When fans talk about baseball, they usually refer to the players, a manager who has been hired or fired, or an outrageous owner.
Less attention is paid to the supporting cast that produces the game.
Interviewees include those in the public eye such as manager Jim Leyland, Yankees player Bernie Williams, and the Phillie Phanatic mascot as well as those who work behind the scenes. For them, the game is all encompassing. George Gmelch , a former first baseman in the Detroit Tigers farm system, is the chair of the anthropology department at Union College. J.J. Weiner worked in the front office of the Birmingham Barons and collaborated on this study as an anthropology student.