Right Off the Bat

Are baseball and cricket two sports divided by a common language? Both employ bats, balls, and innings. Fans of both love statistics, revel in nostalgia, and use baffling jargon. In this book baseball nut Lomke and cricket buff Rowe explain "their" sport to the other sport''s fans -- through anecdotes, diagrams, photographs, and a curve (or dipper) or two. Cricket and baseball share a parallel and occasionally intertwined history (the first international cricket match was played in the U.S.). Indeed, they have mirrored their countries'' struggles with identity and race, and have expanded beyond the shores of their founding countries to become multinational sports commanding global followings that are, even now, challenging the future of both sports.