The Unknown Baseball Player [Kindle Edition]

Marvin P. Ferguson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 29, 2011

Marvin P. Ferguson's novel The Unknown Baseball Player tells of an underprivileged farm boy, named Orville, who grows up through some challenging times. He loves the game of baseball and ends up playing ball for a national team named the Redlegs.
The Unknown Baseball Player is a coming-of-age story for youth and adults alike. Baseball may be the canvass on which this story is painted, but various life-themes resonate in living color, such as learning to thrive despite trials. Orville works hard on the farm, since his father died when he was young. He's often picked-on by other kids as well as physically and emotionally abused by "Unck," the patriarch of the family.
Orville's new position on the pro baseball team gives him a fresh focus in life, if he can handle the trash talk by the coach and other players. Will he ever be good enough to succeed at baseball—good enough to succeed at life?

Editorial Reviews

Review

The writing is successful in helping readers feel compassionately toward baseball and Orville's life. It's an interesting story. The Unknown Baseball Player is a journey through overcoming life's obstacles. In the end, sometimes even the losers can surprise the most skeptical, and hit a happy ending. --ForeWard Clarion Review

About the Author

A diehard baseball fan and former youth baseball coach along with personal experience, Marvin P. Ferguson is the author of "Boys on the Gold Coast," a story about a group of boys who are the composite of every kid who wasn't afraid to get dirty, or play with splintered bats and tattered baseballs and use his imagination.

Product Details

• File Size: 483 KB
• Print Length: 283 pages
• Publisher: Parker Publishing; First edition (April 29, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• Language: English
• ASIN: B004YR1C5C
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #436,751 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

It was a busy city in the 1940s. A popular slogan was, "if you can't get a job in Chicago, you can't get a job anywhere." Many people came from all over the country seeking work. This is the city where Marvin Ferguson was born and raised.

His father died when he was two years old. His immigrant mother toiled all her life as a self-employed seamstress to care for Marvin and his twin sister.

Marvin's entire life has been a learning experience. When he was six years old a car hit him. After two weeks in a coma, a two-month hospital stay, this once gifted student struggled through the rest of his school years.

He didn't enjoy most of the pleasures his friends did while in high school. He often worked thirty hours a week doing odd jobs so there wasn't much time for socializing.

Following high school graduation his introduction into the real world was a janitor's job, covering for an uncle who had a heart attack. Filling coal bends, burning garbage, cleaning halls, and more, he learned about life the hard way. Through trial and error he eventually received a B.A. Degree in Business Administration from North Park University in Chicago, Illinois.

The boy who grew up on the Gold Coast, a nickname for a Chicago neighborhood, is a die-hard Cub fan. Other favorite teams are the St. Louis Cardinals, Milwaukee Brewers, and Detroit Tigers.

When time permitted, he gathered with friends on a corner lot to play baseball. In blue jeans, sport shirts, and gym shoes, smacking a tattered baseball around with a splintered bat was fun.

Later, through reruns of The Waltons, John Boy inspired Marvin to become a writer. He has written three books with a fourth in the making.