Balls

by Gorman Bechard

Louise "Balls" Gehrig is ready for the major leagues, but is baseball ready for her?In the not-so-distant past, baseball was changing dramatically. An ex-Vice President was the new commissioner, the Yankees have moved to New Jersey, and the Supreme Court has ruled that women can play in the major leagues.Enter Louise "Balls" Gehrig, sporting baby blue eyes and a smile that can steal a heart almost as quickly as she can steal a base. As first baseperson for the expansion Manhattan Meteorites, she's about to break baseball's gender barrier and change America's pastime forever. But from the moment Louise enters the spotlight, trouble follows: Fans want to marry her - or kill her. The press can't decide if she's revolutionizing the game - or ruining it. Some players won't play with her - and some won't play against her.And to really complicate matters, her mom is having an affairwith the catcher, she and a rival pitcher have become an item, and every day some psycho sends her an even more violentdeath threat. Whether or not Louise can make it through the season, Balls delivers big-league entertainment. Loaded with wit and social satire, this wonderfully fresh and original novel blends suspense, romance, and excitement into one grand slam.

Genres: Baseball, Fiction

380 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Gorman Bechard is the author of seven novels: THE SECOND GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, UNWOUND (under the pseudonym Jonathan Baine), NINTH SQUARE, THE HAZMAT DIARY, GOOD NEIGHBORS, BALLS and the upcoming NOT SO PRETTY.

He directed/wrote the indie features FRIENDS (WITH BENEFITS) (2009) and YOU ARE ALONE (2006), the horror comedy cult-classic PSYCHOS IN LOVE (1986), as well as the award winning shorts OBJECTS IN THE MIRROR ARE FURTHER THAN THEY APPEAR (2003) and THE PRETTY GIRL (2000), and most recently completed COLOR ME OBSESSED, A FILM ABOUT THE REPLACEMENTS, which Rolling Stone named one of the seven best music docs of the year.

Bechard is in pre-production on ONE NIGHT STAND, a psycho-sexual horror film, and BROKEN SIDE OF TIME, a dark drama set in the world of internet modeling, which are parts two and three of his planned ALONE trilogy, and PIZZA, A LOVE STORY, a documentary on the holy trinity of pizza joints, Sally’s, Pepe’s, and Modern in New Haven, Connecticut.

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wish this book was real life

[Susan Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

women in professional baseball - a must read for any baseball fan

[Joyce]

Exceptionally charming fairy tale spun around the idea of the first female Major League player. As a serious sports fan I'd love to see it, but don't think it could possibly happen as easily as this... particularly because the lady in question is a first baseman :) If the story presumed a shortstop or 2nd baseman I would have found it marginally more believable.

That said, the real joy of this novel is the actual writing rather than the plot or even the characters. The author's decision to pin his narrative to the 90's so firmly is debatable now, but I respect the fact that he took a stand historically. If you can't enjoy a baseball story without an existing team, you need to steer clear.

[Tara Chevrestt]

Not for me. I didn't get the humor at all.. the dog in the courthouse, Dan Quayle jokes...? And LOTS of baseball talk.. understandable, but at times when talking about owners and stats, it lost me. I'm afraid I'm knowledgable enough to "get it."

[Pauline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in the 90s so all the jokes are relevant to that time period. Still, this is the book that I take out and reread when I'm in a baseball mood.