It's difficult to believe a special could be both amusing and dark, but "Home Team" is both. We just aired this on KFAI in Minneapolis. Host Gwen Macsai does an embarrassing rendition of the National Anthem at a minor league game, Dan Collison recounts an odd footnote in baseball history: The Potato Ball Caper. (The catcher sneaks a potato onto the field and uses it to fake out a runner, later tagging him out with the real baseball. It's like something you did as a kid!)

And then there's the eeriy "Dug-Out," a long piece that's sure to intrigue listeners. I don't know quite what to make of it, but I like it. Actors with southern accents tell a disjointed story of violence, exploring the real meaning of the word "dugout." According to this piece, baseball dugouts were originally called "graves" because they were rectangluar and dug into the earth.

Listeners are sure to be entertained in the first 30 minutes of this program and a little confused in the second 30 minutes.

And that's a good thing.