I Dream of Baseball

Today was one of those rare days that desire and opportunity collide. Yes, I took a nap. And it was an awesome nap, complete with confusing dream fragments that you barely remember when you wake up. However, I remember bits and pieces: Daisuke Matsuzaka was involved, and I distinctly remember something about the logistics of VORP.

The man of my dreams... literally. I think I have a problem.

Normally, I forget my dreams so completely that I would doubt I ever had them, except that I learned in Psychology class that everybody dreams, no exceptions. The only thing I could think of upon waking was that if my dreams are always about baseball, I wish I could remember them better. This got me thinking: most people (specifically 19-year-old girls) don't dream of baseball and all of its statistical glory, and I'm willing to bet that if they did, they wouldn't be nearly as excited about it as I am.

Clearly, my subconscious understands that I thirst for baseball discourse in my everyday life, and though my friends humor me occasionally, I never really get to talk about it in any sort of depth (except on Twitter). You would think it would be easy to find people who want to talk baseball, but alas, that's not the case. Most of my friends don't follow it at all, and the rest know the basics (ERA, batting average, etc.); to them, Bill James might as well be that awkward kid in the dining hall who only eats white food.

From April- October (November this year) I survive this by watching baseball, and reading the copious amounts of material written about it. However, in the winter I mostly rely on baseball books, both fiction and nonfiction, for my daily fix. It's an expensive habit, but much cheaper than hiring a therapist to listen to me wax poetic about the value of WHIP and quality starts versus W-L%. However, I'm running out of things to read, and, much like an animal preparing to hibernate, I'm looking for literary suggestions for the bleak months ahead. What's your favorite baseball book? Do you prefer biographies, fiction, or history? Help!