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Baseball Genius #2
Double Play
Jalen DeLuca and his hero New York Yankee James “JY” Yager must team up to prove themselves in this sequel to Tim Green and Derek Jeter’s New York Times bestselling novel, Baseball Genius.
Jalen DeLuca loves baseball. He’s playing for his summer travel team and trying to win a regular spot in the rotation. But Jalen’s got more then talent on the field. He’s a baseball genius who can analyze and predict almost exactly what any pitcher is going to do with his next pitch. He can’t quite explain how he knows, he just does. His unique ability helped him to save the career of New York Yankee star baseman, James “JY” Yager, and now Jalen figures he’ll be almost part of the team. Or will he?
After a power struggle with the Yankees GM and a failed negotiation with Cat, JY strikes out on his own to show he can still hit in the majors without the help of Jalen’s baseball genius. Disappointed, but focused on his own baseball career, Jalen tries to carve out his own spot with the Rockton Rockets.
When things go wrong for both of them, JY works out a deal with Cat, bringing the pair together again. With JY’s help, Jalen and Daniel are able to join a travel team from a nearby rival town who will face off against the Rockets in the championship game of an elite tournament in Boston. With the pressure mounting for JY to perform at the Green Monster and Jalen intent on paying back his former team, they’ll have to pull off the ultimate double play if they’re both going to succeed.
Jalen DeLuca loves baseball. He’s playing for his summer travel team and trying to win a regular spot in the rotation. But Jalen’s got more then talent on the field. He’s a baseball genius who can analyze and predict almost exactly what any pitcher is going to do with his next pitch. He can’t quite explain how he knows, he just does. His unique ability helped him to save the career of New York Yankee star baseman, James “JY” Yager, and now Jalen figures he’ll be almost part of the team. Or will he?
After a power struggle with the Yankees GM and a failed negotiation with Cat, JY strikes out on his own to show he can still hit in the majors without the help of Jalen’s baseball genius. Disappointed, but focused on his own baseball career, Jalen tries to carve out his own spot with the Rockton Rockets.
When things go wrong for both of them, JY works out a deal with Cat, bringing the pair together again. With JY’s help, Jalen and Daniel are able to join a travel team from a nearby rival town who will face off against the Rockets in the championship game of an elite tournament in Boston. With the pressure mounting for JY to perform at the Green Monster and Jalen intent on paying back his former team, they’ll have to pull off the ultimate double play if they’re both going to succeed.
352 pages, Hardcover
First published March 6, 2018
89 people are currently reading
400 people want to read
About the author
Tim Green
93 books732 followersTim Green, for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and a dozen suspense novels, including Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come. Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round NFL draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors. Tim has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and as an NFL commentator for National Public Radio, among other broadcast experience. He lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. Football Genius is his first novel for young readers. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/authortimgreen
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
October 11, 2019
It is a great book. Jalen and his friend are trying to help James Yager another time but Jalen and his friend Daniel have a important baseball game themselves. You wont guess what they did.
April 7, 2018
I received a copy of this book in a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my review.
So, I probably should start off by disclosing that I am not a baseball person. Or a sport person. Or male. So perhaps, I am not the target audience for a book about a boy who plays baseball. Keeping that in mind, I'll try not to let the baseball impact my review too much.
Double Play is about a boy named Jalen who plays baseball and has a knack for telling what kind of ball will be thrown. Using his talent for predicting pitches Jalen helps JY, a professional baseball player, to win games. Immoral? You tell me.
The worst part of the book was the characters. They are all so bland. They don't even begin to resemble actual humans. I understand that this is a kids book but that's not a good enough reason to have absolutely no character development. Also, I don't even know if this book passes the Bechdel Test due to the severe lack of female characters.
The writing style was once again bland. The pace of the book was so slow. Nothing of importance happens within the first 3/4ths of the book. Even the dialogue was dry!
The only thing I enjoyed about the book was Jalen's father. The mystery about where his mother is could have been very interesting but the authors choose not to take that route and instead left that mystery for the sequel.
I recommend this book for boys between the ages of 9 and 13 who are baseball fanatics and do not yet care about things like plot or writing style.
Rating: 25/100
Age: 9 & up
Warnings: bullying
So, I probably should start off by disclosing that I am not a baseball person. Or a sport person. Or male. So perhaps, I am not the target audience for a book about a boy who plays baseball. Keeping that in mind, I'll try not to let the baseball impact my review too much.
Double Play is about a boy named Jalen who plays baseball and has a knack for telling what kind of ball will be thrown. Using his talent for predicting pitches Jalen helps JY, a professional baseball player, to win games. Immoral? You tell me.
The worst part of the book was the characters. They are all so bland. They don't even begin to resemble actual humans. I understand that this is a kids book but that's not a good enough reason to have absolutely no character development. Also, I don't even know if this book passes the Bechdel Test due to the severe lack of female characters.
The writing style was once again bland. The pace of the book was so slow. Nothing of importance happens within the first 3/4ths of the book. Even the dialogue was dry!
The only thing I enjoyed about the book was Jalen's father. The mystery about where his mother is could have been very interesting but the authors choose not to take that route and instead left that mystery for the sequel.
I recommend this book for boys between the ages of 9 and 13 who are baseball fanatics and do not yet care about things like plot or writing style.
Rating: 25/100
Age: 9 & up
Warnings: bullying
February 18, 2020
This book was so good! I thought it was even better than the first one.
June 3, 2022
The book I just finished reading was Baseball Genius, Double Play, by Tim Green and Derek Jeter. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, because I genuinely had trouble putting it down. The weekend I started it, I ended up reading over 200 pages because I was enjoying it so much. To quickly sum up, The book was about a 13 year old kid, Jalen, who was not only a great baseball player, but a baseball genius as well. He could predict what pitch was going to be thrown, whether it was him at the plate or someone else. Jalen ended up making a deal with the New York Yankees star second baseman, James Yager (JY), who was in a bad hitting slump. The deal was that JY would pay Jalen to come to his games and signal to him what pitch was coming to make the hitting easier on him. That’s all I can really say without spoiling too much. One of the big reasons I liked the book so much was because of the way that it was broken up so well. There were lots of chapters, some even every other page, and it always kept me on my toes while reading it. Along with the chapters, the plot was executed extremely well, going at just the right speed throughout the entire book. There was never really a part of the book where it felt slow or I wasn’t entertained, and that is a big reason I gave it the 5 star rating. This book was great, and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the sports genre of books.
March 27, 2020
this book is about a boy name Jalen and he is a baseball genius he can tell what the pitcher is going to throw on the next pitch and where the hitter will hit the ball
March 28, 2019
Summary of book:
Jalen the main character help mlb star James Yager know what pitch is going to come in next. James Yager in exchange, helps Jalen get onto a baseball travel team and helps his dad get get his restaurant started after a bad fire.
Jalen gets to play on a travel team that he really likes and meets a lot of friends.
Jalen fined's lots of ways to help James Yager and play his baseball games.
I think the Message is to always stick to what you love and never stop looking for what you are looking for if it is impotant to you
Jalen the main character help mlb star James Yager know what pitch is going to come in next. James Yager in exchange, helps Jalen get onto a baseball travel team and helps his dad get get his restaurant started after a bad fire.
Jalen gets to play on a travel team that he really likes and meets a lot of friends.
Jalen fined's lots of ways to help James Yager and play his baseball games.
I think the Message is to always stick to what you love and never stop looking for what you are looking for if it is impotant to you
July 10, 2019
Double Play (Baseball Genius #2) by Tim Green and Derek Jeter, 336 pages. Aladin (Simon & Schuster), 2018, $18.
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content PG; Violence: PG;
BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
This is book two in the Baseball Genius series. Jalen DaLuca continues to use his baseball genius of predicting pitches to help Yankees star, James “JY” Yager. Yager reciprocates by helping his father’s diner take off and provided much needed funds for Jalen and his dad. Jalen has problems of his own too. He deals poorly with the bullying of the coach’s son, which costs him his spot on his baseball team. In the end, it comes down to a double play of epic proportions to save both baseball players.
If you are into baseball, then this is your book. The sports writing captures the game well. It does seem a bit of a stretch that a twelve year old can predict pitches so well and that his friend Cat, another twelve year old, is a mini lawyer and sets up deals with a pro baseball player. Though Jalen runs into problems, this book pretty much wraps up the ending with a bow, though there is a definite lead-in to the next book.
Michelle in the Middle, Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...
Language: G (0 swears); Mature Content PG; Violence: PG;
BUYING ADVISORY: MS – ADVISABLE
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
This is book two in the Baseball Genius series. Jalen DaLuca continues to use his baseball genius of predicting pitches to help Yankees star, James “JY” Yager. Yager reciprocates by helping his father’s diner take off and provided much needed funds for Jalen and his dad. Jalen has problems of his own too. He deals poorly with the bullying of the coach’s son, which costs him his spot on his baseball team. In the end, it comes down to a double play of epic proportions to save both baseball players.
If you are into baseball, then this is your book. The sports writing captures the game well. It does seem a bit of a stretch that a twelve year old can predict pitches so well and that his friend Cat, another twelve year old, is a mini lawyer and sets up deals with a pro baseball player. Though Jalen runs into problems, this book pretty much wraps up the ending with a bow, though there is a definite lead-in to the next book.
Michelle in the Middle, Teacher
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2019...
November 17, 2025
Baseball Genius by Tim Green presents itself by showing the on-field and off the field challenges that Jalen and his friends went through. Although teamwork, trust, and learning from mistakes helped them get through the challenging tasks.
Jalen is the main character who has the ability to read what pitch is coming from any pitcher, size, shape, or form. Cat is Jalen’s “agent” who keeps him in line and manages his deals. Daniel, his best friend, is a very talented left fielder who never gave up on Jalen, no matter what happened. JY is a professional baseball player who guides Jalen and helps him out with his off-field affairs. Jalen is tasked with dealing with JY and focusing on his own baseball career. But with the help of others and trust, he and his friends accomplish their goal. He faces these challenges in places like his dad's restaurant, on the baseball field, and at professional baseball stadiums. The story is set in the present time with all the modern-day supplies. Jalen’s main reason in this book is to make a name for himself, since he feels the more he gets out there, the more people will respect him.
I very much enjoyed this book because it provided life lessons that aren’t always thought of, and also some of the most important ones. It also provided a lot of information on baseball that is not widely known, but it also provides an unrealistic part in Jalen being able to read pitches, which really spices the story up. I enjoyed how each of the friends makes up for what the other one doesn’t have. For example, Jalen is easy to work with and will settle, but Cat is relentless and always needs to get the most out of a deal. Daniel has the humor and rage that Jalen lacks. Daniel always wanted to square off with some of the other teammates, while Jalen took a more relaxed route and calmed Daniel. This makes it so they can work together way better than with just one person, and is probably one of the only reasons they were able to pull off what they did in the story.
He is very clear, and things happen very fast in his book, which makes it easy and fun to read. He uses figurative language a lot to describe emotions and actions that happen on the baseball field.
Any reader can read this book, but specifically someone interested in sports fiction. People should read this book because it is very easy and fun to read, along with important life lessons that people can learn from.
Jalen is the main character who has the ability to read what pitch is coming from any pitcher, size, shape, or form. Cat is Jalen’s “agent” who keeps him in line and manages his deals. Daniel, his best friend, is a very talented left fielder who never gave up on Jalen, no matter what happened. JY is a professional baseball player who guides Jalen and helps him out with his off-field affairs. Jalen is tasked with dealing with JY and focusing on his own baseball career. But with the help of others and trust, he and his friends accomplish their goal. He faces these challenges in places like his dad's restaurant, on the baseball field, and at professional baseball stadiums. The story is set in the present time with all the modern-day supplies. Jalen’s main reason in this book is to make a name for himself, since he feels the more he gets out there, the more people will respect him.
I very much enjoyed this book because it provided life lessons that aren’t always thought of, and also some of the most important ones. It also provided a lot of information on baseball that is not widely known, but it also provides an unrealistic part in Jalen being able to read pitches, which really spices the story up. I enjoyed how each of the friends makes up for what the other one doesn’t have. For example, Jalen is easy to work with and will settle, but Cat is relentless and always needs to get the most out of a deal. Daniel has the humor and rage that Jalen lacks. Daniel always wanted to square off with some of the other teammates, while Jalen took a more relaxed route and calmed Daniel. This makes it so they can work together way better than with just one person, and is probably one of the only reasons they were able to pull off what they did in the story.
He is very clear, and things happen very fast in his book, which makes it easy and fun to read. He uses figurative language a lot to describe emotions and actions that happen on the baseball field.
Any reader can read this book, but specifically someone interested in sports fiction. People should read this book because it is very easy and fun to read, along with important life lessons that people can learn from.
October 26, 2022
The book that I read for quarter one was Baseball genius 2 by Tim Green. The lexile level of the the book is 750L. Jalen Duluca and his dad are big fans of the yankees and especially James yager. James Yager found out that Jalen had a weird talent on being able to predict the next pitch a pitcher is about to throw. So they made a deal that he would tweet about Jalen's dads silver liner and 5000 dollars to help him save his career. But Jalen wanted to get on a new baseball team with his friend Daniel because the people on his other team were jerks. So jy paid for that also, jy’s tweets worked so well that they were able to get new iphones and they were booked full for the next three weeks. Jalens help is also helping jy a lot but they are giving a new guy a chance so he does not play but jalen and jy play at the same time and Jalen is in the championship. Jalen decides to go to jy’s game and maybe get back for the final few innings. He helps jy get the w and gets back and wins the game by hitting a homerun vs his old team. After the game his mom came and surprised him and he has never met his mom before.
This book over time gets better and better but at first ti starts out with him playing baseball. The book keep gradually having him get better and helping Jy get better his dads business also burns down but gets rebuilds by jy and gets way better. He eventually gets on different team and makes that team win vs his old team after the game his mom met him for the first time and she is moving to the us.
The book is a very easy book to read and a very fun book to read. It is also a very good ending because it is a series so you can just read the next book. It is also a great book because if you like sports it is almost all sports.But this book just makes you keep reading. So that is why I think you should read this book
This book over time gets better and better but at first ti starts out with him playing baseball. The book keep gradually having him get better and helping Jy get better his dads business also burns down but gets rebuilds by jy and gets way better. He eventually gets on different team and makes that team win vs his old team after the game his mom met him for the first time and she is moving to the us.
The book is a very easy book to read and a very fun book to read. It is also a very good ending because it is a series so you can just read the next book. It is also a great book because if you like sports it is almost all sports.But this book just makes you keep reading. So that is why I think you should read this book
April 25, 2018
Double Play (Baseball Genius, #2) by Tim Green and Derek Jeter is a really good book. It's about a youth baseball player named Jaden who helps JY, a professional baseball player, to save his career. Jaden is really smart and helps JY by signaling him with information about the types of pitches that are going to be thrown. Jaden is also trying to play baseball and is trying to find his mom. JY helps Jaden by paying for a detective to help in the search for Jaden's mom, and he also helps Jaden's dad make his restaurant a success by tweeting about it and promoting it. So, they help each other. This is a good story because it really can make you envision the characters and the story itself with all of the action that's happening. One thing about the writing is it's sometimes exciting because there is suspense building up during the sports scenes. I think the title is interesting because it's really something that happens in baseball but it has two additional meanings here - the first is since the two characters work to help each other and the second is that it's the second book in the series.
I like this story because it's about a star athlete who loves baseball and the Yankees - and of course I also love baseball. This is a really good book and I recommend this book to 4-8th graders.
I like this story because it's about a star athlete who loves baseball and the Yankees - and of course I also love baseball. This is a really good book and I recommend this book to 4-8th graders.
April 30, 2018
It all comes down to this: should baseball genius, Jalen, help aging Yankees superstar James Yager get back in the groove, or does he play with his new traveling baseball team to defeat his bullying rivals? Because of course, the championship game will be played at the same time JY needs his assistance at Fenway Park.
Revisiting the same cast of characters that we met in Baseball Genius, Book #1, Jalen struggles with morals and ethics, doing what's right, keeping promises, all the while trying to advance his own baseball career. At a mere 12 years-old, these struggles are compounded by an emerging maturity.
A big surprise is awaiting the reader at the end of the story, ensuring that there will be Book #3.
Revisiting the same cast of characters that we met in Baseball Genius, Book #1, Jalen struggles with morals and ethics, doing what's right, keeping promises, all the while trying to advance his own baseball career. At a mere 12 years-old, these struggles are compounded by an emerging maturity.
A big surprise is awaiting the reader at the end of the story, ensuring that there will be Book #3.
May 16, 2019
Jalen the calamari kid gets in trouble by the big cop for helping JY hit a home run, or at least a double. Jalen can read the pitches, and tell JY what kind of pitch is going to be coming in. It is a really cool talent, but if Jalen wants to become a pro baseball player when he grows up, then he needs to be with his team practicing. If he keeps just sitting there reading the pitches for JY then ya, it makes JY look good, but won't help Jalen become a pro player himself. Jalen can’t get any better being benched either, so what will happen if the other team’s coach sees him sitting on the bench most of the game, gets out for one inning, and hits a homerun on their best pitcher, when no one else on his team could even hit, or foul tip it. Read the book to find out what happens when the other teams coach sees what happened.
April 30, 2025
I don’t know…these remain solid, in my opinion, for what they are. I listened to the audio of this sequel because I only owned the first book and it made me love Jalen’s dad even more. Great narration. Ugh he’s so sweet and the sandwiches… oh man did the SANDWICH scene get me. I was also proud of Jalen for some of the decisions he made in this book. I thought for sure the series was going to go one way and I was pleasantly surprised. As far as the plot, it’s still wildly far-fetched and the adult characters are all a little insanely unbelievable; but still a good time. I’m VERY curious to see where the authors take the morality of this “genius” approach in the final book because it’s such a gray area and still not *truly* been addressed. Anyway, my third grade ball player will absolutely adore these.
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November 13, 2025I really liked this book it picked off right where it left off with book one. I really like how Jaylen and JY have become really good friends not just because of Jaylen's baseball genius, but just because they have bonded a lot. THe book starts out with him going to the Yankees GM, Foxx. He is a real jerk and wants to trade JY. They have to stop the genius because Foxx is getting suspicious. Then him and Danial quit and go to another travel team the bandits. Two questions will be answered. Can Jaylen play baseball and be a baseball genius and will Jaylen find his mom? Find out by reading right now!
February 17, 2018
I won this book in a good reads giveaway. This book fit the bill as a book with a sport in it for the 2018 Popsugar Reading Challenge. This booķ is intended for a younger audience. The story and writing would be appreciated by its target market.
November 12, 2018
It was very exciting and awesome. I would definitely recommend this book to my friends.
November 19, 2018
Really good 2 book of the series.
January 17, 2019
Love this book. A real page turner. Really good plot and really makes you get inside the book and root for Jalen.
March 15, 2019
very good follow up for the last book
March 19, 2019
Very amazing
August 14, 2019
This is a must read! It was great to read but you need to read the first book first.
September 9, 2019
I'm still looking for the next book
July 29, 2020
Amazing!!!!!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2021
AMAZING I hope there is a third book i'm hooked!!
May 20, 2023
My 13 yr old and I listened to the audio. This was a good, solid story. It does end on a bit of a cliff hanger, though, so be ready with the next!
March 26, 2025
A good baseball book. Some kids and their parents sure can be bullies.
December 17, 2018
In the book "Double Play" written by Tim Green the book was very interesting, fun, and intense. If you love sports you are going to love this book. There is a boy named Jalen Deluca and he has a special talent of knowing pitches before they come. J.Y. finds Jalen and needs him to help him get out of his slump. Jalen also has some problems with his baseball team. Will he help J.Y. and save his baseball career. Read more to find out. I rated this book 4 stars because it talked about a lot of the same things that I like.
June 6, 2018
Do you like the sound of the crack of a bat? The book The Baseball Genius Double Play by Tim Green and Derek Jeter is the book for you. In this story there are many good hits and a lot of action between the main character, Jaden, and the Yankees star, JY. The setting was one very cool place, Boston, MA. The dramatic setting involved the Green Monster (Fenway Park’s green wall in left field) and the always exciting, Yankees versus Red Sox. It was exciting to see the author include the greatest rivalry in sports in the book. There are all kinds of nice baseball fields out there and to pick Boston’s Fenway Park, the oldest baseball field still in existence, is awesome. The conflict was an epic battle because of the switching between the restaurant business and baseball business. Jaden’s dad owns a diner that is barely keeping the lights on. Jaden’s love of baseball helps keep his family going. It keeps you interested in the plot of the story. I loved reading about the main character, Jaden jumping back and forth between baseball and his “normal” life. I loved this book because it was written about the sport that I love and there was a good conflict involved. I would recommend this book to people who love sports. They will enjoy the twists and turns in this fun book. This book is one of the best books that I have ever read!
March 3, 2021
This book is a good book for baseball fans. The main character Jalen is on a mission to find his mom but doesn't have enough money. He helps a player on the New York Yankees keep his career alive which then helps him find his mom. While helping him he plays baseball and gets into a fight with his old team then switches teams and beats his old team in the championship game.
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August 27, 2018wow jr
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews