Stratosphere: 06/13/09

I'm an American. Baseball is in my blood. I don't watch the games all the time but it's probably my favorite sport and I'm a sucker for a good baseball story. "Stratosphere" by Henry Garfield takes baseball and creates a near future tale of one of those big game moments.

The hero of the story is one Joe "Stratosphere" Stromboni who is remembered by a fellow player from the Farside league. Although the details of the game aren't spelled out, Garfield gives a number of hints about how the low gravity game would be different from how it is on earth. "Stratosphere" gets his nickname from one fantastic home run that sends the ball into orbit.

As an added personal bonus for me, Joe Stromboni started on Earth playing for the San Diego Padres. They're my home team even though I've lived for years now in the Bay Area. The A's and the Giants just don't do it for me. The Padres though seemed like an odd choice for a Red Sox fan. From reading the author's bio I see he has lived in Southern California and currently has a son in college in San Diego. So that explains the Padres connection and makes me love the story all the more.

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