The title of the book caught my eye when perusing the Philosophy section at Barnes and Noble one day. Based on the flap I thought it would be a fun light read combining an avid interest of mine (baseball) with a more cursory interest (philosophy). The book was actually a little deeper than expected, although the format of the book - a series of independent essays - made it fairly digestible. The essays, in most cases grouped in pairs with each taking an opposing view of a philosophical argument, were all by different writers, and the 4-star rating is an average. Some of the essays were more though-provoking or interesting than others. Overall, it's a great escape for the serious fan from the idiocy of Baseball Tonight.

I figure the best way to more specifically highlight the subject matter would be to just list the table of contents:

Inning 1 Hometown Heroes

Top of the First
1. "There's No Place Like Home!"

Bottom of the First
2. Minnesota's "Homer Hanky Jurisprudence": Contraction, Ethics, and the Twins

Inning 2 You Gotta Believe!

Top of the Second
3. Should Cubs Fans Be Committed? What Bleacher Bums Have to Teach Us about the Nature of Faith

Bottom of the Second
4. Taking One for the Team: Baseball and Sacrifice

Inning 3 The Umpire's New Clothes

Top of the Third
5. There Are No Ties at First Base

Bottom of the Third
6. Taking Umpiring Seriously: How Philosophy Can Help Umpires Make the Right Calls

Inning 4 Fair or Foul?

Top of the Fourth
7. Baseball, Cheating, and Tradition: Would Kant Cork His Bat?
Bottom of the Fourth
8. There's No Lying in Baseball (Wink, Wink)

Inning 5 Baseball and America

Top of the Fifth
9. Democracy and Dissent: Why America Needs Reggie Jackson

Bottom of the Fifth
10. Baseball and the Search for an American Moral Identity

Inning 6 Where Have You Gone, Jackie Robinson?

Top of the Sixth
11. The Negro Leagues and the Contradictions of Social Darwinism

Bottom of the Sixth
12. We're American Too: The Negro Leagues and the Philosophy of Resistance

Inning 7 The Japanese National Pastime?

Top of the Seventh
13. The Zen of Hitting

Bottom of the Seventh
14. Japanese Baseball and Its Warrior Ways?

Inning 8 Behind in the Count

Top of the Eighth
15. The Numbers Game: What Fans Should Know about the Stats They Love
Bottom of the Eighth
16. Women Playing Hardball

Inning 9 Under Pressure

Top of the Ninth
17. Walking Barry Bonds: The Ethics of the Intentional Walk

Bottom of the Ninth
18. Socrates at the Ballpark

Post-Game Press Conference
19. Baseball and Ethics: Should Pete Rose Be in the Hall of Fame?
Yes
No
20. Baseball and Political Philosophy: Does A-Rod Deserve So Much Money?
Yes
No
21. Baseball and Metaphysics: Does Superstition Help Performance?
Yes
No
22. Baseball and Legal Philosophy: Should Steroids Be Banned?
Yes
No
23. Baseball and Aesthetics: What's the Best Baseball Movie?
The Natural (1984)
It Happens Every Spring (1949)
24. Baseball and Education: Were Baseball Players Better Role Models Then or Now?
Then
Now