Masters of the games : essays and stories on sport / Joseph Epstein.

Introduction: Obsessed with sport -- Essays. A boy's favorite author ; This sporting life ; Confessions of a low-roller ; Balls-up ; Ep, the Bulls are six-point dogs ; The thrill of defeat ; Open another can of quarterback ; The old ball game ; Wrigley Field ; Red Smith -- Jocks. Joe DiMaggio: where'd he go? ; Michael Jordan: he flies through the air ; Hank Greenberg: designated mensch ; Bob Love: the unknown superstar -- Stories. The Goldin boys ; Danny Montoya ; Out of action -- Short takes. Hats off ; A sartorial double fault ; The running of the bulls ; Best seat in the house ; A super (yawn) Sunday ; A secret vice ; Sport magazine ; The agony of da feet -- Opinionations. The sports Leninist ; Aren't we grand? ; Bored with baseball? ; March sanity ; The joy of not being there ; Leave the kids alone ; Don't hide your eyes, unionize -- Summing up. Trivial pursuits ; Still hooked.

In his twenty-fifth book, Joseph Epstein departs from writing about literature and culture to indulge his fondness for the world of sport in all its forms. In these essays and stories on such subjects as saving Joe DiMaggio's reputation from the clutches of an iconoclastic biographer, marveling at the skills of Michael Jordan, shaking free of an addiction to radio sports talk shows, or contemplating the changing nature of the games he grew up with and played as a boy, Epstein turns writing about sports into an art at once penetrating and highly amusing.--From publisher description.