Baseball, Blue Jeans, Struggling Moms, and Imaginary Friends

Baseball, Blue Jeans, Struggling Moms, and Imaginary Friends is an underdog story about young Peter Marshall wanting to play baseball. He is faced with all kinds of hurdles, including no one to help at home as his mom, Vicki, struggles with the personal and financial difficulties of widowhood, working several jobs to provide for her children and save their house from foreclosure, all the while trying desperately to get a foot on the professional ladder. It's Peter alone to face the challenges, overcome the conniving plots of a villain, and somehow get selected and play like a hero on a baseball team.

Baseball, Blue Jeans, Struggling Moms, and Imaginary Friends is a story of the underdog struggles of Peter Marshall and his mom, Vicki. The story involves inspirational healing, unusual relationships between Peter and his imaginary friends," and hilarious interactions on and off the ball field. Young Peter Marshall would sit for hours in a majestic oak tree outside right field and dream of getting hits and running bases as the hero. He faced insurmountable hurdles, though. He was passed over by the coaches, unwelcomed by teammates, the butt of opponent jokes, target of a powerful villain, and no one to help. His mom couldn't help him as she struggled with widowhood, providing for her children, and saving the family home while trying to get her foot on the professional ladder. It's Peter alone, except for imaginary friends. The setting is in Tallahassee, Florida, in the middle of the historical area where Hernando de Soto and his men camped over winter in 1539 and celebrated the first Christmas in what would become the United States. The area has a rich history of the Apalachee Indians, Spanish and French occupation, slavery, and the Civil War. The landscape is hilly, with many streams, lakes and majestic Live Oak trees with Spanish moss hanging nostalgically from each limb. Lots of birds and wild animals live in the surrounding woods. The Florida State Capitol is six blocks away, and the area is steeped in government history. The ball field sits close to the site of the mansion and stables of William Duval, who was appointed by President James Monroe to be the first Territorial Governor of Florida.

Clifton Savoy's sons played youth league baseball. He was baseball ignorant, but an enthusiastic parent. After a crash course on the rules, he became statistician for a son's team, and then for the league all-star team. He selected for the coach a player off the bench as he said, "He's due for a big hit." The player then hit a three-run homer to propel the team to win the district championship and go to the State Tournament. In a seven year period, Clifton drug water hoses around to keep the field grass alive, flipped hamburgers, closed the concession stand late at night when only wildlife was around, was league president for five years and organized it into a chartered non-profit entity, raised funds, recruited coaches, coached two years, announced games, kept league statistics, and prepared a league newsletter. He observed how some youngsters had an abundance of parental support, while the parents of other youngsters seldom or never appeared because of family socio-economic struggles. Sadly, some parents had an attitude of total disinterest. After announcing the result of over sixteen thousand pitches in one season and observing some unusual and funny plays, Clifton knew this story about players interacting together on the field and player-parental struggles off the field needed to be written. Clifton F. Savoy, www.CliftonSavoy.com, 519 Oakland Avenue, Tallahassee, FL 32301.