ITINERARY
24
APRIL 01, 2013
AA.COM/AMERICANWAY
{ BOOKS }
MoreThanaGame
Inhisnewbook,NewYorkUniversitypresident andauthor
JOHNSEXTON
argues thatbaseball isa transcendent sport.
“B
90
,
theotherhalf isphysical,” legendary
baseballplayerandpunditYogiBerra
once famously said. And so long as fuzzymath
is inplay,
JOHN SEXTON
, authorof
BaseballAs a
Road toGod: SeeingBeyond theGame
(Gotham,
$28),mightaddthatAmerica’sfavoritepastimeis
also100percentspiritual.BasedontheNewYork
Universitypresident’swildlypopular courseof
thesamename,
Baseball
explores thesurprising
amountofcommongroundbetweenthegameand
a religious experience: sacredplaces and times,
faithanddoubt, blessings and curses, andmore.
It’samust-read forthebaseball faithful.
AMERICANWAY
:
Howdoesbaseball transcend the
game itself to takeonadeepermeaning?
JOHNSEXTON:
Thesporthastheuniquecapacity
toheighten sensitivity. Thedeeper you go into
the game, themore you come to realize the im-
portanceofwhatappears tobe thesmall things:
a single pitch, a single swing, a single play. Of
course, that transmutes very quickly into an
awarenessofsmall things innatureorthesmall
moments betweenhumanbeings. Baseball, in
causing you to appreciate the apparently small,
actuallyputs youon apath toward recognizing
themagnificent.
AW
:
It seemsnotable that thebook is titled
ARoad
toGod
, not
TheRoad toGod
.
JS:
Quitedeliberately, and there’snoclaimmade
thatit’saroadforeveryone.Theclaimhereisthat
baseball has apower that is
like
religion. If the
word
God
gives you trouble, don’tuse it—we’re
talking about theultimatemeaningof lifehere,
whatever youwant to label it. There is auseful
skill tobe learned in the close studyof baseball,
at least formanyof us. It teachesus this skill of
livingslow,asIsay inthebook.
AW
:
Withopeningdayuponus,what’syourperfect
dayat theballpark?
JS:
Adaygame.Thetemperature is inthe70s.It’s
a sunnyday. It’s twogood teams, twogoodpitch-
ers,alow-scoringgame,andI’mtherewithpeople
I love. If it’s really going tobe theperfect day, I
catchmyveryfirstbaseball,whichI’veneverdone
before. Iactuallycatch theball and take ithome.
Thatwouldbeperfect.—¡.¢
£
BatterUp
Threeengagingnewbooks
exploredifferent sidesofbaseball.
AChance toWin:Boyhood,
Baseball, and theStruggle for
Redemption in the InnerCity
ByJonathanSchuppe
(HenryHolt, $26)
Whenadrive-by shooting left
drugdealerRodneyMasona
paraplegic, hevowed to turnhis
lifearound. He formedaLittle
League team inNewark,N.J.’s
toughestneighborhood, givinghis
community something to root for.
(AvailableMay7)
Inside theBaseballHallofFame
By theNational BaseballHall of
FameandMuseum
(Simon&Schuster, $35)
More than200photographsbring
Cooperstown’s treasures— from
“Shoeless” JoeJackson’s shoes
from the 1919WorldSeries to
FDR’s “GreenLight Letter,”which
insisted thatbaseball should
continue throughoutWorldWar
II’sdarkestdays— to life.
TheSummerofBeerand
Whiskey:HowBrewers,Barkeeps,
Rowdies, ImmigrantsandaWild
PennantFightMadeBaseball
America’sGame
ByEdwardAchorn
(PublicAffairs, $27)
Today’sballparkexperienceowes
much to theAmericanAssociation,
which, for 10 seasons, rivaled the
haughtyNational Leagueand
brought all social classes to the
ballparkwithSundaygames, 25-
cent tickets, renegadeplayersand
—most importantly—beer.
—KRISTIN BAIRD RATTINI
