It’s that time of year when we all make lists of things for which we are thankful.  For some, the list might be a bit shorter this year.  But, Bill Littlefied suggests, at least you’re not one of these guys…

This past Tuesday the Baseball Hall of Fame announced ten players eligible to be voted in to the Hall. While each player is exceptional in their own right, commentator Bill Littlefield tells us why fiery and animated pitcher Luis Tiant deserves a place among the greats. 

In baseball there is beauty. There is also pathos, and there is withering disappointment. There is stupidity, too, and sex, and even death. Sarah Freligh, who used to be a sportswriter, explores many of these elements of the game in her new collection titled Sort of Gone.

Minor League Baseball isn’t about the glamour or money that the Majors are.  Team busses and long road trips are the reward for hard work, and only a percentage of players make the jump from "A" Ball to the show.  All this makes Chris Coste’s journey to the pros even less feasible.  Coste’s new book, The 33-Year-Old Rookie, tells the story of a trip more than a decade long that finally landed the journeyman catcher in the pros.  Bill Littlefield reviews the book, and finds that Coste may be here to stay.

The defending World Champion Red Sox just wrapped up a two game set with the Oakland A’s across the world in Japan.  Alan Klein, author of Growing the Game, says that such an international venture should be just the beginning for Major League Baseball.  Bill Littlefield reviews the book and explores the possibilities of a globalized game.

Barry Bonds has pounded more homeruns than any other player in Major League Baseball history.  However, with the regular season all but underway, the 43 year old is still lacking employment.  Bill Littlefield believes this situation won’t change, but can’t help but imagine the endless possibilities of the slugger’s hypothetical swansong.

Listen to the Full Show: Audio for http://www.bu.edu/wbur/storage/2008/03/onlyagame_0315.mp3

This week on Only A Game, college basketball craziness in advance of the thoroughly insane Selection Sunday. Also, St. Lawrence University shoots for their fourth Frozen Four, and Dodgertown prepares to pull up stakes in Florida after a 60 year residency.

Bill Littlefield reviews, "South of the Color Barrier: How Jorge Pasquel and the Mexican League Pushed Baseball Toward Racial Integration" by John Virtue.