BASEBALL ABC

Alphabet books have long been the province of toddler picture books; now comes a series of alphabet books designed for a broader audience. Mayers's (A Russian ABC, not reviewed, etc.) handsomely designed baseball volume fills each page with color photos of memorabilia, including a Honus Wagner baseball card (under ``C''), a panoply of gloves used in various positions (under ``G''), World Series ticket stubs (under ``T''), and other pictures of stadiums, umpires, scoreboards, and nutty fans. Even the bold letters heading each page are taken from authentic team logos. Snippets of baseball trivia accompany each letter, with a fair balance between the hallowed-but-dusty past and the present. Still, the basic question rises: Who is this book for? Kids still learning the alphabet are too young to be interested in the trivia or the museum artifacts, and older baseball fans may find the ABC gimmick tedious. In this season of the momentous baseball strike and Ken Burns's TV series ``Baseball,'' this may appeal to adults as a gift book, though it will probably never be read. (Nonfiction/Picture book. All ages)