I always cheer when career minor leaguers - the ones who've hung on for years - finally get a chance to play in the majors. Obviously, teams have to do what's best for them in terms of callups - but I'd much rather a AAAA player finally get a shot than some has been who is exceptionally unlikely to ever contribute again get recycled once more.

"I didn't see 'Field of Dreams.' I don't watch movies about what I do," San Francisco slugger Barry Bonds said.

Hey Barry, I suggest The Fan.

Who knew the flick was based on a true story?

More than a decade after Graham died in 1965, the prize-winning author was leafing through the Baseball Encyclopedia that his father-in-law had given him for Christmas a few days earlier. Among the listings for every player and their lifetime stats, Kinsella came across something that stopped him.

"I found this entry for Moonlight Graham. How could anyone come up with that nickname? He played one game but did not get to bat. I was intrigued, and I made a note that I intended to write something about him," he said.

The first Baseball Encyclopedia ("Big Mac") didn't come out until 1969. The Turkin/Thompson encyclopedias were published before that, but I don't think it had that precise info ("Moonlight" and the fact he didn't get to bat)...anyone want to check?

OK, strike that. I thought it said Kinsella was looking it up in 1965, not circa late-70s. (Incidentally, I also got my first Big Mac as a Xmas gift, in 1978. And the beat goes on...)

Calling his brother a U.S. Senator is technically true but false in the more important senses. Frank P. Graham was one of the great university presidents in U.S. history, and a U.S. Senator for about five minutes, when he was appointed to fill a spot opened by death and was beaten in the primary a few months later to keep the seat. He's a big figure, loved and revered, cussed and discussed, but not really for being a U.S. Senator. His campaign in 1950, though, was one of the prime examples of red-baiting in modern politics, or at least one of the prime examples that didn't involve Richard Nixon.

The other strange thing about this article is that it's not hard at all to find out about Graham's past. His brother's records--which includes numerous letters from and about Moonlight--are kept at UNC and run over a hundred boxes. His great-grandfather was NC's most famous governor. Another cousin was also president of UNC. UNC also keeps papers from many of his cousins and uncles, and a quick look through those papers would also show letters by and about Moonlight Graham.

The basic premise of this piece--that Graham emerged from some dimly lit corner of the past--is flat-out wrong. The Graham family is one of the 200 or so best-documented families in American history. It's not that far off from saying that we can't possibly know anything about a particular member of the Harrison or Adams family because he personally didn't leave papers.

Terrence Mann was fictional though. How come they didn't use J.D. Salinger in the movie?

Fear of lawsuits. I think Salinger had threatened to sue the publisher--or maybe had actually sued. So the moviemakers decided to hide the identity. If I remember correctly, Salinger sued anyway.