The book intersperses a story about a boy playing baseball with explanations about the sport. The coach opens the practice session with drills, and the text and illustrations explain how players warm up and practice batting and pitching. On the day of the championship game, Nick unpacks his bag at the field. Baseball equipment is then illustrated and explained. The game begins and an illustration of the diamond shows the nine positions. In the end, Nick's team wins and learns how to line up and shake hands with the opponents. Although some readers may enjoy learning about baseball in the context of a story, the combination of narrative and expository text is not completely successful. The story line is quite thin and, because it is interrupted with informational content, has little dramatic effect. The appealing watercolor illustrations depict a multicultural group of boys and girls and are effective in conveying movement and action. The book would be best for beginning baseball players who are more interested in the sport than a story.-Adele Greenlee, Bethel College, St. Paul, MN Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.