It is often argued that one of baseball's greatest attributes is its capacity for intellectual stimulation. Whether playing the sport or simply watching it, it's easy to become deeply involved in the myriad mental duels that exist within any given baseball game. Indeed, the relative slow pace of the sport allows for intellect to play a much greater role than perhaps it does in other team sports.

On the other hand, for all of baseball's ability to exercise the mind, the sport is also made great by other characteristics that cannot be analyzed, debated or even completely understood. Be it the smell of a well-oiled mitt, the sound of ball hitting leather, or the crescendo in the final couplet of the pre-game National Anthem, the sport's subtle majesty is captured in simple idiosyncrasies with the power to stir the emotions of both player and fan.

This is the feeling sought out by Dan Migala and his team of baseball men (and women) throughout Dugout Wisdom. Over the course of the book, fifty-five players, managers, scouts, and other baseball lifers try their hand at describing the ineffable emotions experienced over the course of many lifetimes in the sport of baseball, but distilled into a single indelible memory. The book's many authors do not deny the mental half of the game, but rather, make it subservient to the sport's other less-identifiable pleasures.

Averaging about two pages apiece, the players' recollections are often revealing, at times depressing, and usually quite entertaining. More than any post-game interview, or even most all Hall of Fame induction speeches, the memories described in Dugout Wisdom give the baseball fan a window into the life of the soul of a big league player. The book removes the glitz and glamour of "The Show" and leaves us with pure human emotion.

What makes Dugout Wisdom work is that it gives us a chance to see our baseball heroes in their simplest form and in their own words. Most of us will never fully understand what it's like to take the mound for the first time—achieving a lifelong dream and that of one's father. Similarly, few can understand the temptations that the game can bring, or what it's like to hit rock bottom and find one's way back to life. The tales in Dugout Wisdom give the reader a true sense of what such experiences felt like to those that experienced them.

Many of the book's entries-such as those by the Ryne Sandberg, Dennis Eckersley or Rod Carew- feature great players at their most intelligent and introspective. Throughout sections such as these, the book is a true page-turner and often legitimately inspirational.

However, the individual player's touch that makes the book a worth-while read also makes it, at times, boring. Unfortunately, not every player is capable of transmitting a solitary experience in a meaningful and original way. Perhaps it’s too much to ask that a human being possess a 90-mile per hour fastball and a razor wit. Nevertheless, many of the book's sections blur together, leaving the reader wanting more.

What may be most impressive about Migala's creation is the simple fact that he was able to compile such impressive contributors who were unafraid to open up. The book's masthead includes dozens of Hall of Famers, as well as many others that are relevant in a current or historical context. Together, their stories bring the reader closer to an understanding of what life as a major leaguer feels like. Credit Dan Migala for doing the lengthy groundwork to make Dugout Wisdom a reality.

Talk this over on the lovemyteam.com message board >>

Write to Hunter Manchak If you'd like a response to your email, please be sure to include your email address or other contact information