The differences between attending a baseball game in the US and Mexico are difficult to miss. The on-field rules are identical, but the atmosphere in Mexican baseball stands is noisy, musical, constant and infectious. The two fan cultures are distinct enough that, were you to drop a blindfolded supporter into either crowd, they would be able to identify which side of the Rio Grande they stood within seconds – or so you might think. Reality is never so binary.

Despite the often unyielding political debates about them, international borders rarely possess hard edges. This is particularly true in South Texas, and not merely as some writerly conceit – even that