Brad Herzog - I Spy with My Little Eye Baseball: Baseball

Fun for all ages!

Photographs by David Milne and text by Brad Herzog

Sleeping Bear Press

To my wonderful family for all their love and support.

D. M.

To my niece Beatrice and my nephew Eli. I spy two adorable redheads.

B. H.

David Milne would like to thank:
Bruce Rodgers
Adam Bissonnette
Ray, Matt and Chris Parker
Gregory Bria, Oakwood Sports
Art Katsapis
Ron Townshend
Dave and Erin Guliani
Ward & Patch Sports
Louisville Slugger
R. Lanctot Group, Quebec
Mike Bernard
Michigan State University
Jim Petselis
Lindsay Milne
Christian Davila
Ron Belluomini, Coach Oakville Bantam AAA
Samantha Currie
Jim Findlay (3rd base coach)
Nick Rico
The Trophy Centre, Toronto
Irene Crichton
Nick Shanks
Iain Faulkner

I spy with my little eye two pictures that look just the same.

An identical view isnt always whats true.

Find the changes to play this game.

Now lets get started...

I spy with my little eye baseball batsmetal and wood.

Keep your eye on each ball. Can you count them all?

Would a shoe walk away if it could?

Photo Fact: The most famous baseball bat model in the world is the Louisville Slugger. According to legend, the very first one was created in 1884 for major league player Pete Browning after he broke one of his bats. The Louisville Slugger companys original bat model was known as the Falls City Slugger (because Louisville, Kentucky, is located at the Falls of the Ohio River). By the 1920s more than one million Louisville Sluggers were being produced each year. Today, in front of the Louisville Slugger Museum, there stands a 120-foot-tall baseball bat, the largest in the world. Inside the building is a 15-ton sculpture of a mitt and a ball.

Find at Least
15
Changes

I spy with my little eye a coach giving signs to his team.

Touch your ear, tap your chest. His players know best that those signals mean more than they seem.

Photo Fact: In the quiet time between pitches during a baseball game, there may be quite a bit of sign language happening. A catcher may give a sign to a pitcher about what to throw. A fastball? A curveball? A pitchout? A manager may give a sign to a third-base coach, who will convey the message to the batter. Should he bunt? Take a pitch without swinging? Swing away? The base coach may also give a sign to a runner about whether he should steal or not. These signs often consist of a series of movements that are confusing to most observers, but they make sense to the players receiving the signs because they know what to look for.

Find at Least
16
Changes

I spy with my little eye eleven fine gloves and mitts.

Some are old, some brand new, some barely will do.

Try one on. See which one of them fits.

Photo Fact: Although the words glove and mitt are often used to describe the same piece of equipment, mitts (like those used by catchers and first basemen) do not have individual fingers. They are more like mittens. There are hundreds of models of baseball gloves to choose from these days, but in the earliest days of baseball most players didnt wear any gloves at all. The last major-leaguer to field without a glove was Jerry Denny, a third baseman who retired in 1894. At that time, most gloves simply consisted of leather padding to protect the palms of the fielders hands. Their fingers werent even covered!

Find at Least
20
Changes

I spy with my little eye equipment tossed in a pile.

Theres more gum to chew, and an altered shoe.

A batting glove gets a new style.

Photo Fact: Baseball players didnt begin wearing batting gloves regularly until the 1960s and 1970s. Nowadays, most players wear gloves on both hands, but there are still some who dont wear any at all. Batting gloves can improve the grip on the bat while protecting the hands. Some players even wear them under their gloves or mitts while fielding because it provides a better fit. One major-leaguer, Mike Hargrove, was famous for fidgeting with his gloves (and sleeves and pants and helmet) each time he stepped up to the plate. This earned him a special nickname: The Human Rain Delay.

Find at Least
24
Changes

I spy with my little eye a bevy of baseballs with stitches.

If you want to win, just watch the balls spin.

Can you hit what the pitcher pitches?

Photo Fact: The baseball has experienced very few changes since the games early days. Since 1872 the official Major League Baseball has weighed about five ounces and has measured nine inches around. It consists of a cork center wrapped tightly in wool and yarn and covered by cowhide. The two parts of the cover are hand sewn together (with exactly 108 stitches) using precisely 88 inches of red thread. The final people to prepare the baseballs are the umpires. Brand new balls are too slick and shiny to use, so before each game the umpires rub each ball with a substanceLena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mudfrom a special (and secret) mud hole in New Jersey.