Mark Ulriksen’s “Strike Zone”

“There’s drama inherent in every pitch,” Mark Ulriksen, the artist behind this week’s cover, says, about the baseball season. “For the next six months, there’ll be a cast of characters,” he says. “You follow your team with the kind of rapt attention that you would a good book. When fall comes, you get a grand finale. Last year, it all went to the Chicago Cubs. This year, who knows?”