He spent his summers playing ball, 12 hours a day he and the other guys on Berwick Avenue pursued the sport with tireless passion.
They played until the streetlights came on. They played until someone’s mom called from an open screen door, and then they kept playing as the door slapped behind her. They played until she called a couple of more times. They played until they could not play any more.
Still, University of Wisconsin-Madison professor Sean Carroll didn’t end up playing baseball for a living. One of his buddies, John Locasio, was drafted by the Reds. Mr. Carroll hadn’t gotten a bat on one of John Locasio’s pitches since 7th grade.
But he didn’t do too bad for himself anyway.
“Of all the scientists in the world today,” wrote philosopher of science Michael Ruse, “there is no one with whom Charles Darwin would rather spend an evening than Sean Carroll.”