{"product_id":"if-i-never-get-back-isbn-9781583941874","title":"If I Never Get Back","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eTime travel meets baseball in this “grand adventure” about a modern-day reporter who witnesses the birth of America’s favorite pastime (\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Times\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eContemporary reporter Sam Fowler is stuck in a dull job and a failing marriage when he is suddenly transported back to the summer of 1869. After a wrenching period of adjustment, he feels rejuvenated by his involvement with the nation’s first pro baseball team, the Cincinnati Red Stockings. But American sports isn't the only thing to undergo a major transformation—Sam himself starts to change as he faces life-threatening 19th-century challenges on and off the baseball diamond. With the support of his fellow ballplayers and the lovely Caitlin O'Neill, will he regain the sense of family he desperately needs?\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDarryl Brock masterfully evokes post-Civil War America—its smoky cities and transcontinental railroad, its dance halls and parlour houses, its financial booms and busts. Equally appealing to sports fans and anyone who appreciates a well-told story, \u003ci\u003eIf I Never Get Back \u003c\/i\u003eis a literary home run that \"grabs you from line one on page one and never lets go\" (\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e“A rawhide odyssey … meticulously historical.… By now the reader is asking ‘And then? And then?’ like a child listening to a storyteller.”\u003ci\u003e—Time \u003c\/i\u003e“Grabs you from line one on page one and never lets go. Enchanting.” \u003ci\u003e—San Francisco Chronicle \u003c\/i\u003e“An engrossing, even charming tale.… By its final inning, the reader is sad to see it end.” —\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e“A grand adventure and joyful embrace of baseball the way it ought to be played … \u003ci\u003eIf I Never Get Back \u003c\/i\u003eshould be required reading for players and owners as well as fans.”\u003ci\u003e—The Washington Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor the better part of two decades, Darryl Brock was a history, English, and psychology  instructor in San Francisco Bay Area high schools. He holds a BA from the University  of Redlands and has many graduate units in history at UC Berkeley. He has served  as a writing consultant to the State of California and worked with Educational Testing  Service to establish essay-scoring programs. Since 1984, Brock has been a full-time  freelance writer, and is the author of numerous articles and reviews, many of them  about early baseball and\/or Mark Twain.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHe is an accomplished public speaker on  the subjects of the Red Stockings, early baseball in general, and his experience  in researching those pioneer pros. He is heavily involved in the world of baseball,  attending Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) regional meetings and occasionally  national conventions, as well as other baseball organizations' functions.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDarryl  Brock lives in Berkeley, California, with his wife and daughter.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Frog Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46303512133861,"sku":"NP9781583941874","price":21.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781583941874.jpg?v=1767729775","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/if-i-never-get-back-isbn-9781583941874","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}