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Miss Baseball Bookworm


[Second] [stories] [WEAVER] BILLY BAGGS SERIES BY WILL WEAVER
This is a young adult series that Miss Baseball enjoyed.
Striking Out
Farm Team
Hardball

Striking Out is the is the first in the series. After the tragic death of Billy's older brother, Billy and his Mom begin to assert more independence from Billy's domineering father.

Second is Farm Team. Billy stuck on the farm all summer organizes (with help) a loose team, that takes on the team from town.

Hardball Billy must figure out how to get along with his teammate and biggest rival, and he finds out the grass isn't always greener. Sometimes this series gets a bit 'message' oriented, but still enjoyable, and baseball is central to all the stories.



MYSTERIES Cincinnati Red Stalkings by Troy Soos
Caught In A Rundown by Lisa Saxton

[Cincinnati]
Cincinnati Red Stalkings
Utility Infielder,Mickey Rawlings, decides to do some sleuthing of his own, when he becomes a suspect in a murder. Takes place in 1920's Cincinnati. Nice details, decent mystery.
[Caught]
Caught In A Rundown:introducing Jewel Averick and Dee Sweet. Jewel and Dee are married to ballplayers. Jewel is upset her husband spent a LOT of money on a glove that had belonged to a Negro League player, so when someone offers her MORE money for the glove, she takes it, though does a switcharoo with the glove. And the chase is on. She brings along Dee in the adventure, both women trying to prove something to their husbands. A lot of fun, a great first effort by Lisa Saxton, hope she writes more!


THE FIRST WOMAN IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Can't Miss by Michael Bowen
She's on First by Barbara Gregorich
Balls by Gorman Bechard

Balls is the worst of the three. It seemed to have potential, she plays in New York, the Manhattan Meteorites, the Yankees are in Jersey, Dan Quayle is the commissioner, and of course the fans either love her or hate her. However none of it was believable, I never got the feeling that any of it was real or even could be real. Its like the author had all these kind of funny, ironic ideas and didnt know what to do with them.

The best so far that I ve read is She's On First, this one felt more real. Former major leaguer Al Mowerinski has been following Linda Sunshine's baseball career since Little League and after he buys the Chicago Eagles, he makes her the shortstop, but what else does he have in store for her?

Can't Miss is geared toward a young adult audience, and the young woman is guided toward the big leagues by her grandfather.


BASEBALL TIME TRAVEL
If I Never Get Back by Darryl Brock
Iowa Baseball Confederacy by W. P. Kinsella

If I Never Get Back, a man at gets off a train, and when he gets back on the train is back in the 1860 s and the man is now traveling with the first professional baseball team the Cincinnati Reds, the author catches the atmosphere of the cities of the time and has great accounts of what a game was like back then.

Iowa Baseball Confederacy, just like most Kinsella books there is that magical feel about it. A man is trying to prove that at one time the Cubs played a game in Iowa and it lasted for a very long time. So he finds a way to go back to when the game was played.
Miss Baseball highly recommends both of these books.

[Once]
HAVANA HEAT by Darryl Brock
A deaf man, former Giants pitcher, feels he can still pitch. When the Giants go to the World Series he feels he can help his old team, so he travels to New York, trying to meet with manager John McGraw. McGraw wants nothing to do with him until he figures out how the opposition is stealing the Giants signs. After the Series McGraw extends an invite to play witht he Giants in Cuba where he meets a young deaf man who is a phenomenal pitcher. Once again Darryl Brock, has produced a gem, that catches the era and the locales perfectly. From the midwest, to New York City, to Havana. Enjoy.



[The]

OH WHAT DIFFERENT FANS BASEBALL HAS!
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
Celebrant by Eric Rolfe Greenberg
The Fan by Peter Abrahams
Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Nine year old Trisha McFarland, is a Tom Gordon fan, and she is lost in the woods. She carefully tries to preserve the batteries in her Walkman, so she can listen to the Red Sox games. As the days go on while she is lost, the image of Tom Gordon, helps her get through parts of her ordeal. Good read!
[celebrant]
The Celebrant is widely regarded as the best baseball fiction of all. A jeweler who is a fan of Christy Mathewson (baseballs first superstar) follows the pitchers career, and introduces championship rings to baseball. This book captures the era and the feel of the time and the feelings of a true fan of baseball.
[Now]
Now quite the opposite is THE FAN, now this fan is obsessed with Red Sox new hard hitting outfielder, and when the player goes into a hitting slump, THE FAN takes matters into his own hands, its a thriller and a page turner.
[Now]
Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger
Joey Margolis, writes a letter to the Giants new third baseman to hit him a homerun. But could he announce it on the radio just before he does it!?! Thus begins the correspondence and friendship between, boy and ballplayer.





In the “don t judge a book by its cover” category is Jane Leavy's Squeeze Play. The story of a woman sports reporter, following the new Washington Senators expansion team owned by Reverend Jimy Boy Collins. A team of has beens and never will bes. Written with much humor. Crappy cover, good book.


[dreyfus]
Another favorite is the Dreyfus Affair: a Love Story by Peter Lefcourt, shortstop falls for second baseman, please note this is NOT in the woman in baseball category. Quite possibly the funniest baseball book I've read.






[brothers]
Of course I saved my favorite for last---Brothers K, by David James Duncan, this is a wonderfully written book, about a family whose dad who is a minor league pitcher, and mom is a devout Seventh Day Adventist. The parents tumultuous relationship throughout the children’s growing up. Takes place in Camas, Washington. Miss Baseball LOVES this book. Miss Baseball Loves David James Duncan. Miss Baseball met David James Duncan .




Now remember you can read all of these books for free at your local library, if they don't have it ask them to interlibrary loan it for you!!

There are a lot of baseball books out there. Do you have a favorite fiction book about baseball?? E-mail me!