Mike, here are two books for you to read if you haven't already (and if you can find them anywhere). I think you'd enjoy both. W.P.Kinsella's The Iowa Baseball Confederacy (actually, Kinsella has a bunch of baseball stories out there - he wrote 'Shoeless Joe', for example), and Robert Coover's The Universal Baseball Association, J. Henry Waugh, Proprietor. The second one is a bit weird - about a guy who slowly goes mad over his fantasy baseball game, but it's a great read.

>I missed the NPR piece (have been taking the train every day) but did read something about that guy. It's amazing how many baseballs he has caught.
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>Philly must be a little giddy. It's been quite a while since the Phillies made it.
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>>As always, Mike, you have a way with words.
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>>BTW, did you hear the guy on NPR a few weeks ago (can't remember which program) talking about baseball. He's written a book about how to get a ball at the game, I think.
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>>He said one thing that really resonated for me. Both football and baseball games take about 3 hours. But football is a one-hour game that takes 3 hours. Baseball is a 3-hour game that takes 3 hours. He talked a lot about all the stuff going on between pitches and the psychological aspects. Here are links for the guy on NPR, but I really thought I heard him more recently:
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>>http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12589633
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>>Oh, I bet I know. I bet they repeated the most recent
>>Fresh Air interview on Fresh Air Weekend and I heard it there.
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>>Tamar