Keepers: Radio Stories from Only a Game & Elsewhere

In a style Reminiscent of Hall-of-Fame sportswriter Jimmy Cannon in his particular fondness for the type of sports story that leaves a lump in the throat, Littlefield presents a collection of light and entertaining pieces written for station WBUR in Boston during the 1980s, NPR's Morning Edition and Only a Game, the show he hosts on NPR. The editor of Best Sports Writing of 1997, Littlefield has divided the book into four sections, corresponding to the seasons, but there is no doubt that his favorite sport is baseball and, like all professional masochists in New England, his favorite team is the Red Sox, so there are articles about Yastrzemski, Boggs, Clemens and Bill Lee. Essays on other sports range from swimming to bowling; general baseball selections that chronicle the joys of spring training and of introducing children to the game abound, but Littlefield exhibits little interest in the minutiae of trades and statistics. One unfortunate trait he shares with Cannon is a predilection for doggerel. But baseball sentimentalists, and NPR fans in particular, will excuse that. (Sept.)