Prospect

Like W. P. Kinsella's SHOELESS JOE and Michael Shaara's FOR THE LOVE OF A GAME, PROSPECT is a "gentle, big-hearted" (Kirkus Reviews) novel steeped in the lore and mythology of baseball. At its center stands Pete Estey, a lifelong baseball scout who finds himself divorced, retired, and prematurely consigned to a retirement home, where his only diversions are the nightly ballgame on the radio, his memories, and his droll observations of his fellow pensioners. When an attendant at the home presents him with one last prospect for the major leagues, though, Pete discovers it to be the most important of his career. "Perceptive and engaging" (Los Angeles Times), PROSPECT tells the story of an unlikely kinship and an even more unlikely success and explores the boundless possibilities for rebirth both on and off the field.

William (Bill) Littlefield is the author of a novel and several books of sports essays, including Champions: the Stories of Ten Remarkable Athelets and Keepers: Radio Stories from "Only a Game" and Elsewhere and is the host of National Public Radio's Only a Game. He lives in Needham, Massachusetts, with his family.