Extra Innings

by Fred Bowen

Overview

A baseball book full of on the field action perfect for middle grade readers.

"Strike one is the best pitch in baseball." Mike loves pitching, and he loves knowing his team counts on him to deliver wins. But Mike's father starts to worry that Mike is getting too carried away with baseball and not spending time working at after school jobs and developing a sense of responsibility. Can Mike and his father reach a compromise in order to let Mike play the game he loves and help his team win the league championship?

Read “The Real Story” of Harvey Haddix, who pitched a perfect game against the Atlanta Braves in 1959 and LOST. Baseball fans will love this extra dive into sports history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781682637845
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/18/2025
Series:	Fred Bowen Sports Story Series
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 7.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	7 - 11 Years

About the Author

Fred Bowen was a Little Leaguer who loved to read and is still a lifelong sports fanatic. He is the author of the action-packed Fred Bowen Sports Story series, currently totaling more than twenty titles. For thirteen years, Bowen coached kids’ baseball and basketball teams. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in the Washington Post since 2000. He was a lawyer for many years before retiring to become a full-time children’s book author. Bowen lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife Peggy Jackson. They have two grown children.

Editorial Reviews

"Will tide over youngsters longing for the start of the sport’s spring season."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2023-11-18
Fourteen-year-old Mike McGinn is a promising pitcher for his baseball team, the Rays, but his father sees baseball as a frivolous hobby.

Mike’s dad thinks he should be working this summer, so the teen takes a job caddying at the local country club while continuing to hone his pitching skills. But sometimes hard work and solid pitching aren’t enough, as Mike finds when his team makes it to the final game of the end-of-season tournament. The game goes into extra innings, and though Mike’s pitching is top-notch, the results aren’t quite what the Rays had expected. Still, Mike learns important lessons along the way. Bowen balances action both on and off the field as Mike and his father slowly come to understand each other a little better. Baseball fans will especially appreciate the baseball terminology and slang and the descriptions of the Rays’ various games and Mike’s pitching. They’ll also enjoy learning that this story is based in part on a historical baseball game—in 1959, Pittsburg Pirates pitcher Harvey Haddix threw 12 perfect innings against the Atlanta Braves, only to lose in the 13th. The Rays' summer schedule, game line-ups, league standings, pitching schedule, a scoreboard, and team statistics provide an immersive reading experience. Physical descriptions are minimal, though character names imply diversity in Mike’s community.

Will tide over youngsters longing for the start of the sport’s spring season. (more information on Harvey Haddix) (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews