Baseball Fever!

San Francisco Giants fever has taken over in our house, as it has throughout the Bay Area, and we were all thrilled when the Giants won the National League championship last night. Actually, as some of you might know or guess, I am not a big sports fan. But when a team from my city, or from a college I or a family member has attended or worked at, I do support them. I support them more enthusiastically when they are doing well, which I admit puts me into the "fair weather friend" category. In any case, this was the perfect time to read (actually listen to) "The Art of Fielding" (Hachette Audio, 2011), by Chad Harbach; I completed it during the Giants playoffs. This book was a big bestseller that I resisted when it was first published (see my post of 5/10/12) because it was about baseball, but when I listened to it in my car, I found that although baseball was the focus, there was much about relationships, family, love, and others of my favorite topics. The plot centers on the baseball team of a small liberal arts college, and the main characters are three student players, the president of the university, and the daughter who has recently come back into his life. The college part was, of course, of interest to me, as a college professor. I actually found the baseball part much more interesting than I expected to, as well. This book was quite engaging, and I got caught up in it and enjoyed it.