3 Nights In August (2005)

Yogi Berra reputedly said, ''Baseball is 90 percent mental — the other half is physical.'' No baseball manager has bought into that philosophy more than the St. Louis Cardinals' Tony La Russa. Buzz Bissinger (Friday Night Lights) spent three games with the cerebral skipper to get an idea of how the shape of the contest changes with each pitch. What Bissinger got instead was a portrait of the modern game, from golden boy Albert Pujols to goldbrick Jose Canseco. He chronicles the strain on the players' families, La Russa's frustration in trying to motivate overpaid stars, and the tragic death of team leader Darryl Kile. Plenty of books have taken us inside baseball, but 3 Nights in August takes us directly inside players' heads.