Curve Ball

by Jim Sargent

Curve Ball is a novel about Tom Perry and baseball in the 1950s. Tom grew up in the family of Ken and Clara Perry in Brook Creek, Michigan, located a few miles south of Charlevoix. An exceptional ballplayer in high school and college, Tom signed with the Milwaukee Braves after graduating from Michigan State in June 1955. Working his way up the minors, he reached the Braves in August 1957. The sizzling bats of Perry and "Hurricane" Bob Hazle sparked Milwaukee's pennant drive. Led by stars like Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Lew Burdette, and Warren Spahn, the Braves won the World Series over the Yankees. After his hot start in 1957, Perry is traded to the Cubs in 1958. Partly due to a knee injury, Tom learns playing major league baseball is not always great and glorious. Overcoming injuries and his divorce in 1958, Tom must choose between the game he loves and a career in high school teaching and coaching. Nearly fifty years later, in 1997, his daughter and school officials hold a "Tom Perry Day." A talented, versatile, and modest athlete who was respected and loved in northwestern Michigan, the Brook Creek hero discovers the game always meant more to his family, especially his father "Big Ken" Perry, and his friends than he ever realized.

261 pages, Paperback

Published December 1, 2016

About the author

I love writing mystery novels. My educational odyssey began with the BS at Eastern Michigan, Class of '64. Next I earned the MA and PhD in US History on campus at Michigan State from 1967-70. I feel fortunate to have enjoyed a 40-year career as a history professor. My first Young Adult novel: Teen Spies: Wartime Charlottesville Sleuths (Doce Blant, 2024), co-authored by Audrey Deichmann, our granddaughter. My most recent Mickey Mathews mysteries are Brotherly Love (Doce Blant Publishing, 2023), California Redwoods (DBP, 2022), The Frightened Physicists (DBP, 2021), and Warm Springs Mystery (DBP, 2020). My two most popular nonfiction books are The Tigers and Yankees in '61 (McFarland, 2016), and We Were the All-American Girls (McFarland, 2013). My last seven books were all mysteries, starting with Final Secret (Wynwidyn, 2017), the first of my Mickey Mathews Mysteries. Forthcoming in 2026 is Teen Targets, the sequel to Teen Spies.

Reviews

[Gary G · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sargent proves that he is as adept at writing fiction as he has already shown with his skill in writing several sports related non-fiction books. Although the main character plays with the Milwaukee Braves, certainly no sports fan from Michigan will want to miss reading about the locations and characters from their state and its irresistible draw as the place for Tom Perry to return to teach, coach, and raise his family. For the rest of you, it is a fun read with some important lessons.

[Larry Michie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not unlike Yogi Berra, Jim Sargent came to a fork in the road, and he took it. The Michigan native traveled from writing carefully-researched non-fiction books about baseball, like the The Tigers and Yankees in '61 (McFarland, 2016), to an equally well-researched novel, Curve Ball (Wynwidyn, 2016). Jim brings the reader a vivid picture of America in the 1950s through the eyes and memories of a now-aged baseball player, Tom Perry, and his days with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and the Chicago Cubs in 1958. Perry's story is not just about sports, but the most famous native of fictional Brook Creek, Michigan, lived during an era when honor and respect had meanings which have long since faded. Sargent's many factual references to people, places, and events will bring back wistful memories to people who came of age in the 1940s and 1950s. Jim's first novel will also serve as a primer to the younger among us about a time they are unlikely to know firsthand. Curve Ball is a delightful read.

[Sean Holtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

So what do you do when one of your favorite non-fiction baseball historians slips into the world of fiction? You tread carefully, you read slowly, and you see that authors like Jim can write about the words in the dictionary, and make it interesting! I'm not sure now why I even doubted how good a book it was going to be - add it to your baseball bookshelf today.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book! I think all should read it!

[Ben Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fantastic novel about a rookie baseball player getting his first chance in the major leagues. Things in the game and in his life don't always go his way, but how the character reacts sets the tone for a truly wonderful book. I give it a big thumbs up!

[Christiana Childs · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun read about how life marches on during and after a professional baseball career.