Episode 1

Historian Simon Sharma explores his passion for baseball - and the Boston Red Sox - in his adopted American home.

Having lived in the USA for over 40 years, Simon first walked into a ballpark in the early 1980s. From the moment he saw the floodlit green of the Fenway Park turf and the theatrical attire of the Boston Red Sox he was smitten. Before then, cricket had been his sport, but all too quickly wickets became bases and bowlers became pitchers.

Simon fell in love with baseball - its statistics, language, characters and history. Now he seeks to explain why he, and the United States, are so infatuated with a game that the British so often dismiss.

Simon gains behind-the-scenes access to his adopted team, the Boston Red Sox. The lockeroom, the scoreboard operator and, most importantly, the man who sells the famous Fenway Frank hotdog are all players in a pageant that holds a nation in its thrall.

Producer: Philip Sellars

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 2009.