Saving Babe Ruth

Book excerpt: Based on a true story, the Town of Indigo Valley is full of mystery. It s passionate about its sports and about keeping its secrets. When washed-out lawyer and Civil War buff David Thompson volunteers to serve as commissioner for the town's waning Babe Ruth recreational baseball league, he has no idea what he's getting into. He finds himself confronted by people leading double lives. They want David out of the way and they'll go after him and his family if that's what it takes. Rob Barkus is one of them. Backed by the high school baseball program, travel league promoter Barkus is crushing the Babe Ruth league by luring the town's best players to his high-priced summer teams with promises of scholarships. If this continues, there won t be enough players for the Babe Ruth league. David's own son, Christy, and his sandlot friends will have nowhere to play. Barkus doesn't stop at wanting the town's best players, he also wants access to the town's best baseball field the Babe Ruth field. When David refuses, a bitter conflict divides the town. It threatens his marriage with Annie, his wife, and that s just for openers. With the help of Johnny McFadden a newfound friend who's addicted to baseball David uses both his legal and survival skills to concoct a plan to defend the field and the league. The pair will have to navigate through an underworld of backroom politics, corruption, scandal, and crime that extends to the professional sports world. But in trying to save the league, will David sacrifice his family in the process? Saving Babe Ruth is a humor-laced thriller about a family trying to stay together as it navigates the nutty world of youth sports in a world where kids can easily slip through the cracks. It s also the inspiring tale of a baseball team full of outcasts struggling to believe in themselves. When the time is right, they'll face the prospect of having to fight crazy with crazy to save baseball for themselves, their town and beyond. "