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 Perils of Media Interviews

Last summer I had the privilege of appearing on a Hartford, CT, sports radio program to talk about my book. The producer and co-host advised me that the host, Rob Dibble, was a former Major League pitcher and a team rep to the MLB Players’ Association, so I’d need to be on top of my game. No problem, I thought. I brushed up ahead of time and came in equipped to go toe-to-toe with this baseball insider. I have to think Dibble knew my book was fiction, based on the real-life possibility of owners calling up the minor league players during a strike, but he sure didn’t act like it – and I’m sure he didn’t read it. We wound up doing two different interviews – he was asking who I’d spoken with and what I’d heard from my sources about the 2021 Collective Bargaining Agreement, and I was there to talk about a fictional book! At one point, I flatly told him I’d spoken with “nobody, because I’m not a journalist, but in the book, the Major League owners…” In media interviews, you never know what’s going to come at you. In the end, I think I acquitted myself well, and the hosts sounded happy with the way the interview went. You can listen to the entire interview here: https://www.spreaker.com/user/9809264/gary-frisch-for-pod

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

“Tell me, Rich, what’s it like for a young guy coming into a Major League situation with almost no warning?” The question was posed by game analyst Dale Schmidt, looking as poised as Callahan was uncomfortable.

“Uh …you know…we on the air?”

“Yes, Rich, we’re live.”

“Well, Mike, it’s pretty scary, you know?” Silence.

“How so?” the interviewer pressed, ignoring the rookie’s use of his broadcast colleague’s name.

“Well...I’m not used to this kind of attention. It’s a little difficult to concentrate on baseball when, you know, you see all those seats and those fans, and the cameras, you know?” Callahan plucked at the V-neck of his uniform top, brushing his hand against the microphone clipped there and creating a loud rumble. Dale Schmidt winced.

“What was going through your head when you came to bat, ninth inning, men on first and second, in a tie ballgame?”

“I was basically thinking about getting a hit, Mike, you know? Yeah, I wanted to get a hit.” He nodded his head when he said it, all the while staring at the ominous camera.

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Gary Frisch

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

The Perils of Media Interviews

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Comment on this Bubble