome!

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    1. New Release Books- It is interesting! I love the cover too! :) ~F

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  13. I'll admit I'm not much of a baseball fan (gasp! I know!), so I had no idea about the balls needing to be dirty. What a great idea for a kids book!

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    1. Jocelyn- It is always fun to read a book with unique information in it! It keeps the reader on their toes. :) ~F

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  14. I had no idea but my brother, who is a baseball fiend and even wrote some of the stats on the back of cards, would know this for sure

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    1. Birgit- How cool that your brother wrote some of the stats on the back of baseball cards! :) ~F

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  15. This sounds like a really cool book & I think if I saw it laying somewhere Id defiantly read it.
    I actually want to google about the baseballs now.
    I hope my library has this book.
    High 5 to Margo for picking an awesome book!

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    1. Bellas- I Googled it after reading the book too! Always fun to learn new facts. Great reading choice! :) ~F

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  16. I'm not a baseball fan but when I was in my 20s working in PR, we had to escort Hank Aaron around Nashville. He was here for a Big Brothers/Big Sisters event. Everyone was all starstruck everywhere we went and it was all lost on me.

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    1. Stephanie- I am sure people were very starstruck. I wonder if the fact that you weren't made him feel more relaxed. :) ~F

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  17. Although I don't follow baseball at the moment, I was a huge fan, I knew all the ins and outs of it... I could go back in a moment... If I had an opportunity to go to a game sometime, I would go for it, I had so much fun going to the one I did years ago... the people that went with me told me that they weren't sure if they enjoyed the game more or my reaction to the game... lots of fun memories xox

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    1. Launna- How fun to learn that you were a huge baseball fan. I love going to games in person. Sounds like you are a super fun person to attend a game with and I hope you get to go to a game this year. :) ~F

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  18. I had absolutely no idea! I’m not a baseball fan, but it’s still interesting to learn things like this.

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    1. Barbara- I didn't have any idea either! :) ~F

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  19. How fascinating! While I'm not a baseball fan either, I loved watching Ken Burns multi-episode documentary on the sport. I sure don't remember him covering this charming story, though!

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    1. Lark- I thought this was a great idea for a picture book because it seems to be a little known fact. I haven't seen the documentary you mentioned- but it sounds interesting! :) ~F

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    2. It's something like 20 hours long, but it is indeed fascinating. In a sense, it's almost a history of America through baseball.

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  20. What a great story for young baseball fans and older fans too. I'm a baseball fan. Go Rangers. I never head of this though. Thanks.

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    1. Beverly- I agree! A wonderful book for baseball fans. :) ~F

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  21. Sounds like an interesting book. Congrats on the release!

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  22. I love football but hubby loves ALL sports. I need to get this. What a great cover too. I'd say all my boys will like it. Wishing you loads of luck.

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    1. Robyn- I think all of your boys will love this one. :) ~F

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  23. Huge baseball fan here..Go Phillies, so this was fascinating :)

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  24. I have heard that basketball players step on a fellow's new sneakers so that they aren't that new and stiff and that fellow player can run better in them. I guess that's how it is with new baseballs, too. Some kind of initiation. I haven't heard of this book but it does sound (especially the special mud part) interesting.

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    1. Claudine- I had no idea about the sneakers! I guess there are all kinds of unique rituals in sports! :) ~F

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  25. This sounds like such a cute, interesting read! We'll have to check this one out! Thanks for the awesome review, lovelies!

    ~ Mckenzie & Michele @ A Belle's Tales

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    1. McKenzie Reads- It is interesting and a cute picture book. Thanks for visiting. :) ~F

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