Here’s the scene: Rich Donnelly, born and raised in Steubenville, Ohio, across the Ohio River from West Virginia, is a third base coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates, more absorbed with the game than his family until he learns that is eighteen-year-old daughter, Amy, is dying of cancer. Near the end of her life after watching one of his games, Amy, teases her father, “Hey dad,” she says, “when you get down in that stance and you cup your hands, what are you telling those guys on second – ‘the chicken runs at midnight’ or what?” It was just playful nonsense, but it became a fun family response when nonsense was appropriate and even morphed into a saying for the Pirate team that made Amy’s prophesy come true, after her death, when they won the World Series in 1993. “This may be the most beautifully told, inspiring account of finding God in a baseball setting ever recorded. - Spitball Magazine. The author, Tom Friend, has written for ESPN and leading American newspapers. The TV version of this book which Friend wrote for ESPN was nominated for a 2016 Sports Emmy. A native of Washington, D.C., Friend lives in Southern California.
Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2018. 288 pages. Hardback in dust jacket with color photos.