Dozens of players tell of their pickup games in childhood and what it meant to them. One man, growing up in New York City, tells of playing in the streets and breaking a window in a dental office building. When he 'fessed up, he learned that someone had been sitting in the chair when the ball crashed in.

On the other side of the U.S., Young tells of his summer jobs as a cot picker. He was able to strengthen his throwing arm by pitching apricots during cot fights in Saratoga orchards. The book chronicles the odd lot locations these players used and their creativity in turning them into ball fields.

In Japan, parks are almost always next to a body of water, so youngsters bring a net to the park along with bat and ball. In Japan there were never any girls on the team. In the U.S., on the other hand, one player reported that the girl on his team was one of the strongest players.

Young himself played in the semipro leagues and dreamed of becoming a pro. An injury changed his direction, and he switched to high-tech business. Turned out many of his contacts were Japanese. Since that country has a love affair with baseball second to none, sharing baseball stories became a "cultural comfort zone." That quote is from "Business Finds First Base" by Deirdre Parsons, from a Keizai Association publication. The association is a Cupertino nonprofit that promotes cooperation between countries. Sharing a unifying love of baseball makes for an easy avenue for strengthening relations. Using sandlots they have known as a training ground for corporate cooperation is the focus.

The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., has added Sandlot Stories to its library. The book is available at www.arosebooks.com for $19.95 or EBook at $5.95, with some chapters in Japanese.

THEATER SCHOLARSHIP: Ashley Cauble of Saratoga was awarded a Gene Pincus Memorial Theater Arts Scholarship from the West Valley Light Opera Association. Cauble will be attending the USC School of Theatre, majoring in the theater arts design program. She has both performed and worked backstage for WVLOA.

This is the first year the award has been given, and it honors the memory of Saratogan Gene Pincus, who served on the theater's board of directors and who, with his wife Cele, produced several productions for the company. He was also a distinctive voice over KBAY radio during early morning hours. Cauble is a graduate of Mitty High. Nick Spangler of Los Altos also won a Pincus scholarship.

FIRST BUYERS: The first buyers to snatch up the baseball hats with Saratoga emblazoned thereon, now being sold at the Chamber of Commerce office, were members of the high-school band. The traveling musicians bought them mainly to give as gifts on the European tour they took this summer.

Another eager purchaser at the chamber recently was a woman from our Eastern counterpart, Saratoga, N.Y., who cleaned out a row of glassware that carried the name Saratoga on its face. The row of merchandise has since been replenished, in case you're longing for suds in a Saratoga stein.

Ray Froess, owner of Protege Marketing, is the stalwart volunteer who updates the web pages for the Saratoga chamber. Thanks are due this unsung faithful.

SCOTLAND-BOUND: I'm off to Scotland to present a play I helped write at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, the oldest (1947) and biggest in the world. It was started to celebrate peace, and five international theater companies were invited. One group invited itself. The next year more companies came—uninvited.

Hence, the Fringe, the outer edge, was born. Sounds like the Impressionists, who set up their own exhibitions when their work was rejected by the establishment. Today at the Fringe more than 1,000 theatrical pieces are offered daily. In restaurants, hotels and churches makeshift theaters are set up.

Most Brit comedians get their start at the Fringe. Bridges is our play, a compendium of five shorts tucked together, a product of the Foothill College Conservatory. Riva Rubnitz of Los Gatos wrote one, too. All use two-actors—all deal with relationships.

Our venue is the Grassmarket area, below the castle. We have 11 actors: two are on their honeymoon. When we're not inside, urging the actors on, we'll be hawking our wares up and down the Royal Mile, playbills in hand.

MACLA FUNDRAISER: Al and Carmen Castellano of Saratoga hosted a summer garden party earlier this month that was a fundraiser for Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana. Action included a silent auction, hors d'oeuvres and wine.

Got a tip for Saratoga Sampler? Send email to maryanncook@earthlink.net.