I’ve always admired how baseball is woven into stories that capture the American spirit. W.P. Kinsella’s "Shoeless Joe," which inspired the film Field of Dreams, blends the mystical with the sport, exploring themes of redemption and nostalgia. In Bernard Malamud’s The Natural, baseball serves as a metaphor for life’s challenges and triumphs. Even contemporary works like Chad Harbach’s The Art of Fielding delve into the complexities of baseball, drawing parallels to personal growth and failure.