The best book I've read recently about the so-called (remember the football stat) national pastime is Jim Collins's The Last Best League. The author spent a season following the fortunes of the Chatham's of the Cape Cod League, the last great wooden bat summer league in the country. Many of the players who have come through the Cape have gone on to illustrious major league careers. For others, the Cape is their crowning achievement. This is a marvelous book about pure baseball, young men and small towns.