Pitching to Giraffes

John Light, desperate to escape his introverted ways and more fully experience life, reluctantly goes out for his college baseball team in 1969. An unintended change in mechanics soon makes him his team's best pitcher. Major League scouts are coming around. But at the same time, an awakening appreciation and involvement with the cultural and political landscape weakens his engagement with baseball, and he is distracted by a need to legitimize his moral commitment by actively participating in the counterculture's quest to demand a better world. His team needs his help. They are chasing a championship over their arrogant rivals, but lingering past mistakes and hijinks threaten to undermine their goal. Their coach is organized and well-meaning but seems a fish out of water trying to corral their antics. A student activist with militant connections offers John the action he desperately seeks to legitimize his commitment, but at a cost. John grapples with the complications of losing oneself in a just cause. As the season counts down to its climactic final game, John, his girl friend, and several friends and teammates confront decisions that dig deep into who they are and who they want to be. This warm-hearted novel expands beyond baseball to explore how we determine the right thing to do and why we should do it. "Pitching to Giraffes is a compelling novel with fascinating social and political commentary...I enjoyed the perfectly rendered first-person voice, the beautiful prose, and the complex setting." --Readers' Favorite 5 stars "Puszykowski is an adept writer, particularly about baseball." --"Kirkus Review" "Tom's writing was so straightforward and descriptive that I never got lost in all the jargon like I usually would, and was able to form a crystal clear picture of the scene and events. Pitching to Giraffes by Tom Puszykowski is an engaging and pensive novel about more than just baseball and the politics and lifestyle of college during the Seventies. It's so much more than that."--second Readers' Favorite 5 star review

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