Lucy

I need your help! If you’ve enjoyed “Beyond the Last Inning,” positive reviews go a long way. If you can provide 5-star reviews on Amazon and Goodreads with a nice sentence or two, I’d greatly appreciate it. 📖⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️📖

GENE TENACE: "I looked down at the hotel, and the manager was standing out there in the front. I go, 'Oh God, we're dead. We're gonna get nailed here.' The guys said, 'Well, what are we gonna do?' I said, 'He knows we're out after curfew 'cause we're not in our rooms. We might as well just bite the bullet, take the consequences, and deal with it.' The three of us walked down to him and he was very upset. He told the other two guys to get to their room and he’d deal with them later. Then, he told me, 'You get up to my room.' I'm going, 'Oh God Almighty.' I get to his room, and he says, 'I'll fix you a drink.' I said, 'Well, I don't drink hard liquor. I drink a beer.' He said, 'Pour yourself a scotch. I've got to make a phone call.' I said, 'Okay.' I figured if the manager says to pour yourself a scotch, you pour yourself a scotch even if you don't drink scotch. I pour myself a little bit in a glass and he's on the phone. I couldn't tell who he was talking to. It was like 1:30 in the morning. He’s saying, 'Yes, no, yes, yes.' I’m thinking, 'What’s going on here?' Then I hear him say, 'Yeah, he’s here. I’ve got him.' I thought, 'Oh-oh. That doesn’t sound good.' He gets off the phone and says to me, 'Drink that stinkin' scotch. You're gonna need that scotch.' I said, 'What are you talkin' about?' He says, 'In about 30 minutes, you're heading back to Birmingham, and then you're gonna catch a flight to Oakland. You’re catching Catfish Hunter Thursday.'" ⚾️📖 Gene Tenace, Oakland A's, 1969 - Excerpt from his full MLB call-up and debut story in the "Called Up" book

BOBBY WITT SR. (@Bwitt36): “My journey was a little bit different. I signed in ‘85 and went to Tulsa (Double-A for the Rangers). It didn't really go the way I wanted it to go. I think I was 0-6, with a 6-something ERA. I had never won a professional game. A lot of people don't know this. I’d never won a professional game until my first big league win. Bobby Valentine, at the time, was going with a youth movement. I went into spring training (in 1986) just looking at it as experience. I was going to go in there and see what it was all about. I remember the first guy I ever faced was George Brett and I got him to ground out. That was the first guy I ever faced in spring training! The Royals were coming off their '85 World Championship, so it was a pretty exciting time. I didn't know what was going to happen. I knew I was there until the end. I thought, ‘If I don't make it here, are they going to send me back to Double-A since I didn't have a win? Am I going to Triple-A?’ I didn't know what was going on. Bobby called me into the office and told me I was going with the club, to the big leagues. This is before the cell phone era. I went to find the closest pay phone and called my dad and told him. He was so excited." ⚾️📖 Bobby Witt Sr., Texas Rangers, 1986 - Excerpt from his full story in the "Called Up" book

Let me know if you’d like one shipped directly from me. I have a handful left.

My second book, “Beyond the Last Inning: Life and Careers After Playing Professional Baseball,” arrived today!

I’m unable to attend the Society for American Baseball Research conference in Cleveland this week. However, the McFarland booth will have copies of “Called Up” available. Additionally, you can pre-order “Beyond the Last Inning” at the booth, and have it shipped to you once it’s in print next month.