Hardball: A Novel About America's Two Favorite Pastimes

Tommy Bruno, the aging star center fielder for the Seaside Top Socks, returns for spring training smarting from an ugly divorce and furious to discover he has been paired as a roommate with the hot-dog rookie Tim Weare. It isn’t long, however, before Bruno discovers the advantages of rooming with a man in his sexual prime.Soon the rest of the Top Socks get in on the action, including manager Mitch Hudson, star pitcher Roger “Thunderbird” Twain, hirsute catcher Damon “The Werewolf” Thorne, Latin sensation Hector Valenza, and the team’s 18-year-old Italian batboy, Ricky Catalano.The season is full of surprises, both on and off the field, but in the end the Top Socks’ teamwork stands them in good stead, pushing them into the play-offs and a World Series showdown against their arch rivals, the Philadelphia Pilots — whose hated star pitcher has been sleeping with Bruno’s ex-wife.