Swing, Batta!

<p>When he wasn't writing a five-day-a-week column for the Evansville, Indiana, <i>Courier &amp; Press</i>, Garret Mathews coached baseball players who weren't much taller than the equipment bag. In <i>Swing Batta!</i>, he chronicles his ten-year-old son Evan's season, beginning with tryouts and the player draft and ending with the post-season tournament.<br> Mathews writes of seven-kid sleepovers, players who wear shower thongs to practice, and kids who go to McDonald's and say, &quot;Give me four dollars' worth, please.&quot; Mathews's line-up features a player with cystic fibrosis who keeps an inhaler in his bat bag. One who went to a major-league game and hollered at the third-base umpire to give him a ball. One who pretends he's an ESPN highlight film. One who almost died in an automobile accident. And baby sisters getting loose on the outfield. And Evan wearing his catcher's equipment downtown after a game because he wanted everyone to know how he spent his morning. Writing their names in the dugout dirt. Asking for do-overs. Trying to get the warped popcorn popper ready for opening day. Mathews is strictly Minor League. And he couldn't be happier.</p>