Angell's absorbing collection traces the highs and lows of major-league baseball in the 1980s

Roger Angell once again journeys through five seasons of America's national pastime—chronicling the larger-than-life narratives and on-field intricacies of baseball from 1982 to 1987. Angell's collected New Yorker essays, written in his unique voice as a fan and baseball aficionado, cover the development of the game both on the diamond and off. While diving into subjects such as Sparky Anderson's '84 Detroit Tigers, the legendary 1986 World Series and the Curse of the Bambino, and the increasingly pervasive issue of player drug use, Angell reveals the craft and technique of the game, and the unforgettable stories of those who played it.