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.

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Author Insight

Grisham, Biz Failures and Lots of Sunshine

Reading is very much an outdoor activity for me. So when the weather gets nice here in the East, I catch up on the books I’ve collected during the past year. I enjoy both fiction and non-fiction. In fiction, I love John Grisham and spy novels in the Tom Clancy series. But I really eat up non-fiction. I love stories of heroism and survival, true crime, and narratives of high-profile business failures. My current Kindle list includes Granite Mountain, about the courageous “Hotshot” Arizona wildfire fighters, 19 of whom perished in a massive conflagration in 2013, and The Infiltrator, about a federal agent who goes undercover to bust a global money-laundering cartel (made into a movie starring Bryan Cranston). But currently, I’m devouring Bad Blood, about the dramatic rise and fall of Theranos, a highly valued silicon valley start-up that promised to change the blood testing industry, and its wunderkind founder, Elizabeth Holmes, who is currently facing multiple charges of fraud. Give me a sunny day, a cold beverage, and a good book, and I’m happy.

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

The imaginary game, which even included several controversial calls by the umpires, went on for nine innings, with the Texas Rangers finally succumbing to the Indians 14-3. The fans in the parking lot, bloated from hot dogs, beer, and whatever else, gave a round of applause to the topless announcer – or maybe it was for their absent Indians.

Eventually, some real players arrived.

Several of the Indians were seen heading down the player’s ramp toward the clubhouse to pick up their belongings. Word of their appearance spread through the parking lot like an excited electrical charge running through a conductor. By the time the five players left the protective confines of the stadium, hundreds of heartbroken fans were gathered by the private gate, a thin row of security guards ensuring they kept their distance.

“Why are you doing this to us?” bellowed a deep voice from the crowd. “You’re garbage!” yelled another. The players ignored the remarks and continued their silent procession. Three photographers snapped pictures. “Don’t strike!” shouted a female voice. “Please don’t strike!” Again, the yelling went unanswered.

“Don’t strike! Don’t strike! Don’t strike!” a methodic chant began. Then another one started: “Strike four, you’re out! Strike four, you’re out! Strike four, you’re out!”

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Gary Frisch

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Synopsis

Author Biography

Author Insight

Grisham, Biz Failures and Lots of Sunshine

Book Excerpt

Strike Four A Baseball Novel

Comment on this Bubble