The Batboy

Brian Dudley has every baseball kid's summer dream job: he is batboy for his hometown's major league team, the Detroit Tigers. Even more exciting, his hero, Hank Bishop, is returning to the sport after a 50-game suspension to play for the Tigers. This could be the year Bishop hits his 500th home run --- the elusive goal for all hitters that almost guarantees a place in the Baseball Hall of Fame --- and Brian will be on the field to see it. But Bishop seems to dislike Brian from the very start. Will Bishop be able to make a comeback after the steroids scandal that nearly ended his career? THE BATBOY deals with one of the most difficult subjects to hit major league baseball in recent years: whether it is possible to redeem a player both suspected of and suspended for steroid use. What connects a contemporary hitter like Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez to Hank Aaron, one of baseball's all-time home run champions? The statistic --- or, as author Mike Lupica puts it, "the numbers that not only held the sport together, but connected one season to another, one era to another." Many fans feel that the recent drug scandals have forever marred those statistics, making for comparisons that measure not the players' talent but the substances they used to assist it. Lupica slyly slips in trivia about the use of tobacco and amphetamines in the past; one of Brian's duties as batboy is to make highly caffeinated coffee, which many of the players use to give themselves focus and speed on the field. But Lupica's question here goes far beyond the ethics of performance-enhancing drugs. In a recent interview about the book on "Good Morning America," he said, "It takes no talent to get knocked down, it's how you get back up that's a measure of your character, your spirit and your heart." Brian is a competent baseball player --- he plays on his league's summer all-star team --- but he isn't a major league talent. His true mark of character is his passion for baseball, his willingness to work hard, and his unwavering belief in Hank Bishop, even when Bishop is mean or in a long hitting slump. Brian has troubles of his own, including a father who previously pitched in the majors but could never seem to love his family as much as he did baseball. Brian's loyalty to the game is in part an attempt to remain connected with his father, who blazes through town as a talent scout, but doesn't take the time to stay or watch him play. Brian describes his father as someone who "still seemed to think that a high-five was the same as a hug, no matter how long it had been since you'd seen your son." He is desperately in need of a hero, and though he doesn't know it yet, Bishop is desperately in need of someone who still thinks he can be one. With its insider lingo and the ultimate dream of every young fan --- getting to work alongside one's favorite team --- THE BATBOY is sure to appeal to any reader who loves baseball. Lupica describes all the scuttle work batboys are supposed to do

The Batboy by Mike Lupica was written in 2010 about a 14 year old boy who is the son of a former major league baseball player. The main character is also the bat boy for the Detroit Tigers. This is a youth book which is geared toward 10 years of age and up. I am a grandpa myself and loved this book and will save it for my own grandsons who will undoubtedly enjoy reading this and others written by Lupica in just a couple of years. The bat boy deals with the problems of idolizing his father as well as other star athletes, but understands that these idols can be entirely different when they are not at the center of attention while in their own element. Throughout the story, Brian, learns about current problems in professional sports such as steroids, role models or not, as well as the love of the game of baseball. He too is a baseball player on his town team while also holding down a full time job as batboy of the Tigers. He juggles both responsibilities to the best of his abilities, keeps his grades up in school, responds to his single mother like he knows he should, and hopes for a happy ending to this years' baseball season. Will the aging star of the Tigers get his 500th homerun of the season? Will his town team make it into the State Championship Series? You've got to read this book to find the answers!