Chasing Moonlight

It's such a pleasure to come across someone who knows how to write, is already adept in the field, and goes beyond the tour of duty so to speak to do some incredible research, and of course add the human touch. I couldn't put it down, and it came across better than the Field of Dreams movie, itself. What a treat! CJ

I heartily recommend this book. It's short -- I picked it up and finished it in less than four hours. But it's a great little story about a guy nobody had heard of 30 years ago and just about every baseball fan is aware of today: Dr. Archibald "Moonlight" Graham. As is usually the case, truth is stranger than fiction -- and often, even more compelling -- and it was fascinating to learn about the complex man behind the Doc Graham legend. Did you know that his pioneering research on children's blood pressure is still cited in medical journals and textbooks, and earned him international acclaim among his peers in that field? Did you know he played baseball locally around northern Minnesota until he was almost 50 years old? What a fun read.

As a baseball fan for more than seven decades I found Chasing Moonlight a reminder that people remain the same while times change. Reading this well researched, well rounded tale of A.W.Graham satisfies the need for fact to be more interesting than fiction. Although and inkling of the real Doc Graham can be found in Kinsella's, Shoeless Joe and the film, Field of Dreams which flowed from it, there was something missing from those stories. There had to be more to the Man as well as more fact than fiction. Indeed there was. And it all comes forth in this wonderful "bio" about an ordinary man. although well educated, who becomes a hero through his humility and perserverence. Doc Graham was a journeyman on the baseball diamond, save for a single inning as a New York Giant in 1905 and a single career year for the Scranton Miners. He was apparently a capable doctor, exhibiting the same pluck as he did as a ball player and succeeding in a small minimg town in Minnesota. But more than that, he was a man of honor, ethics and integrety throughout his life And it was those characteristics that caused him to rise above the tide of normal humanity and earn the love and respect of all he touched. If you like baseball, OK..If you like doctors, OK...but if you want to meet a person who has all the attributes that make him special, a hero, read Chasing Moonlight and you will catch a star instead. [email protected]

Until I saw the film, "Field of Dreams", I had never even heard of Doc Graham; but of course, after crying like a baby by the end of the flick, I was certainly intrigued by his story. Now, over twenty years later, authors Friedlander & Reising have put together this wonderful biography, which had me once again a bit teary eyed, but definitely glad to have gotten the full, inspirational story. Here was a guy who really had a chance at playing major league baseball; he'd put together a successful nine year stint in the minor leagues, batting as high as .335; but medicine was his primary focus. The whole baseball thing was nice, but he knew that aiding people in need of medical attention was more important; so he quit the game, with no regrets. The only regret would've been if the good doctor delayed his decision to pursue a life of medical service to his community. He made a good career move, and the reader will no doubt agree.

Chasing Moonlight: The True Story of Field of Dreams' Doc Graham is the biography of the American baseball legend and doctor Archibald W. "Moonlight" Graham, the real-life inspiration for the novel "Shoeless Joe" and its movie adaptation "Field of Dreams". Unlike his portrayal in the movie, the real-life Moonlight Graham had a remarkable career in professional baseball, all the while pursuing medical residencies. Just as in the movie though, Graham eventually quit baseball to pursue medicine. In the course of his life and career, he treated patients of epidemics, wrote a study on blood pressure that became required reading worldwide at medical schools, and served a remote community. A well-rounded portrayal of a truly remarkable man of both sports and medicine, Chasing Moonlight is highly recommended.