Baseball Fiction

In these 11 stories, Gary Soto scores again. With a sensitivity and humor born from his own experiences while growing up in California's Central Valley, the author brings to the surface issues such as success and failure, honesty and deceit, love and friendship.

IN THE NAME OF LOVE is a coming-out romance novel between a baseball player named Steve and a theater star named Aaron. An LGBTQ romance novel. The two meet up after years apart and rekindle their friendship. Now, with love in the air, their relationship grows more complex. Steve realizes that what he feels for Aaron is something very special. But does Aaron feel the same way about Steve? Graduation day is approaching and Steve avoids the jocks, but they’re not backing off. Now, Steve must decide if he will stand up for himself and for Aaron. But will he risk everything and come out? What...

"The Baseball Diet Book is an endearing collection of stories describing the struggles of uncommon moments, both humorous and serious, and brings us closer to the reality of baseball’s goodness, hope, and destiny in our lives. Patrick Ryan is a quintessential baseball storyteller."— James Van Amber, author of Regina’s Record

Cooperstown! Josh is thrilled when all his hard training pays off in a big way and his team, the Titans, makes it to a national tournament in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. More is on the line for Josh than just a trophy. Winning would mean everything to his dad, now Josh's coach. Winning could mean a major endorsement deal for the Titans and the attention of big league scouts!

The Sandlot Legacy: Chronicles of Youth and Baseball, an award-winning tale, invites you into a world where dreams are woven into reality through determination, resilience, and the transformative spirit of baseball. Journey alongside our protagonist, Jack Thompson, a dreamer undeterred by skeptics who dares to reach for the stars against all odds. This beautifully penned narrative unearths the profound power of mentorship, encapsulated in the bond between Jack and his mentor, Mr. Davis. Their relationship shines a spotlight on how an act of belief can catalyze someone to achieve their dreams.

Lane Hamilton takes stock of his life and doesn’t like what he finds. His friends are all chasing their dreams, while he’s working for a goose-stepping bully on the middle-management track to nowhere. When Lane is fired for sleeping through an important meeting, a high school buddy lands him a job with the Durham Bulls. Despite the grueling hours, it doesn’t take him long to realize even a bad day at the yard beats a good one in Corporate America. But is his new gig worth risking his magazine-cover girlfriend? And between jealous co-workers and psychotic relief pitchers, will he ...

There was something about the woman that sat next to me in the hotel bar. She was beautiful in her t-shirt and jeans, and she didn't seem to notice that everyone around us was dressed to impress. When she touched my arm and I felt an unfamiliar zap, I felt the need to suddenly pull away. Minutes turned into hours while we talked, and I couldn't help but want to learn more about her. When we stepped into the elevator, we realized our rooms were on the same floor. We were right next to each other. I watched her hips move beneath the tight denim covering her curves as she walked ahead of me. ...

Cole Anders is in his last season at Fullton State. If he doesn't get drafted this year, he'll be forced to hang up his cleats for good. It's not something he's ready to do. To prove he's serious about his final season, he's given up girls. No more casual hookups, dates, or one-night stands. But there's one girl who has always refused to give up on him. One girl who has been there since the start of freshman year. One girl he stupidly assumed would always be waiting for him when he got off the field, no matter how long it took.

It’s my final season to prove myself before the MLB Draft. The last thing I need is a distraction–and especially not one as tantalizing as Mia di Angelo. She’s the drop-dead gorgeous astrophysicist-in-training who ditched me the moment I wanted to take us from casual to committed. Yeah. Ouch. But when she needs somewhere to stay for the summer… well. I offer her my place. Being roommates shouldn’t be so hard. Not distracting at all. Not the least bit challenging.

Play ball! Jack and Annie aren’t great baseball players... yet! Then Morgan the librarian gives them magical baseball caps that will make them experts. They just need to wear the caps to a special ballgame in Brooklyn, New York. The magic tree house whisks them back to 1947! When they arrive, Jack and Annie find out that they will be batboys in the game - not ballplayers. What exactly does Morgan want them to learn? And what’s so special about this game? They only have nine innings to find out!

Batting second - and perfect for Halloween - audiobook number two in an early listener mystery series where each audiobook is set in a different American ballpark! Mike and Kate are waiting for Kate's mom at a boring press conference in Yankee Stadium when the team official says something that makes Mike perk up his ears. There are rumors that the ghost of Babe Ruth is haunting the new stadium! A chill air blasts down a service hallway before every home game, along with various thumps and bumps. Is the Bambino really searching for his missing locker?

Resisting the shortstop has never been my strong suit. I failed at it during my first spring training. It sure as hell looks like I'm about to fail at it again. The sport I love playing with my very soul hangs in the balance. But everything my heart craves lies with the guy I've got to resist. A guy who's asking me to make the toughest choice ever.

Ten-year-old Katy Gordon loves baseball, and she's good at it, too. She tries out for the 1958 Little League season in the disguise of a boy, and she gets in easily. But when the coach finds out she's a girl, he forbids her from playing. "Since the beginning of baseball as an organized sport, it has always been the sole province of male athletes, and will remain so", says the Little League director. It's not fair, and Katy, who's also learning about the Civil Rights Movement in school, recognizes this as another societal injustice.

In "one of the funniest and most heartfelt baseball stories in recent memory" (Publishers Weekly), Howard Frank Mosher returns to Kingdom Common, Vermont, to spin a touching coming-of-age tale in an America that has almost disappeared. From this remote village, noted for its fervent devotion to the Red Sox, comes Ethan “E. A.” Allen, a young man with a chance to change baseball history. Homeschooled, fatherless, and living on the wrong side of the tracks, E. A. is haunted by a dark mystery in his family’s past until a drifter named Teddy arrives in his life, determined to teach E. A. everything he knows about baseball.

Born in obscurity, William Jennings finds refuge within the walls of an orphanage in the outskirts of Baltimore. Under the tutelage of Xaverian Brothers, he thrives, escaping into his studies of history and baseball. As he witnesses the first three World Series Championships, his imagination begins to weave adventures of heroism -- from the fields of play to the fields of battle.

Jalen DeLuca's unique ability to predict pitches helped him save the career of Yankees star Second Baseman James “JY” Yager, but with JY sidelined with an injury, Jalen’s focusing on his own on-field efforts. However, the media is still interested in the “Calamari Kid”, and Jalen begins to get a little full of himself. Now, Daniel and Cat are starting to feel left out and kind of angry. Maybe all this baseball genius stuff isn’t as great as it’s cracked up to be.

I was getting ready to turn eighteen and was looking forward to starting my senior year of high school. They say senior year is the best, but I wasn't so sure. Lance Smith, a retired Pittsburgh Pirate, was the most overprotective man I'd ever met. He was also my dad. I was Sammie, his little tomboy baseball player. That was the only way he'd ever see me. My bedroom walls were still covered with scenes he'd painted before I was even born. A picture of him still hung on my wall. The words date, boyfriend, and college all sent him into a crazy speech about his little girl not growing up. He ...

When I told my parents during my senior year that I wasn't going to college, they lost their minds. There was only one person that stood beside me, and that was my sister Sammie. I'd been working with computers since I was ten. Everyone laughed and joked about how much time I spent in my room. They had no idea that I'd been working on something great. Sammie listened when I told her I already knew more than I'd learn in college. She believed me when I told her what I was working on would make a difference, and she defended me every step of the way. I had big dreams, and nothing was going to...

Micki Jordan is a tomboy as much at home on the playing field as in a locker room full of naked guys. But the star publicist is looking to prove she’s also an irresistible woman in order to get a second shot at professional baseball player and major league playboy, Damian Fuller. Micki transforms herself into one hot number Damian can’t help but notice, and together they burn up the sheets and find themselves falling hard. That is until Damian’s past returns, threatening their future.

My name is Lux Weston, and I’m a matter of national security... apparently. All I did was meet a beautiful girl in a bookstore and then rescue her. Once… twice… and maybe a third time—from a creeper. The problem? The creeper turned out to be Secret Service, and the girl… well, she’s Radley Andrews—the President’s only daughter. It has disaster written all over it. I should stay away. She’s a student, I’m a Major League Baseball player. She’s trying to hide from the spotlight, I’m standing underneath it. Not to mention I’ve never had a relationship, and Radley has her own demons to battle.