Hey, everybody, I'm Justin McGuire, and this is Baseball by the Book, the only podcast that matters.

That's right, folks. You're once again listening to Baseball by the book, the only podcast that matters. That's right, folks.

You're once again listening to Baseball by the book,

the podcast in which we talk to authors of baseball books past and present.

Today we are joined by author Paul Hensler.

He's here to talk about his new book, Gathering Crowds.

We'll get to that in just a minute.

First, though, I'd like to thank the following people for supporting baseball by the book on Patreon. Larry Mayer, Daniel Levitt,

Gregory Corrales, and David M. Jean. If you'd like to join them, simply go to

patreon.com slash baseball by the book. Once you're there,

you can unlock various benefit levels for as little as $2 a month. Coming up this week, we've got a bonus

episode for everybody who pledges $5 a month or more. We're going to take a look at Robert

Kramer's classic book,

Baseball in 41. Then coming up in May, we've got a bonus episode in which we'll be taking an

in-depth look at the classic Seinfeld episode, The Boyfriend. That's the episode that featured

a guest appearance by former Cardinals and Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez. Also in May, we're going to

take an in-depth look at George Will's classic Men at Work. So again, if you want to get in on the

fun of those bonus episodes and all the previous bonus episodes, just go to patreon.com

slash baseball by the book. All right, let's get on to today's episode.

Paul Hensler is a baseball historian who is the author of three previous books, including

The New Boys of Summer, Baseball's Radical Transformation in the late 60s.

Today he's here to talk about gathering crowds, catching baseball fever in the new era of free agency.

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