Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Sports & Outdoors

synopsis

Synopsis

Major League Baseball has been crippled by yet another players’ strike, and the fans have had enough, tired of paying to see ballplayers with seven-figure egos but ten-cent work ethics. When baseball’s commissioner floats the idea of enlisting the minor leaguers to keep revenues flowing, Lew Pearson, the aging player-manager of the Triple-A Indianapolis Outlaws, sees his chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. Having never had more than a “cup of coffee” in the big league, Lew leaves his wife and two young kids behind to play in the bigs, even though he knows he and his teammates will just be the pawns of the owners. Baseball runs deep in his blood – his father’s own professional dreams were trampled on many years before – and despite the big asterisk that will accompany every game, it’s an opportunity that beckons him. But no one, including Lew, the owners and the striking Major Leaguers, could predict how fans would embrace these farmhands, who take the field every day not for their big paychecks but purely for the love of the game. At first the crowds are small, but as the fan frenzy takes root in ballparks across the country, both sides of the strike confront a new normal, and an audacious plan takes shape in board rooms to determine once and for all whether the Major Leaguers or the minor leaguers will get the privilege of remaining in “the show.”

bio

Author Biography

Gary Frisch is a long-time sports fan with a special place in his heart for hockey and baseball. A lifelong writer and former journalist, he has contributed many articles and columns to a variety of newspapers and magazines. He was inspired to write Strike Four as a result of multiple player strikes and lockouts that marred baseball in the 1980s and ‘90s, during which the media frequently speculated that owners might bring up minor league players to fill the rosters. Frisch works in the public relations field, and has owned his own PR agency since 2007. In 2015, he was named to Linkedin’s inaugural list of “Top Voices of the Year” for his contributions to the business networking site’s blog. He lives in Gloucester Township, New Jersey, with his wife and two children, and frequently writes under the watchful eye of his cat and two dogs.

website

Author Insight

The Road Warriors

Professional athletes are paid exceptionally well when they reach the major league of their sport, but those in the minors make far less money yet are on the road just as much. It's difficult for anyone to be away from their home, family and friends for long stretches, but when you're traveling by bus, with none of the amenities of the Major League, it's that much more difficult. It's just one way minor league players pay their dues, in pursuit of the dream of making the big league. It is an elusive dream indeed -- fewer than 1 in 10 will actually play in the "Show," yet these warriors persevere day in and day out, season after season, hoping for their shot.

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

The ball was hit well, but not quite well enough. A diving Terry Lawson snared it in the web of his outstretched glove and lobbed it to the pitcher’s mound. The last out was sweet for Lawson, and bitter for the home fans. Indianapolis now sat atop the division, with a five-game lead over the Cougars.

Winning on the road was always more fun for the players. It’s like waltzing into a home where you’re not welcome and showing up the host in front of his own guests, but in this case the host’s family and friends were all there too. Conversely, nothing was as damaging to the ego as losing in front of the home fans. It was a feeling known well by every player, a feeling to be avoided at all costs, and one reason teams usually have a better record at home.

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Gary Frisch

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

The Road Warriors

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Comment on this Bubble