Why do accomplished writers (and grown-ups) like Ron Carlson, Rick Bass and Michael Chabon (to name but a few of those represented here) still obsess over their baseball days? What is it about this green game of suspense that not only moves us but can also move us to flights of lyrical writing? In SCORING FROM SECOND: WRITERS ON BASEBALL some of the literary lights of our day answer these questions with essays, reminiscences and meditations on the sport that is America’s game but also a deeply personal experience for player, observer and fan alike.

Here writers as different as Andre Dubus and Leslie Epstein, Chabon and Floyd Skloot, Michael Martone and William Least Heat-Moon reflect on the game they grew up with, the players who thrilled them and the lessons that baseball holds for us all. From the one-season wonder to the long-haul heroes to the hall of fame, the game that has framed so many American summers --- and lives --- comes to quirky, instructive and always entertaining life in these pages.