{"id":8077,"date":"2010-09-15T19:34:14","date_gmt":"2010-09-16T02:34:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.seamheads.com\/?p=8077"},"modified":"2010-09-17T15:22:24","modified_gmt":"2010-09-17T22:22:24","slug":"how-does-it-feel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2010\/09\/15\/how-does-it-feel\/","title":{"rendered":"How Does It Feel?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>“Numbers merely describe the surface of baseball . . . No incisive statistical pocketknife, wielded however skillfully, can dissect and reveal the heart of baseball to the serious souls who study the game.”<\/p>\n

David Baldwin, Snake Jazz<\/em><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n\n
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For the past few months I’ve been studying baseball and reading its literature almost exclusively, at the expense of all the other fine books that are calling to be enjoyed. \u00c2\u00a0 Sometimes I feel sad that I’ll never understand everything about this game (as I’ve already lamented in an earlier post<\/a>).\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 There’s just not enough time in one lifetime to know it.\u00c2\u00a0 The subject is too vast, the writers too many.<\/p>\n

The sheer volume of baseball books<\/a> is overwhelming.\u00c2\u00a0 Just ask my blogger friends, who write reviews<\/a> on a regular basis<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 You could become a doctor of philosophy and still not have read the entire repertoire that includes histories, biographies, essays, fiction, creative nonfiction, sabermetrics, the sports pages, lyric and narrative poetry, autobiography, and memoir.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Not to mention the day’s news and stats unfolding at a rapid clip even as I write this.<\/p>\n

Every author, like every fan, has his or her angle on the game,\u00c2\u00a0 Through words we attempt to access baseball, know it more intimately, get at the heart and truth of it. \u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Our work is fundamentally not so different from fans who actively seek autographs, wear vintage uniforms, stumble over others when lunging for foul balls, and share countless unsolicited memories (“I saw Lowe’s no-hitter at Fenway” …\u00c2\u00a0 “I met Bob Feller HoF ’62 in Winter Haven”) – as if such experiences link us to greatness; as if these connections endow our own underwhelming lives with a little more importance, which in fact they do. \u00c2\u00a0 We touch it or write it in order to make it real. \u00c2\u00a0 “I was there.” \u00c2\u00a0 “I shook her hand.” \u00c2\u00a0 “I wrote his story.”<\/p>\n

The library of baseball literature is a formidable and intimidating place.\u00c2\u00a0 My goodness, like the game itself, it’s a huge industry.\u00c2\u00a0\u00c2\u00a0 Mind-boggling.\u00c2\u00a0 Here’s a list of just a few works I’ve enjoyed this summer, in no particular order:<\/p>\n