Season Ticket: A Baseball Companion

In this chronicle of seasons from 1982 to 1987, the incomparable Angell (The Summer Game, Five Seasons and Late Innings) combines 19 of his New Yorker articles to tell about several principal events and developments in recent baseball history. Here is superlative clubhouse, field, dugout and even spring-training reportage that not only describes the stars of our timeBoggs, Brett, Gooden, Hernandez, Mattingly, Rose, Seaver and Valenzuela among thembut also examines in detail (based on extensive conversations with the leading practitioners) the intricacies of catching, infield play and pitching, the problems of running a club and the mysteries of managing, and the appeal of baseball's hall of fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. Here too are vivid accounts of the rise and fall of the Cubs, the decline of Buck Weaver and his Orioles, the sudden ascent of Sparky Anderson's Tigers, and the amazing 1986 play-offs that led to the fantastic Mets-Red Sox world series. Once again, Angell affirms that he is the bard of the diamonda must for fans. (March)