There are a number of ways to look at today's item:

1. It's the physical representation of a nightmare that many ballplayers have had over the years - especially in the days when they traveled by train: They are trying to play on an open flatcar as the train hurtles along. The rules are fuzzy and the ball gets lost on every pitch. Baserunning is problematic. Just as they are about to hit a nice, fat pitch, the train goes into a tunnel and they lose sight of the ball.

2. It's the physical recreation of a fantastic dream that hobos used to have when they were riding the rails. Instead of making do in a urine-soaked boxcar, they are in full uniform, playing in a strange, roving professional baseball league that fans only get a glimpse of as it speeds past their farm or town. The bum is no longer a cranky drifter, but a bona fide star athlete who plies his trade against an ever-changing backdrop of mountains, forests, deserts and cities.

3. It's just a Lionel flatcar with some out-of-scale cake decorations glued to it.