And the coaches, writers, wives, girlfriends, petty criminals, and diehard fans following his every move are eager to find out why–as they hide secrets of their own. Handsome, famous, and talented, Goodyear is nonetheless coming apart at the seams. Jason Goodyear is the star outfielder for the Los Angeles Lions, stationed with the rest of his team in the punishingly hot Arizona desert for their annual spring training. Nick will need to keep his eye on the ball in this fast, funny story about a game that can throw you some curveballs-just like life! Alè Tran Tran, Mattotti Tettamenti, 1995 All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty. Nick practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough-to get to the contest, Nick has to lie to his parents and blackmail his uncle. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest? Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. Nick and his friends play ball in the city zoo-and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. There’s one other tiny-well, not so tiny-problem. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest, and Nick wants to win.īut the contest is on a Saturday-the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. For twelve years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do.
Linda Sue Park’s captivating story will, of course, delight those who are already keeping score.Ī boy who loves baseball must get past his hard-working immigrant parents-and the rhino in the outfield-to become a batboy in this laugh-out-loud middle grade novel in the tradition of The Sandlot. Against a background of major league baseball and the Korean War on the home front, Maggie looks for, and finds, a way to make a difference.Įven those readers who think they don’t care about baseball will be drawn into the world of the true and ardent fan. But Maggie goes on trying to help the Dodgers, and when she finds out that Jim needs help, too, she’s determined to provide it. Jim is drafted into the army and sent to Korea, and although Maggie writes to him often, his silence is just one of a string of disappointments-being a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in the early 1950s meant season after season of near misses and year after year of dashed hopes. Not only can she revisit every play of every inning, but by keeping score she feels she’s more than just a fan: she’s helping her team.
Unfortunately, Jim Maine is a Giants fan, but it’s Jim who teaches Maggie the fine art of scoring a baseball game. Maggie can recite all the players’ statistics and understands the subtleties of the game. Unlike Joey-Mick, Maggie doesn’t play baseball-but at almost ten years old, she is a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Both Maggie Fortini and her brother, Joey-Mick, were named for baseball great Joe DiMaggio.