Kinsella steps into the batter's box and slugs another home run. In his latest collection of short stories built around baseball themes, the author sweeps up readers and transports them to an irresistible fantasy land inhabited by alien mascots, lovable con men, punchy old-timers, and young boys' ethereal dreams of baseball stardom. And yet, just below the light-hearted surface, lurk the hard realities of rural poverty, lost loves, failed ambitions - the problems of everyday life temporarily glossed over by the uniquely American fascination with the "national pastime". Kinsella captures the essence of smalltown life in the American midwest as seen through the eyes of the people who live, laugh and suffer through it.