Book ~ "Calico Joe" (2012) John Grisham

From Goodreads ~ It’s the summer of 1973 and Joe Castle is the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone has ever seen. The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas, dazzles Chicago Cubs fans as he hits home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shatters all rookie records. Calico Joe quickly becomes the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing New York Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faces Calico Joe, Paul is in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his dad. Then Warren throws a fastball that will change their lives forever.

Warren Tracey was a pitcher for the Mets and wasn't a nice guy.  He was an old school player who believed that it was okay to hit players with a beanball when needed.  He was a drunk and womanizer who beat his wife and kids.  After he and his wife finally split up, his kids saw him occasionally over the years and could care less. Thirty years and four wives later, Warren is dying of cancer.  His son, Paul, wants him to make amends before he dies for what happened to the promising ball player, Calico Joe Castle.

I like John Grisham books and I liked this one ... it was a different kind of book for him to write.  The story is written with alternating chapters in the past and today so we learn what happened about thirty years ago and how it impacts today.

Though I like baseball, I found there was a lot of details of games and stats that I skipped over so I could get back to the actual story.