Every year, a varied line-up of talented writers step up to the plate to find inspiration at the ballpark. The opportunity to view each passing season through the lens of such an array of talents and perspectives has prompted USA TODAY Sports Weekly to launch the first ever annual collection of the finest baseball writing of the year. Culled from newspapers, Web sites, books, and magazines, this book examines the major news and events of the season—from Barry Bonds’s quest for immortality amid steroid rumors to Randy Johnson’s obtainment of it with a perfect game at age forty-one—as explored by such stellar reporters as Lisa Winston, Bob Nightengale, Buster Olney, Bob Ryan, and Rob Neyer. Sports Weekly editor Paul White also chooses samples of the year’s best writing about the game’s past, shedding new light on some of its most cherished teams and players: Leigh Montville’s biography of Ted Williams and Jeff Pearlman’s The Bad Guys Won, an exposé of the raucous ’86 world champion Mets, to name just two examples. USA TODAY Sports Weekly’s Best Baseball Writing 2005 marks the beginning of what will be an eagerly awaited annual event for baseball fans and enthusiasts of superlative sports writing.