By Wayne Stewart

For the Mirror

Any devout baseball fan could sincerely paraphrase a line from a famous sonnet and declare, “How do I love the game? Let me count the ways.”

A new book entitled “I Love Baseball” contains 11 chapters which do just that, enumerating a slew of reasons fans adore the sport — from the serious reasons to the humorous.

One chapter focuses on the entertaining and unusual promotions and the mascots associated with baseball.

Did you know, for instance, that Joe Engel, owner of the Chattanooga Lookouts, once signed a female pitcher named Jackie Mitchell?

He not only gave her a contract, he actually had the 17-year-old Mitchell face the Yankees in an exhibition game.

The southpaw struck out two pretty good lefties, Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig, both whiffing on three pitches. After a walk to Tony Lazzeri, Mitchell departed the game with speculation swirling: Did the two sluggers strike out on purpose? That issue aside, team owners such as Engel and Bill Veeck’s imaginative promotions attracted fans the way Taylor Swift draws millennials to concerts.

In 1948, when Veeck ran the Cleveland Indians, he once honored an average fan who represented a sort of Everyman, rather than a star player, by hosting a Good Old Joe Earley Night.

Veeck presented Earley with gag gifts such as a swayback horse, a cow, and a dilapidated, backfiring Model T Ford adorned with fenders which fell off.

Yes, some gifts were goofy, but some were grand as he was also awarded a lifetime pass to any American League game and a new automobile. The value of his gifts equaled almost $200,000 in today’s purchasing power.

As for unique mascots to go along with the usual cast of characters such as the San Diego Chicken, how about one who became Babe Ruth’s personal good luck charm.

One day, Ruth spied a three-year-old boy named Little Ray Kelly playing catch with his father. The next day Ruth took the child to the ballpark, and that began a 10-year partnership. Kelly was even given his own uniform.

In 1992, The Babe Ruth Collection trading card set featured the boy on a unique baseball card.

The movie industry and baseball go together like Hollywood and Vine.

The MLB official website came up with a list of the best baseball-themed films ever, with “Bull Durham” heading the list followed by “A League of Their Own,” “The Pride of the Yankees,” “Field of Dreams” and “Eight Men Out.”

Bill Priatko briefly played for the Pittsburgh Steelers (1957) and is the oldest living Steeler.

While playing for Pitt, he had an opportunity any baseball fan would relish — he portrayed the Pittsburgh Pirates’ center fielder in the original “Angels in the Outfield.”

“We filmed for two weeks at Forbes Field,” recalled Priatko, “We used to sit and talk with Pie Traynor — he had a humorous baseball story to tell every day. And I got to know the stars like Janet Leigh.”

Many baseball fans love a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in which Jack Nicholson’s character pretends to broadcast play-by-play action from a World Series game. They also love classic movie lines such as Bob Uecker’s “Juuust a bit outside,” describing a very errant pitch from Ricky “Wild Thing” Vaughn in Major League.

Baseball humor is the richest of any sport around. Consider the time slick fielding Larry Bowa cleverly insulted rival shortstop Dave Concepcion, who had been experiencing an uncharacteristic streak of fielding misplays.

Bowa approached Concepcion and said, “I never knew your first name was Elmer.”

A perplexed Concepcion said, “Why do you ask that? You know my name is Dave.”

Bowa replied, “Every time I look at the box score I see E Concepcion.”

Fierce competitor Bob Gibson was experiencing an unusually tough inning one day, so his catcher, Tim McCarver, paid him a mound visit.

Gibson promptly dismissed him, instructing him to get back behind the plate, with a scathing, “The only thing you know about pitching is how hard it is to hit.”

Finally, baseball is lovable for the many great quotes it has spawned.

For example, Leo Durocher philosophized, “You don’t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.”

Pittsburgh’s Vernon Law observed, “If you don’t play to win, why keep score?”

And actor Humphrey Bogart proved his love of baseball by saying, “A hot dog at the game beats roast beef at the Ritz.”

To sum up the ongoing love of the game, Ernie Banks had a classic line that could apply anywhere and any time — even in a wintry Pennsylvania: “It’s a beautiful day for baseball.”

Much of the material from this story comes from Stewart’s latest book, “I Love Baseball.” Personalized and autographed copies of the book can be purchased — contact Stewart at wstewart144@gmail for more information. Copies are also available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.