"Like Jonah in the whale, I was absorbed in a large mouth bass with a big hook snagged through his gills, when the barber's voice rang out, 'Which one of you boys will be first?' He was finishing a customer, an old man in a red plaid flannel shirt, which seemed inappropriate on this warm day. He shut off the electric clippers and as he turned to hang them on the wall rack, I noticed the crutches supporting the barber. I was attuned to the leg injuries of baseball players. Mantle was hobbled many times in his career and I once saw a player leave a game after sliding into second. His pants were...