Baseball and Literature

I wasn’t always a baseball fan. My love for the game developed about 3 or 4 years ago. I had watched an occasional game, and even enjoyed it. But it wasn’t until I began discussing it with a friend, who knew a lot more than I did about so many things, that I began to see the art and science behind the game. I asked him about the finer points of baseball. What is considered a hit? How do you calculate ERA? What constitutes a good slugger?

He answered me without embarrassing me or gave me his well-thought-out opinions and commentary with patience and kindness (his puzzling love for the *gulp* Dodgers is a subject for another time). (Thank you, Frank.)

For my birthday one year, he sent me a book.

Now I have often pondered why the sport of baseball (among all sports) seems to have some of the best movies made about it. But I never realized that there was so much good writing as well!

As for baseball books, I do recommend The Brothers K by David James Duncan (who also wrote one of my all-time favorite books, The River Why); and a delightful book that combines poetry and baseball, Shakespeare Bats Cleanup by Ron Koertge (it’s a teen book, but anyone who loves baseball and verse will grin a lot while reading this book).

And imagine my delight when I discovered THIS! Good writing and baseball... what more could you ask for.

Go Giants…!