In this novel, the careers of a golden boy rookie hitter for the Cubs and a hard-hitting Mets pitcher take very different paths. The baseball is thrilling, but it is what happens off the field that makes this story a classic.

Excerpt: "There was Delaney's red-haired trio-Red Gilbat, left fielder; Reddy Clammer, right fielder, and Reddie Ray, center fielder, composing the most remarkable outfield ever developed in minor league baseball. It was Delaney's pride, as it was also his trouble. Red Gilbat was nutty-and his batting average was.371. Any student of baseball could weigh these two facts against each other and understand something of Delaney's trouble. It was not possible...

Jonathan's friend Michael, Michael's parents, and Jonathan's family help him do his best in the Badgers' big baseball game.

Chico, a native of Puerto Rico and an excellent swimmer, joins the Royals baseball team but has trouble making friends with String, the most popular member of the team.

Charlie Brown and Peppermint Patty decide to trade their terrible right fielders; Peppermint Patty gets Lucy, and Charlie Brown gets Marcie and a pizza.

10-year-old Luke lives with his parents and grandparents in Arkansas during the Korean War. To pick the cotton in their fields, they must hire "hill people" and Mexicans. Hank is a "hill person" who doesn't take kindly to people looking down on him. Luke witnesses a fight that Hank gets into that causes the death of another person. With better times ahead to look forward to, the town gets excited about a new invention - television.

Billy Chapel is a baseball legend, a man who has devoted his life to the game he loves and plays so well. But because of his unsurpassed skill and innocent faith, he has been betrayed. Now it's the final game of the season, and Billy's got one last chance to prove who he is and what he can do, a chance to prove what really matters in this life. A taut, compelling story of one man's coming of age, FOR LOVE OF THE GAME is Michael Shaara's final novel,...

Aura of intrigue surrounds a baseball coach obsessed with the idea of turning a bunch of handpicked beginners into champions in one season.

Henry Granville, a baseball fanatic and high school teacher, spends hours in the basement with his young son Danny, introducing him to balls of all shapes and sizes. He even turns the basement into an indoor stadium. Danny quickly distinguishes himself from his peers, most conspicuously by his ability to throw perfectly with either arm-a feat virtually unheard of in baseball. But he also possesses a visionary gift that not even he understands. Danny...