ALA Booklist (Tue Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 2005)

The year is 1903. Andy Oyler, the shortest player in his baseball league, is batting for the Minneapolis Millers with two outs, the bases loaded, and rain falling onto a field of puddles. Oyler's bat connects with the pitch, but no one can find the ball in the mud and standing water until all four runners have crossed home plate. According to the epilogue, Oyler became a hero by hitting the shortest home run in baseball history. The author's note mentions that the story owes more to legend than history; its earliest mention in print appeared in 1966. The large-scale, softly shaded pencil drawings have plenty of motion, just right for a sports story. Some of the players' gestures and facial expressions are a bit exaggerated, but other pictures reveal characters with a more natural grace. Giving the artwork an old-fashioned air, the drawings are tinted with watercolors in sepia tones, with subtle highlights in other colors. An attractive book for baseball fans who enjoy watching small heroes triumph and don't mind a bit of nostalgia.

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2005)

From the early days of professional baseball comes the legend of the shortest home run in history. In 1903, Andy Oyler hits the ball, but no one sees where it goes. Andy crosses home plate just as the second baseman trips over a "rock," and Andy's team wins. This is a winning combination of satisfying story, muscular prose, and cinematic illustrations.

Kirkus Reviews

Did Babe Ruth really point to the bleachers and then proceed to hit a home run to that spot? This question has been argued ad infinitum since 1932. Andy Oyler's exploits of 1903 are also part of baseball lore, if somewhat more obscure. Oyler is the shortest player in the league and he can't buy a hit. He comes to bat in the ninth inning with two out and the bases loaded. Suddenly there's downpour, turning the field to a muddy mess. Somehow, he hits the ball. As the opposing team scrambles through the rain and mud, the three runners score and so does Andy. Thus, Andy Oyler has hit the shortest grand-slam home run ever. Tavares employs short, simple sentences spiced with players' confused shouts. Pencil illustrations washed with pale watercolors are filled with humorous details and delightfully expressive faces. Did it really happen? It doesn't matter. Play Ball! (author's note, bibliography) (Picture book. 6-10)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Tavares (<EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Zachary's Ball; <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">Oliver's Game) takes another triumphant trip to the baseball field in this stirring story of an unlikely hero set in 1903. The tale opens as Little Andy Oyler, the shortest player on the Minneapolis Millers team—in fact in the whole league—steps up to the plate; heavy rain falls, and Oyler tries to ignore the heckling St. Paul Saints fans. The Millers, trailing by three runs, have loaded the bases and are down to their last out. Three spreads show a kind of time-lapse: a wide-angle view of the field, the wet ball slipping as it leaves the pitcher's hand, then the ball headed right for Oyler's head, yet somehow his bat makes contact. The ball seemingly disappears as Oyler heads for first base. After he makes his way home, the ball is recovered from the mud ("only a few feet in front of home plate") and declared a "fair ball" by the ump. Tavares's subtly hued, stylized watercolors effectively evoke the era as well as the tale's highly charged action and emotion. With his expert use of close-up and full-diamond views, he creates a visual pacing that adds to the suspense. A concluding note offers the caveat that documentation on the "shortest home run in baseball history" is, well muddy, and that this may well be a baseball tall tale. Whether fact or fiction, it is a refreshing and rousing story, with illustrations that will sweep up young spectators. Ages 6-10. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Mar.)

School Library Journal

Gr 1-4-A lighthearted picture-book romp based on baseball's shortest home run. In 1903, Andy Oyler hit the only home run of his entire career, but it's the subject of a much-loved baseball legend. Tavares casts his hero as the classic underdog: Oyler's the shortest player in the league, and he's trying to overcome a batting slump and the heckling of fans. As he steps to the plate on a cold, drizzly day, he represents the Minneapolis Millers' last hope. The drizzle becomes a downpour, but the umpire, believing that the batter stands a good chance of making the final out, lets play continue. Oyler somehow connects with the ball, which then gets lost in the wet, muddy infield. Tavares hilariously details the ensuing chaotic play as fielders scramble to find it and the batter makes his way around the bases. The artist evokes a nostalgic mood using pencil and watercolors in subdued shades of gray, brown, and navy blue. Similar in spirit to Marilyn Sachs's classic baseball tall tales, Matt's Mitt (1975; o.p.) and Fleet-Footed Florence (1981, both Doubleday), this story is sure to delight fans young and old.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.