There is now a whole genre of books that chronicle the seasons of specific teams or entire sports. Halberstam set the standard long ago. Feinstein did it with tremendous success. Some people are very good at this. Others, less so. Rafe Bartholomew, as it turns out, has taken the concept—that of unfettered access to a professional franchise—and one-upped his predecessors by performing the duty in a foreign country.