Baseball Fiction

Joe Stoshack may be an awkward kid, but he knows baseball - and baseball cards. Since he was seven, he has been collecting them. So when his mother tells him he can earn five dollars by cleaning out an old lady's attic, Joe dreams of the cards he can buy.

What’s a 16-year-old boy to do when he learns that his stepmother and a local judge have murdered his father and now plan to kill him, too? Well, when it’s 1906, and you can play pretty good second base, you join a barn-storming baseball team making its way across Kansas. It also helps that the team is the Kansas City National Bloomer Girls. After all, who’d look for a runaway boy disguised as a girl on a women’s team that competes against town-ball teams of male players? Of course, it’ll take more than long hair, a Spalding glove, and a quick bat to stay alive.

Twelve-year-old star Little League pitcher Nick Garcia has a dream. Several in fact. He dreams he'll win this season's MVP and the chance to throw out the first pitch at Yankee Stadium. He dreams he'll meet his hero, Yankees' pitcher Michael Arroyo. He dreams they'll find a cure for Lupus so he sister won't have to suffer. But mostly, he dreams one day his family can stop living in fear of the government. For one kid, it's almost too much to bear.

When local baseball player Junior Jones receives death threats over the color of his skin, the team's wealthy owner hires Sam Rockwell to solve the case and stop a murder before it happens. Sam goes undercover as a minor league pitcher to strike out the culprit. Follow the clues along with Sam's curmudgeonly ghost of a father Frank Rockwell, and Sam's wife Amelia, who holds a secret that will forever change the lives of the entire Rockwell family. It's another laugh-filled, madcap mystery in the warm, witty 1950's Hollywood-style of author Jason Anspach.

They say that each of us becomes an entirely new person every seven years. But Rebecca Bradshaw doesn't feel any different when an old lover shows up severely injured at the hospital where she runs the physical-therapy department. Seven years ago, baseball player Jace Cooper left her without a second thought or the chance to share the life-changing secret she swore she'd keep from him forever. Now he was back, wanting both her help and a second chance.

It is 1947 when Joseph Burke, ex-Marine, ex-husband, ex-somebody–is hired as a bodyguard to protect Lauren Roach, 25 and spoiled rotten. The unlikely duo becomes entangled with Burke’s boyhood hero, color-barrier breaking baseball player Jackie Robinson, in a story that is both thrilling and engaging. It is in the historical character Jackie Robinson that Mr. Parker finds inspiration and Joseph Burke may find his redemption. This is a work of fiction about a real man. Most of what I’ve written I’ve made up. I have, however, attempted to render Jackie Robinson accurately. As he was, or as I imagined him to be, in 1947, when I was turning 15, and he was changing the world. The rest is altogether fiction. It may be more Burke’s story then Jackie’s story. But, without Jackie, Burke would have had no story. And neither would I. Robert B Parker.

Maggie Fortini doesn't play baseball but is a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jim Maine is a Giants fan whom who teaches Maggie the fine art of scoring a baseball game. Jim is drafted into the army and sent to Korea, and although Maggie writes to him often, his silence is just one of a string of disappointments - being a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in the early 1950s meant season after season of near misses and dashed hopes.

The first ever collection of short stories by Jaime Cortez, Gordo is set in a migrant workers camp near Watsonville, California, in the 1970s.

Ten years ago, Dylan McCormick and Maggie Jennings were two eighteen-year-olds in love. With a cold father and absent mother at home, he was drawn to her warmth, her humor, and her kindness. She was the best thing that had ever happened to him. But then he had to let her go so she could have a chance at a better life. One that didn't involve late-night diners and rusted out cars and counting pennies. And so, he shattered his own heart to give her a chance at something more.

Conor Nash has lived his life with a single purpose - to pitch in the major leagues. He’s been released from professional baseball contracts 10 times over a 16-year career, but he’s overcome every obstacle to finally reach "The Show" when he’s a decade too old. As he faces the specter of injury-forced retirement, he becomes a man neither he nor his wife recognizes. During his career, Conor avoided the trap of alcohol and drugs because his drug was baseball.

Caitlin Dufresne has never loved anyone as much as she loves winning. A ruthless fifth-year associate at an elite Chicago law firm, she's on the fast track to partner - until a stupid, serious error enrages her bosses. Caitlin's continued refusal to share work - or credit - lands her a forced two-week vacation. She needs to regroup and learn to be part of a team, not just the star. When she meets Eli Grant, head of the firm's IT department, Caitlin knows the overgrown frat boy isn't her type.

When a beautiful brunette driver meets Nashville Slammers catcher, Sawyer McBain, at the airport, he figures it's his lucky day. Sure, he's usually pretty guarded around people, especially after his ex, but he can enjoy the car ride. Until she passes his apartment...and keeps driving. Slammers executive Addison Carlisle needs one little favor. Sure, she may have kinda maybe kidnapped one of her professional baseball players, but it's for a really good cause. She desperately needs someone high-profile to auction off that night for the multiple sclerosis society she's chairing.

The nephew of a star baseball player from Cuba seeks to establish his own imprint on the game, with the added goal of leading people to glory. He faces a number of trials from evil people and forces of nature that test his faith. His youth and lack of pedigree also work against him as he tries to compete with the best players in the world at the most difficult assignment in sports—hitting a baseball.

Owen Thatcher has been ghosted by his ex, leaving him to pick up the pieces of their family in the midst of being traded to a new team. After striking out with nanny after nanny, he's desperate to create a stable life for his two kids. Sophie Callahan comes from an affluent family but this free spirit is nothing like the stereotypical trust fund baby. While she waits on the perfect job to open up, she's making it work as a substitute teacher. But a ruggedly handsome baseball player makes her an offer she can't refuse.

After an unexpected twist of fate, All-Star catcher Easton Wylder is left questioning the loyalty of everyone around him. Even the woman who shares his bed, Scout Dalton. But if Easton thought being uprooted to the last place he expected was the only challenge life had to throw at him, he was dead wrong. With an ailing shoulder and his career in limbo, his decision to make an unexpected change leads him to question everything—Scout’s love, family loyalties, and whether he can conquer the one obstacle he’s never been able to overcome. The secret he’s never shared with anyone.

When Bo Bennett, rookie third baseman for the New Orleans Revelers, walks into a charity event, all he wants to do is escape. He's not interested in showboating, rubbing elbows with the elite, or anything else that doesn't pertain to baseball. With Spring Training coming to an end soon, the last thing he wants is a distraction. But then he sees her.

Miles Cartwright had the rookie season of any player’s dreams. The San Francisco Felons made it all the way to the World Series then lost it all in game seven with him on the mound. To make matters worse, a misunderstanding has him in hot water with the law, and on a short leash with his club. Last chances are something Carmen Murphy is all too familiar with. Her goal of becoming a respected sports writer is circling the drain while she wastes her talents writing sports gossip for a trashy, but popular, blog. Getting some insight on the Miles Cartwright scandal would be great for page views.

Former pro baseball player Linc Conner knows exactly where his head's at. Most of the time, he's completely focused on running his community center and focusing on the kids. But when it comes to single mom Emma Henricksen, Linc can't see straight. She's driven, resourceful—not to mention that smart, extra-kissable mouth—and when she's near, he gets lost in a fog of lust. But he needs her help to convince an investor they're engaged.

It all started with an ad . . . "House sitter needed for the summer, room and board provided." Guess I missed the part about the cocky basketball player sleeping down the hall. Finn Richards is hot, cruel, broken beyond repair. Oh, and did I mention hell-bent on making me quit? Whatever. It's not like his charms work on me. I'm immune to his deep hazel eyes, and I'm not even a little bit curious about what happened that night. It's just two months. I can definitely go two months without ripping his head off. Only problem is, I'm not sure the same goes for his clothes.

The first time I met Benson LaCroix, he sat in a bar wearing “cocky player” like a cheap cologne. The second time, he stood in a locker room in nothing but a jockstrap and a scowl. Apparently, the Miami Storm’s star pitcher isn’t too thrilled his new boss is the woman who turned him down.