Junior Library Guild

• Glenn Stout’s emotionally evocative writing heightens the tension and shows just how close these baseball players came to failure. For example, of George [Babe] Ruth’s first attempts at pitching, Stout writes: “He stood on the mound awkwardly as the other boys giggled with anticipation, expecting George to fail. But when George wound up and threw the ball, it streaked right over the plate.”
• Readers will enjoy learning more about these famous athletes and may identify with and be inspired by their trials, including drug use, domestic abuse, and poverty. Torii Hunter, for instance, grew up in one of the poorest cities in America, but he didn’t let drug dealers or the threat of gang violence deter him from his dreams.
• Ron LeFlore’s story is particularly inspiring. He had never played baseball before he was jailed for robbery as an adult, but while playing pick-up games with other inmates, he discovered he was a natural. Professional baseball gave him a goal to work toward after his release—LeFlore was determined that the only numbers he would “be known by were the numbers on the back of his uniform and on his baseball card.”