Twenty-seven essays, profiles, and stories about baseball feature some of the best writing on the game, with selections from John Updike, George Plimpton, Pete Hamill, Roy Blount Jr., Zane Grey, Jimmy Breslin, Red Smith, P. G. Wodehouse, and many others Thirty great essays, profiles, and stories about America's pastime. Introduction ix Jeff Silverman Who's on First? 1(8) Abbott Costello Wait Till Next Year 9(6) Doris Kearns Goodwin The Web of the Game 15(18) Roger Angell Alibi Ike 33(18) Ring Lardner Ty Cobb's Wild, Ten-Month Fight to Live 51(22) Al Stump Hub Fans Bid Kid Adieu 73(14) John Updike Casey at the Congress 87(4) Going to the Moon 91(12) Bill Barich The Birth of Joe Hardy 103(8) Douglass Wallop A Scotchman, a Phantom, and a Shiny Blue Jacket 111(16) Willie Morris On Jackie Robinson 127(12) Red Barber A Mickey Mantle Koan 139(12) David James Duncan The Catch 151(4) Arnold Hano Old Well-Well 155(10) Zane Grey His Most Prized Possession Was That '54 Eddie 165(6) Ron Shelton Keith 171(14) Pete Hamill Baseball Players Called Her Ma 185(8) James T. Farrell The Pitcher and the Plutocrat 193(12) P. G. Wodehouse One Down, 713 to Go 205(4) Damon Runyon Roger Maris 209(4) Jimmy Cannon Home Run Fever 213(12) Gary Smith Woman Whiffs Ruth and Gehrig 225(4) William E. Brandt The Silent Season of a Hero 229(20) Gay Talese A Native Son's Thoughts 249(14) Richard Ben Cramer K as in Koufax 263(4) Vin Scully The Rocky Road of Pistol Pete 267(18) W. C. Heinz One Vote for Morganna 285(4) Red Smith Yogi 289(20) Roy Blount, Jr. The Thrill of the Grass 309(10) W. P. Kinsella The Green Fields of the Mind 319(4) A. Bartlett Giamatti About the Editor 323(2) Permissions Acknowledgments 325