More than any other sport, baseball has fascinated Americans since possibly the first formal game was played on the Elysian Fields of New York back in 1846. Though Roger Kahn speculates as to why this is so, he is largely concerned with the ballplayers themselves as they work their way from the minors to the majors, as they go through spring training and enter the race for the pennant, as they undergo the hectic, exhilarating ordeal of the World Series. By observing the techniques of pros like Early Wynn, Stan Musial and Mickey Mantle, the reader [of Inside Big League Baseball] can begin to comprehend the enormous energies, both mental and physical, expended in the game. He also learns the difference between inspired and routine management through anecdotes about managers like [Leo] Durocher…. Mr. Kahn has written a diamond-studded Roger Kahn 1927– © Jim Kalettchronology of American baseball which probes...