What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
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The Secret Little Leaguer
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. YA/ Middle Grade Fiction - Boy plays Baseball, but keeps it secret from his intellectual family. Read around 1975-1980. [s]
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Rick
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Feb 20, 2023 10:22AM
This is a YA/Middle Grade/Juvenile fiction paperback I read somewhere around 1975-1980. A boy, whose name might be Charlie, takes up baseball, without letting his intellectual family know. He manages to get his parents to sign a consent form, without realizing what it is, manages to get funds for a uniform and a glove, hides his equipment, and keeps his practices and games a secret. His parents and siblings are very academic, and make jokes about dumb jocks. The story is not about baseball itself, so much as about how the boy conceals his activities, and eventually finds that his family will accept his playing.
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Not all of the details are the same - mainly instead of being intellectual, the family is very musical - but it made me think of Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear
Thanks for the suggestions. Those sound like they have similar themes. I also came across “All Except Sammy” (1966), but that seems shorter than the book I am looking for, and has no element of secrecy.
I read Yang the Youngest, Baseball Fever, and All Except Sammy. I am still looking for the book I remember.
Think I found it!The Secret Little Leaguer
Charley Baker is eleven years old and is an oddball in his family. His parents are both professionals and his siblings are extremely scholarly. Charley struggles in school and he loves to run, throw things and climb trees. Conversations among the family deal with intellectual issues and a regular comment is that sports are not for people like them.
When Charley’s friend Butch tries to talk him into trying out for the little league teams, he resists at first, for he has never even put on a glove or held a bat. Eventually, Charley decides to attend the tryouts and his speed afoot, the power of his throwing arm and his willingness to be coached convinces a manager to put him on a team. However, Charlie hides that fact from all the members of his family, although there are occasional questions as to what he is doing.
Now that he must attend practices and games, indifferent student Charley becomes a focused doer of homework. He also begins reading adolescent sports fiction, a change from his unwillingness to open books that he does not have to. The season progresses and Charley improves dramatically, moving from a bench fixture into someone that has a positive impact on the team’s success.
It all works out in the end; Charlie discovers that his secret was not that secret. The moral of this story is that the love for a sport can be the incentive for a child to work hard in all aspects of life. It is a good one, for it is easy for people in sports to lose track of things like being successful in school. Some parents also believe that sports are a distraction from academics.
Good find. Looks like author Don Creightonwrote three other Little League stories. https://www.librarything.com/author/c...
What's weird is that the Worldcat description talks about a retirement community, so I discounted this book initially. I think the site must be wrong, because even the blurb from the jacket does not mention it!Eleven-year-old Charley Baker shook his head. “I’m not trying out. My parents don’t believe in baseball.”
Charley’s dark hair fell over his forehead. His green eyes looked longingly at the application to sign for Little League tryouts.
Butch’s blue eyes popped with astonishment. “But you've got to! I’ve already told the manager you would. Where have your folks been all their lives?”
“It’s pretty hard to explain. Seems like they think nothing is important but brains.” However, Charley stuck the application form in one of his books as he went away.
From that day on, Charley Baker kept his school activities a secret from his family (or so he thought). Charley understood that he was not the most studious one in his family. His report card proved that point. But Little League baseball gave him the outlet which he needed to become an individual. His private little hiding place for his glove and uniform was a tree house, where he spent many hours.
As Charley developed self-confidence in his playing, his place on the Tiger team proved to be an asset to the Millbrook Little League. The Wildcats, Lions, Stags, and other opposing teams learned that Charley Baker was no pushover.
Charley was never so happy in his whole life; however, keeping things a secret from his family worried him some. Soon, various members of his family began to learn of his secret. But each one, in turn, faithfully kept the information to himself.
Then one day Charley discovered that his mother knew how to figure batting averages, and that she even liked baseball! Charley’s greatest surprise came when he learned that his father had known all along that he was a Little Leaguer—and that he was proud that Charley had done something on his own.
I have seen errors before. Obviously someone entered incorrectly. Searching Google Books with a phrase from the summary reveals one of his other books more likely fits that retirement plot. Little League Old Timers.
Wow, that does sound like the book I’m looking for! Thanks! Am borrowing the book now, to verify.
Solved. The Secret Little Leaguer, by Don Creighton.
What's the Name of That Book???
Books mentioned in this topic
The Secret Little Leaguer (other topics)Baseball Fever (other topics)
Yang the Youngest and his Terrible Ear (other topics)
