Diamonds are a girl's best friend Book

	Introduction
	Baseball and Writing	3
	First Game	6
	from Sportsman's Paradise	9
	I've Never Written a Baseball Poem	19
	Spring Training	20
	The Idea of Florida during a Winter Thaw	22
	Backyard	24
	from Deborah, Golda and Me	25
	From Father, with Love	26
	Coming to the Plate	29
	from Squeeze Play	35
	from In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson	41
	Willie Horton	46
	Memoir	50
	from An American Childhood	53
	from Raising Demons	56
	How Hans Became an American	66
	Calling	69
	What Baseball Tells Us About Love	70
	On Just Being a Fan	73
	A Miracle Year	75
	City Ball	79
	Endless Odds	91
	Summer Before College	94
	Season Wish	96
	Heroes	98
	Red Barber	102
	Fan Valentines	121
	Why I Love Baseball	122
	No Particular Place to Go	126
	Why I Love It	128
	Most Valuable Player	130
	from In Shelly's Leg	132
	As Yet	135
	Hommage a George Brett	136
	Poem for My Youth	137
	Bunt Ball	138
	Carlton Fisk Is My Ideal	140
	Dodger Stadium	142
	from The Sunlit Field	150
	A Dream of Games	158
	Listening to Baseball in the Car	159
	A Bush League Hero	161
	The Lady Fan	170
	Dream Game	173
	The Truth About Paradise	176
	American Baseball	183
	A Baseball Wimp	186
	The Markoe Plan for Overcoming Boredom at a Baseball Game	188
	Analysis of Baseball	195
	Petticoats and the Press Box	197
	On Trying to Watch Baseball	199
	Uniform Comments	202
	Madame Southpaw	204
	from All the Way Home	216
	A Night Game in Menomonie Park	221
	Double Play	223
	Mother Baseball	224
	Hometown Piece for Messrs. Alston and Reese	229
	Jackie Robinson	232
	What Happened	235
	One to Nothing	237
	Baseball	239
	Baseball	240
	Deaf-Mutes at the Ballgame	243
	The Barbarians	244
	Poor Is Poor, Broke Is Broke	255
	The Lefthander	259
	Fly Ball	262
	Suicide	264
	The Playoffs and Everything	265
	The Playoff Game	267
	The World Series Is About Writing Poems	270
	World Series	272
	The Winter Game	274
	Contributor Notes	283
	Bibliography	289
	Acknowledgments	291