Baseball in a Grain of Sand

Part sports journalism, part history, part memoir, this many-sided narrative follows one season with the Blue Devils of Moscow, Idaho—a rural American Legion baseball team. Showcasing baseball’s enduring place in American life, the author draws on the lore of the game, and conversations with diverse fans and players—an outdoorsman juggling his son’s schedule of games with bear hunting; a bewildered German college student, holding a baseball for the first time; former St. Louis Cardinal pitcher & Yale baseball coach John Stuper; the proud owner of a Derek Jeter jersey in Hokendauqua, Pennsylvania, to name a few.

Bill Gruber is an emeritus professor at Emory University. The author of numerous academic books and articles, he lives in Moscow, Idaho.

Bill Gruber

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 208
Bibliographic Info: notes, index
Copyright Date: 2018
pISBN: 978-1-4766-7317-2
eISBN: 978-1-4766-3259-9
Imprint: McFarland

Preface: Baseball in the Boonies 1

One—Imperfect Games: Richland, Hanford, May 31, June 1 11
Two—Time Travel: Lewiston, Post Falls, Rathdrum, June 9, 13–15 35
Three—On the Road: Libby, June 20–22 55
Four—Fields of Play: St. Maries, Orofino, June 27, 30 78
Five—The National Game: Moscow, Spokane, July 1–5 96
Six—Pitching Lessons: Lewiston, July 10–13 120
Seven—Home and Away: Moscow, July 14 147
Eight—The Model Baseball Player: Lewiston, July 18 161
Nine—That Thing in the Sun: Moscow, September 8 181

Chapter Notes 191
Index 197

Finalist, Casey Award—Spitball