Arguably the greatest sports memoir ever penned, The Long Season was a revelation when it was first published in 1960. Here is an insider's perspective on America's national pastime that is funny, honest, and, above all, real. The man behind this fascinating account of baseball and its players was not a sportswriter but a self-proclaimed "average ballplayer"--a relief pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals. Called "Professor" by his teammates and "Meat" by his wife, Jim Brosnan turned out to be the ideal guide to the behind-the-scenes world of professional baseball with his keen observations, sharp wit, and clear-eyed candor.His player's diary takes readers on the mound and on the road, inside the clubhouse and most enjoyably inside his own head. While solving age-old questions like "Why can't pitchers hit?" and "What makes for the best chewing tobacco?" Brosnan captures the game-to-game daily experiences of an ordinary season, unapologetically, "the way I saw it"--from sweating out spring training to blowing the opening game and then being traded midseason to the Cincinnati Reds.In The Long Season, Brosnan reveals, like no other sportswriter before him, the human side of professional ballplayers and has forever preserved not only a season but also a uniquely American experience.