at its heart, the game is simple.

two men stand forty-six feet apart, tangled in a duel of finesse and wit that revolves around a five-ounce leather sphere strung up with a mile of yarn and over a century's worth of broken dreams.

it is the stuff of legends. it is the stuff of nightmares.

the batter squares his shoulders. his weapon of choice is a humble, tapered ash affair, shaved smooth and lacquered to a glossy finish. it weaves with a gentle rhythm through the warm air, cognizant in some vague, wooden way of its duty to carry the hope of an entire city in its polished grains. it's not the future it dreamed of as a sapling. so it goes.

a light-year away, the pitcher has begun his wind-up, and time slows down to watch, enraptured, at the laboriously intricate display of agility. the man folds and unfolds like a futuristic machine, muscles aching, sinews popping, joints locking into place. nine long and exhausting innings have led to this point, when the surrounding world disappears in a blurry haze, and two potential destinies swirl crazily around the drain of fate.

a trembling, suspenseful silence sweeps across the field to drown all sound in a thick, velvety tidal wave. for a precious few moments, all the world's stresses are forgotten; they stream away like ephemeral vapors on the dusky wind. nothing remains but two men, a ball, a bat...

...and, faintly in the background, the telltale crunch indicative of the worried mastication of gigantic novelty popcorn.

at its heart, the game is simple. but in the end, nothing is ever simple.

(fifty lana-points* to whoever can name this baseball stadium!)

*lana points are redeemable for "reward items" at all participating L-mart locations in the contiguous united states, as well as alaska, hawaii, greece, candyland, the moon, and our brand new storefront in scenic ankh-morpork. eligible reward items vary by store and include, but are not limited to, fiery +1 swords, orbital bombardment modules, growth elixirs, apple juice, stargates, vespene gas, mordenkainen's faithful watchdog biscuits, toothpaste, bistromathics drives, and various macguffins. points cannot be refunded for cash. store hours do not follow any discernible logic. we reserve the right to refuse business to you on the grounds of just not liking your face.