Little Lefty

by Matt Christopher, Marcy Dunn Ramsey (Illustrator)

Bill, the smallest member and hardest thrower on the Blackhawks, reads about a tiny pitcher who made it to the big leagues and decides to prove himself on the mound. Reprint.

Genres: Childrens

96 pages, Paperback

First published January 30, 1959

About the author

Matt Christopher is the writer young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. He is the best-selling author of more than one hundred sports books for young readers.

Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.

"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.

Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.

After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.

I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.

Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.

I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.

Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."

Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.

Reviews

[Scott French · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my favorite book in 4th grade. I am 59 and it is still my favorite book. My librarian syrprised me with this book at a school I taught at a few years back. 'm going to pass it onto my son and daughter who are both in their 20s, what an amazing thing to be able to do.

[Mike Carroll · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as a child and really loved the story. As a kid who loved baseball, I truly related to the main character in this book. I still have my childhood copy of this book on my bookcase.

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

My little baseball fan of a son enjoys these books so I read them to him. This one had a little less baseball lingo in it so I could follow it easier. My daughter got into this one a little bit because Bill went to a farm and went horse-back riding. I wasn't sure what to make of Ray Colby though......this book was originally written in 1959 in simpler times when a good-hearted adult might take an interest in helping a child he doesn't really know. Living in 2010 I would have to caution my children from this type of interest from an adult though - sad but necessary in today's world!

[Taylor Cameron · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill loves baseball but many people including himself that he is to small. After hearing stories about a man nicknamed "little lefty" Bill is determinded to show that he can pitch. Bill starts to make progress but his progress we quickly stopped by a freak accident. Bill is still determined to show off his stuff. Will he get his chance or will his friend Larry talk him out of playing baseball ever again?

[Ty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bill Bailey is the smallest player on the black hawks,But he can throw harder than anyone on the team even the pitcher. He made the big leagues and was determined to earn some playing time. Bill had a accident but he was has to prove himself that he can get back onto the mound.

[Ethan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a good book. It was about a little left handed kid that becomes a good pitcher when no one believed in him.

[Hazim · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great.
I reccomend people who like baseball read it.