Batter Up!!! Let's Play Ball

The regular season of Major League Baseball opens Sunday night, as the Yankees take on the Red Sox. My team of choice, the Seattle Mariners (hope springs eternal) opens its season in Oakland against the Athletics on Monday. It's hard to think too much about baseball when I'm still in NCAA basketball (Go, Stanford women!) and Trail Blazers playoff mode, but I do love baseball. And I particularly love going to Seattle on a sunny day and watching the Mariners play at gorgeous Safeco field, drinking beer and eating garlic fries (in case you've been wondering how I'm able to keep my girlish figure....)

A good book to read to get you in the mood for baseball this year is the new highly acclaimed authorized biography by James Hirsch, Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend. Willie Mays is arguably the greatest player in baseball history, still revered for the passion he brought to the game. With 3,283 hits, 660 home runs, and 338 stolen bases, he was a blend of power, speed, and stylistic bravado that enraptured fans for more than two decades.Willie is perhaps best known for "The Catch" -- his breathtaking over-the-shoulder grab in the 1954 World Series. But he was a transcendent figure who received standing ovations in enemy stadiums and who, during the turbulent civil rights era, urged understanding and reconciliation.

Bob Costas, broadcaster for NBC Sports and Major League Baseball Network calls this book "the complete and definitive biography of the 'Say Hey Kid.'" Play ball!