The Baseball

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At age seventy-four, Dr. Landon Myers is a retired pediatric oncologist with plenty of spare time to spend with his grandchildren. He is also a big-time Cincinnati Reds fan. But he is caught off-guard when his thirteen-year-old granddaughter finds an old baseball with a faded autograph while cleaning the cellar. This particular baseball has a difficult story attached to it about his first-born son, Alex. Who is Alex?

When Landon finally decides to share with the younger Myers generation the story of the baseball, he unravels a tale of his life 40 years before he married his current wife, Cindy. Landon had been married once before to a woman named Marilyn, and they had a son named Alex. As the most renowned pediatric oncologist in the country, Landon’s hectic schedule meant not being there for Alex growing up. It also cost him his first marriage to Marilyn, ending in a bitter divorce. They shared custody of sixteen-year-old Alex, who was the true baseball fan.

After the divorce, Landon only sees Alex on weekends, but he is making up for lost time. He buys Reds season tickets and takes Alex to a game every chance he can. Landon is making the most of his opportunity to start fresh and build a relationship with his son, who is teaching him all about the game of baseball. Alex even catches a foul ball at one game from his favorite Major League player and gets it autographed. Then, fate deals Landon a cruel blow.

After Alex has a seizure, Landon takes him to his hospital to run tests. His colleagues begin to suspect brain cancer. Landon may be the best pediatric oncologist, but can he save his son? And the bad news keeps coming. Marilyn is petitioning the courts to limit Landon’s custodial visits. His son may be dying and Landon may have to spend less time with Alex than before.

The Baseball is a brief novel by James Flerlage about family and the quality time we choose to spend with them. The irony of Landon’s fate—an oncologist whose son develops cancer—could have turned the story into one of bitterness and regret. Instead, it is an opportunity to revisit a time in a man’s life when he must choose his family or his work. The author delivers the heart-wrenching plot in simple and crisp prose and without judgment, and gives readers the opportunity to re-examine their own priorities in life.


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Author
Star Count 4/5
Format eBook
Page Count 142 pages
Publisher DreamScapes Publishing Ltd.
Publish Date 20-Nov-2019
ISBN
Bookshop.org Buy this Book
Issue October 2019
Category Historical Fiction
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