Synopsis "And My Father Was There: Eight Home Runs, One Unbreakable Promise"
Life is a diamond and on it miracles happen. From the book... "It was no surprise that my birth would be forever tied to baseball. I was born October 13, 1914, the day the Boston Braves swept the Philadelphia Athletics to win the World Series. They called it "The Miracle"-not my birth but the sweep-because going into July that year the Braves were in last place; but as fate would have it, they mounted a remarkable comeback to win the National League pennant-and they won it with a ten game lead over the next best team. Going on to a four-game sweep of the Athletics in the World Series, well, what else could you call it but a miracle? Mom likes to tell the story of how she had the delivery nurse feed her live updates from the game via the telephone during delivery. She says she was struggling to "get me out" up until the fifth inning, while the score was still a 1-1 tie, but in the bottom of the fifth, when Johnny Evers hit a two-out, two-run single to break the tie, she sat up suddenly and shouted, "That's giving it to 'em, Johnny Boy!" And that's when I "popped out of the dugout." THE YOUNGS have been a baseball family ever since Al Young saw "Nig" Clarke of Corsicana Oil City hit eight home runs in a single game back in 1902. It was then that Al decided he would make his living playing baseball, and he did, playing shortstop for the Boston Braves until World War I took his ability to speak and function.His son, Laird Allen Young - a twenty-something hurler with a penchant for throwing more than the baseball - follows in his father's footsteps, becoming a pitcher for the Hartford Bees, a Boston Braves affiliate. The one thing Laird longs for more than anything else - besides one day playing for his father's former team - is to have just one conversation with his mute and unresponsive father. But after 29 years, Laird has given up hope - until one day his mother gives him an old tin tobacco box belonging to his father, its contents about to change everything. An inspirational tale about how doing the right thing can open the door to miracles. ADVANCE READER REVIEWS: "Such a great story!" Scott Crawford, Director of Operations, Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame "Has a good heart to it." Amazon Reader"A wonderful read...touching...as much about life as it is about baseball." Amazon Reader "Noah McCaffrey takes a single moment in baseball history and weaves a heartfelt story around it, one that will appeal to fathers and sons, as well as to mothers and wives." John Ames, filmmaker and cinematographer For fans of movies like THE ROOKIE, THE NATURAL, FIELD OF DREAMS and THE HILL.
