Baseball Fiction

My name is Jupiter Reeves, and I am a fraud. It's not that what's written about me isn't true. I am the greatest third baseman of my generation, possibly ever. I am surly and unapproachable. I do have a constant scowl with an armor of tattoos. To the outside world, I play my role as the bad boy of baseball like I was born to do it. But when the doors are closed, and you boil it down, I'm nothing more than a man who lost his heart too young, with no prospect of getting it back... especially as I still have no idea where its current owner is.

Stephen Satlow is an eight-year-old boy living in Brooklyn, New York, which means he only cares about one thing - the Dodgers. Steve and his father spend hours reading the sports pages and listening to games on the radio. Aside from an occasional run-in with his teacher, life is pretty simple for Steve. But then Steve hears a rumor that an African-American family is moving to his all-Jewish neighborhood. It's 1948 and some of his neighbors are against it. Steve knows this is wrong. His hero, Jackie Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball the year before.

The Natural, Bernard Malamud's first novel, published in 1952, is also the first - and some would say still the best - novel ever written about baseball. In it Malamud, usually appreciated for his unerring portrayals of postwar Jewish life, took on very different material - the story of a superbly gifted "natural" at play in the fields of the old daylight baseball era - and invested it with the hardscrabble poetry, at once grand and altogether believable, that runs through all his best work.

It’s the summer of 1973, and Joe Castle is the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone has ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzles Chicago Cubs fans as he hits home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shatters all rookie records.

Last Days of Summer is the story of Joey Margolis, neighborhood punching bag, growing up goofy and mostly fatherless in Brooklyn in the early 1940s. A boy looking for a hero, Joey decides to latch on to Charlie Banks, the all-star third basemen for the New York Giants. But Joey's chosen champion doesn't exactly welcome the extreme attention of a persistent young fan with an overactive imagination. Then again, this strange, needy kid might be exactly what Banks needs.

Dwayne Devero is just like you and me, except he simply doesn’t give a sh*t anymore. He’s had enough. He’s done with people living life wrong. You’ll do it right, or he’ll bury you under the bases at the ballpark where he coaches. It’s just that simple. Tired of poor decisions being made all around him, from the politics of player positions on his son’s little league baseball team to the philandering of his wife in his own bedroom, Dwayne decides that breaking is better than bending.

It was 1986, and the New York Mets won 108 regular-season games and the World Series, capturing the hearts (and other assorted body parts) of fans everywhere. But their greatness on the field was nearly eclipsed by how bad they were off it. Led by the indomitable Keith Hernandez and the young dynamic duo of Dwight Gooden and Darryl Strawberry, along with the gallant Scum Bunch, the Amazin's left a wide trail of wreckage in their wake-hotel rooms, charter planes, a bar in Houston, and most famously Bill Buckner and the hated Boston Red Sox.

Highlights in this set include "The Night Manny Mota Tied the Record", "The Battery", and "The Thrill of the Grass". In a plot that preceded anything written by Mitch Albom, "The Night Manny Mota Tied the Record" explores the feelings after the death of Yankee catcher Thurmon Munson. Would a hardcore (non-Yankee) baseball fan give his life to save Munson's? "The Battery" takes readers to Santo Domingo where a wizard created in the vein of author Terry Pratchett sees the birth of baseball playing twins.

Two things I love: baseball and Lacey Stark. Back in college, I had them both. But after graduation, I made the biggest mistake of my life. I let Lacey go. Five years later, I can't complain. A Cy Young winner, I've achieved what I set out to do - pitching in the Major Leagues. Life is great. Until it's not. And the day it all went south? The day Lacey Stark appeared at my post press conference.

Joe Stoshack has to write a report for school about a famous African-American who contributed to society. Joe chooses to write about legendary baseball player Jackie Robinson, who broke the color barrier in the 1940s. But unlike every other kid in his class, Joe has a special talent: with the help of old baseball cards, he can travel through time.

Jalen DeLuca loves baseball. Unfortunately his dad can't afford to keep him on the travel team. His dad runs a diner and makes enough to cover the bills, but there isn't enough to cover any extras. So Jalen decides to take matters into his own hands, and he sneaks into the home of the New York Yankees' star second baseman, James Yager, and steals a couple of balls from his personal batting cage. He knows that if he can sell them, he'll be able to keep himself on the team.

Popular novelist Dan Jenkins is well known in the golf world for his column in Golf Digest. A modern classic among 20th-century sports novels, Dead Solid Perfect is Jenkins' hilarious send-up of professional golfers and the often ludicrous reality of life on the tour.

Brayden: I'm a goddamn prodigy. I threw my first curveball the day I was born. The whole town's waiting on me. To live up to my father's famous name. To reach for the stars. All I want to reach for is her. But Ashley's the sweet addiction I can't afford. She's my best friend's sister. For years, I've protected her from guys who want one thing. What happens now that I've turned into one of them? My game plan sounds simple: Pitch my way into the Major League draft and stay out of Ashley Foster's pants. The first part may be statistically difficult. The second feels damn near impossible.

Malcolm loves two things—baseball and science. He’s always studying the stats and coming up with ideas to help his team gain an advantage over the competition. But when Malcolm’s homemade glove oil causes a major blowup with his teammates, he must find a way to win back their trust.

On his 11th birthday, Jackson is nervous about moving up to middle school where he knows he'll be bullied by older kids, so he makes his wish, "I don't want to grow up!" When his 12th birthday rolls around, he discovers his wish came true: he's still 11, and he's starting fifth grade (again). At first, this is the perfect life. Jackson is the smartest kid in his class, the best on his baseball team, and the star of the school band. But after a few years of being eleven, he realizes his life is passing him by.

I never thought I'd wake up in Jake O’Connor’s bed—MLB’s brooding captain, protective single dad, and the one man I can’t afford to want. A man in a black mask pulls me close at the Valentine’s Day Ball. His piercing green eyes lock on mine, his touch sparking heat through silk. By dawn, the mask is gone, and I realize I hooked up with Jake, Titans’ most untouchable star. After my shock wears off, Jake makes an offer: a fake engagement to clean up his image, protect his son, and save his career. In return, he’ll help rebuild the career I lost. No feelings. No risks. Yeah, ...

Recent graduate Hayley Carter is thrilled to be working for a non-profit organization in Washington, DC. Having spent a lot of her life in the background due to family circumstances, Hayley is eager to step up and be heard. With romance on the shelf, it's time to focus on herself and new career. Armed with a workbook to help her improve on a personal and professional level, Hayley is ready to become a better version of who she already is. But will a baseball player for the Washington Soaring Eagles challenge her thoughts on not only dating, but the person she thinks she needs to be?

Joe Stoshack may be an awkward kid, but he knows baseball - and baseball cards. Since he was seven, he has been collecting them. So when his mother tells him he can earn five dollars by cleaning out an old lady's attic, Joe dreams of the cards he can buy.

Lane Hamilton takes stock of his life and doesn’t like what he finds. His friends are all chasing their dreams, while he’s working for a goose-stepping bully on the middle-management track to nowhere. When Lane is fired for sleeping through an important meeting, a high school buddy lands him a job with the Durham Bulls. Despite the grueling hours, it doesn’t take him long to realize even a bad day at the yard beats a good one in Corporate America. But is his new gig worth risking his magazine-cover girlfriend? And between jealous co-workers and psychotic relief pitchers, will he ...

With a baseball scholarship to Easton University and awesome family and friends, my life is pretty golden. Except, things have never come together for me in the romance department. Until Kellan Crawford walks onto the field as the team's newest bat boy. Bells and whistles go off in my body, and just like that, I'm totally crushing on a guy for the first time in my life. Too bad he's the coach's son and officially off-limits.