Jimmy Roberts is the best hitter in this little mill town, and maybe in the whole Textile Baseball League. He’s got major league potential, and then some. But to get there, he’ll need a miracle.
Pub month: May 2019 / Commercial Fiction /$12.99 U.S.; $6.99 E-book / Canada: 17.99 / ISBN No: 978-1-7329139-1-2
Now available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at a local bookstore near you.
“If you love baseball, you’ll love this book!” — Peter Golenbock
1951. Greenville, South Carolina.
Jimmy Roberts is the best hitter in this little mill town, and maybe in the whole Textile Baseball League.He’s got major league potential, and then some.But to get there, he’ll need a miracle. Or maybe the help of a local liquor store owner … who just happens to go by the name of Shoeless Joe.
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“The Last At-Bat of Shoeless Joe brilliantly bakes wish fulfillment into a period piece. A gripping story that is both illuminating and emotional, it’ll hook you early and won’t let go. Great for baseball fans, and even true-crime enthusiasts, of all ages.”
— Ken Davidoff, baseball columnist for The New York Post
“Shoeless Joe Jackson was caught up in the scandal surrounding the 1919 World Series and was subsequently banned from the game. … Jackson’s guilt or innocence isn’t the focus of this intriguing novel, which concerns the embittered man who left baseball behind him after the scandal and eventually opened a liquor store in his hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. In 1951, Jackson is approached by a young man who wants to escape Greenville and its mills via baseball, just as Jackson did. Maybe with some coaching from Shoeless Joe? Ever the curmudgeon, Jackson chases the boy away, but a seed takes root. Meanwhile, the owner of the local mill decides that if his team can win the mill-league pennant, the Yankees may grant him a minor-league franchise. Shoeless Joe becomes involved in the team, determined to redeem himself, if only in some small way. Burgess has a genuine affinity for small-town southern life and portrays Jackson as a complex man who stunted himself emotionally in the aftermath of his banishment.”
— Booklist
“Granville Wyche Burgess is such an amazing talent.”
— Patzi Gil, nationally syndicated radio host, Joy on Paper
“In Granville Wyche Burgess’ new novel, Shoeless Joe Jackson of Black Sox fame comes alive in a most ingenious way. He becomes involved in a struggle between good and evil, and in the end you root for him to become the hero he might have become had dark forces not ended his baseball career. If you love baseball, you’ll love this book. If you love books with satisfying endings, you’ll give Joe (and Granville) a standing ovation.”
— Peter Golenbock, New York Times bestselling author of Dynasty, The Bronx Zoo (with Sparkly Lyle), Number 1 (with Billy Martin) and Idiot (with Johnny Damon)
“Joseph Jefferson ‘Shoeless Joe’ Jackson passed away in December 1951, three decades after he was laid low by the Black Sox scandal. But the mystique of Shoeless Joe has never left us…. [H]e is now the subject of a remarkable new novel by Granville Wyche Burgess. With a grand slam plot wrapped in lyrical and whimsical prose, Burgess gives us the grit and glory of old time baseball, poignantly reviving the spirit of a fallen hero.”
— Raymond Arsenault, author of Freedom Riders, The Sound of Freedom, and Arthur Ashe, A Life