Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0060288671, Hardcover)

Little Viddy's earliest baseball memory was sitting on a hard plank bench in the heart of a visiting team'sdugout, wedged between her two aging gods, Wash and Cappy.And hearing an ump holler: "Play ball!"

In a devastating explosion, young Tate Stonemason loses his family--and his dream--when their private plane crashes and burns. Only he survives. With a leg destroyed, Tate has no chance to pitch in the majors. No one can ease his anger and grief--except the lady who taught him the game...Great-aunt Vidalia.

Desperate for a way to heal Tate's hurting, Aunt Viddy, now seventy, shares her childhood with him: her purple-bus travels with Ethiopia's Clowns, a Depression-era baseball team of rollicking rascals. The laughter and common love of baseball he shares with Aunt Viddy slowly inspires Tate Bannock Stonemason to mature, conquer tragedy, and realize the true power of family.

Robert Newton Peck presents a humorous and heartwarming story of how yesterday's baseball diamonds help to mend the crushed leg and battered spirit of a young athlete.