For the Love of Baseball A Celebration of the Game That Connects Us All

Stefan Fatsis sends his “stunningly perfect, consummately perfect, why-would-anyone-use-anything-else? perfect” glove to be restored by the glove designer at Rawlings. Frank Deford makes the case that the baseball cap may be the most universal article of clothing ever designed. Roger Angell considers why it is that pitchers are “so much livelier and more garrulous than hitters.” George Plimpton reflects on the slow demotion of aging or slumping players from pitcher to first base, to the outfield.

United by the authors fervent love of the game, each chapter in this book reminds us of the unique role baseball plays in our national history and collective imagination. In addition to the authors mentioned above, the lineup includes:

• Kevin Baker

• Jeff Greenfield

• Katherine A. Powers

• Michael Shapiro

• John Thorn

• Sean Wilentz

• And more!

Published previously as Anatomy of Baseball and Great Baseball Stories, this wide-ranging collection now includes pieces by A. Bartlett Giamatti, Gay Talese, Matthew McGough, and George Vecsey.

“When winter seems like it will never end, [For the Love of Baseball] will remind you why you fell in love with the game. This is one of the finest baseball anthologies of all time.”—Jonathan Eig, author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig

“What this collection best represents is the full spectrum of the baseball experience, from romantic to nostalgic to eclectic. . . . The beauty of the anthology approach is the variety of perspective that the 20 authors bring, with each offering something that readers can relate to.”— Boston Globe

“Exceptional—a lively, rewarding read.”—Robert W. Creamer

". . an all-star lineup. Ends with a piece by Roger Angell. Read it and you'll see why they waived the rules to give Angell the Spink Award even though he's not a member of the Baseball Writers' Association of America. . . . Frank Deford, Bart Giamatti, George Plimpton, Gay Talese, which makes it special, all that wit and wisdom between the same set of covers writing about a game they love."—Stan Hochman, Philadelphia Daily News

“Lee Gutkind and Andrew Blauner assemble an all-star lineup.” — The Daily Beast

Lee Gutkind, recognized by Vanity Fair as “the Godfather behind creative nonfiction,” is the author or editor of more than thirty books and founder and editor of Creative Nonfiction, the first and largest literary magazine to publish narrative nonfiction exclusively. He is Distinguished Writer in Residence in the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University and a professor in the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication.

Andrew Blauner is the founder of Blauner Books Literary Agency and a member of PEN, the National Book Critics Circle, and SABR. He is editor of Coach: 25 Writers Reflect on People Who Made a Difference, Brothers: 26 Stories of Love and Rivalry, Central Park: An Anthology, and Our Boston: Writers Celebrate the City They Love.

Yogi Berra is one of the greatest and most enduring legends in American sports.