Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne And The Secret Mud That Changed Baseball (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
The title alone will attract readers! The text packs a punch, full of details but done simply to explain the background of how mud came to be important to major league baseball. Even those who aren't baseball fans will find this an interesting angle on the sport.The variety of views, some closeup, like the cover, broad background, and some with far away views, help the reader see the big picture. It would also be fun to examine the ads around the outfield. The end pages give readers more images to pour over. I'm not a baseball expert, but does a catcher put his glove hand behind his back when tagging out a runner sliding in to homeplate? This image looks a little awkward to me.I was prompted to look this up on the web, and found lots of great sites with further details and photos. I would like to have had a photo in the book. I think that is important for younger students to realize that it really did happen. I wonder why the current owners of the business are only making about $20,000/year. Seems they could charge baseball clubs a lot more for this unique product!This could be used for biography, sports, history, or economics studies.As a contender for the Maine Chickadee Award in April, 2015, I think this book will do well. Very interesting book about a man named Lena Blackburne who wanted to be a famous baseball player but wasn’t good enough. Instead he made is claim to fame by finding a way to use mud to roughen up the new baseballs. This special secret mud was put in containers and sold to all the baseball leagues. His product “Lena Blackburne Rubbing Mud” is still used today and you will find a display in the Baseball Hall of Fame.
What do You think about Miracle Mud: Lena Blackburne And The Secret Mud That Changed Baseball (2013)?
Awesome little tidbit of baseball that very few know...
—Mario
I never knew mud was so important to baseball!
—Weird_Beauty
