Confessions of a She-Fan

Two months into the 2007 baseball season, novelist and die-hard Yankee fan Jane Heller, heartsick over her team's poor play, announced her intention to divorce the Bronx Bombers, on grounds of mental cruelty, in the pages of the New York Times. Her words inflamed the passions of sports lovers everywhere, and her piece quickly became the newspaper's most e-mailed and talked-about article in the week it ran.

Intense reactions from readers forced Heller to look inward and reexamine her feelings about winning and losing. Was she really a “bandwagon fan,” as some had branded her? Was she “entitled” and “spoiled”? In search of answers, Heller recruited her husband to join her on a cross-country journey, following her beloved Yankees to every game for the rest of the season. She hoped to score interviews with players along the way, but she was also eager to rejuvenate her marriage and prove she was not a bandwagon wife.

In this witty, observant memoir, Heller ventures into the land of pinstripes, reporting life on the road and putting a female spin on the bond between fan and team. Through interactions with other fans, as well as members of the media covering the Yankees, plus game-by-game analyses, Heller learns personal life lessons about competition, loyalty, and acceptance--and about why baseball, like any truly romantic relationship, requires commitment, patience, and a deep, abiding love.