The crack of the bat, the sound of baseballs thumping into gloves, the infield chatter are like birdsong to the baseball starved.

If you build it, he will come.

Discovered W. Somerset Maugham in about 5th grade. Didn't understand the plots, but loved the descriptions.

My intuition told me that it was the grass that was important.Now it glows parrot-green, cool as mint, soft as moss, lying there like a cashmere blanket.

Basketball is the worst sport. They need to raise the basket at least two feet.

[I] Played a little softball, but there was nowhere on the field it was safe for me to be.

It is the same game that Moonlight Graham played in 1905. It is a living part of history, like calico dresses, stone crockery, and threshing crews eating at outdoor tables. It continually reminds us of what was, like an Indian-head penny in a handful of new coins.