Springtime is the opening season for America's favorite pastime. It's time to play ball, and Albert turns his energies to coaching the local team. There are beanballs and knuckleballs, fly balls and foul balls and maybe even a home run in a game full of the joys and mishaps that all such games entail. Leslie Tryon's artwork is full of Spring Valley's familiar friends as well as heartwarming detail that places the reader smack in the middle of the park. An outing to be cherished.