Catching Hell, or: Knowing I’d Arrived

I’ve written earlier about how I came to love baseball (after coming to love my husband, who loves baseball.) Despite learning the rules of the game and following the win-loss records of various teams, though, I wasn’t a true baseball fan until I had a favorite player.

My first favorite player (and yes, there are many — these guys retire, after all, and a trufan should always have a favorite active player) was Jason Varitek. He played for the Boston Red Sox (the team most often watched in our...