Stealing Home: A Father, a Son, and the Road to the Perfect Game

by Ron Seybold

Overview

"Tenderly poignant, wise and affecting. A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood." Kirkus

In an epic road trip with his Little League son, a divorced dad's eight-ballpark journey tries to rescue his fatherhood--and learn how his dad's suicide might not doom him to repeat a father's mistakes.

The rarest outcome in sports is baseball's perfect game. One team does everything right, forcing the other to accomplish nothing. In 150 years of baseball, there have only been 23. Perfect is nearly impossible. As a divorced dad, Ron was trying to redeem his fatherhood with a road trip with his son. Their odyssey of crossing eight states in a rented convertible was supposed to salvage Ron's life as an unsure father. Custody fatherhood demoted him to the second team--he was certain of that. One sign of salvation came unbidden in an unscheduled tenth game.

Thousands of miles and dozens of innings delivered a discovery: a drive toward perfect fatherhood has a destination that cannot be found on any map. It's the tale of an eleven-day, nine-game trip -- and how a father's plans for perfection delivered things deeper than scores, miles, and smiles. Something magical and rare appeared at the end, in his heart as well as on a diamond.

"Part baseball, part fatherhood, and all boyhood, Stealing Home plays out the mystery of love and family. Fueled by his determination to become a better dad, Seybold's journey becomes a quest to reconcile the past and his future. The magic lies in the storytelling that travels the road to something perfect." Donna Johnson, author of Holy Ghost Girl: A Memoir

"A must-read. This book is about much more than baseball. It explores the father-son relationship on so many levels." -- Reedsy Discovery

"Rich with sports metaphor, it offers a touching and complex look at how, experience by experience, individuals repair generations of fury-fueled despair." -- Indie Reader

"A poignant memoir about the intersections of sports and fatherhood, its text evocative and careful...dynamic as it balances scenes in the present and the past. Its storytelling method is engaging and satisfying." -- Clarion Foreword

"Authentic, emotional, and brave, Stealing Home is a timeless journey of the universal struggle to rise above the past. It's a beautiful testament to the power of a father's love." Claire Ashby, NY Times bestselling author of When You Make It Home

"Ably capturing the excitement of live baseball, the author's remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism." -- Kirkus

"A beautifully written, touching memoir about family dynamics revealed in the bonding of father and son." Larry Brill, author of award-winning romance Deja Vu All Over Again

"Five Stars. It's so much more than a memoir. It's a grand road trip story as well as a real-life family saga. At its heart, Stealing Home is the consummate baseball story. An enthralling memoir, most highly recommended." Reader's Favorite

"Stealing Home deserves a spot in any good parenting collection. a jaunty yet introspective story about an evolving relationship between father and son. Readers receive unexpected treats that move far beyond the physical journey and into the finer art of sharing not just love, but life." Midwest Book Review

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780985006730
Publisher:	Skin Horse Press
Publication date:	07/28/2019
Pages:	182
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.42(d)

About the Author

Ron Seybold is an editor and former sportswriter with baseball memories from before the DH, as well as World Series joy from both his NL and AL teams. He coaches authors, edits books, and released a debut novel Viral Times long before Instagram was everywhere. He writes and edits in Austin, where his wife Abby Lentz teaches yoga, his grandchildren visit and play, and the family poodle Tess Harding campaigns for more walks than she gets.

Table of Contents

Introductions

Warm Ups

Opening on the Road

Lost on a Getaway

Joysticks and Sidearms

Concrete Balks

A Break at the Jake

Love on the Point

Minor Key Memory

Storm Warning

Day Game Dad

Wrigley Sunday Service

Praying for Better A

Perfect Team

Home at Last

Acknowledgements

Resources and Inspirations

Editorial Reviews

2019-06-10
A writer recounts a summer trip with his young son and his shot at redemption.

In 1994, Seybold (Viral Times, 2015) organized an epic trek for himself and his 11-year-old son, Nicky. They would attend nine baseball games in eight different cities over the course of just 11 days, an expedition spanning more than 3,400 miles. It was a complex odyssey to plan during "a time without the Web, Wi-Fi, or phones that rang in our pockets" and so tightly scheduled it was unnervingly vulnerable to derailment. But for the author, divorced with only limited custody of his son, the vacation was brimming with symbolic meaning, a chance to establish himself as a worthy father. Seybold grew up terrorized by his own father's mercurial rage, an ungovernable fury that could erupt into violence. The author struggled to escape from his father's mistakes, but a toxic brew of anxiety and depression led him to repeat them instead, a pattern that ended his marriage. In tenderly poignant terms, he describes his excursion with Nicky, including his victories (keeping his cool when the boy's television viewing delayed a departure) and foibles (picking a cheap but unsavory hotel). Seybold also recounts his experiences with his own dad, a talented but desperately insecure man who ultimately committed suicide. Thoughts of his father flooded the author's mind as he visited his old neighborhood in Toledo, Ohio. The memoir seamlessly tracks three storylines: Seybold's upbringing, his failed marriage, and the journey, all of which seem to find a narrative confluence in the last two games he and Nicky attended at Wrigley Field. The author's remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism. The writing is always lucid and can be moving, although Seybold occasionally succumbs to the charms of saccharine sentimentality: "By keeping my summertime pitches across the plate of Nicky's heart, I was righting my wrongs and forgiving my sins." Still, the story is much more often than not wise and affecting, ably capturing the excitement of live baseball.

A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood.

Kirkus Reviews

"A beautifully stirring reflection on the joys and challenges of fatherhood. Ably capturing the excitement of live baseball, the author's remembrance is a profoundly touching one, especially given his forthcoming candor and willingness to dispense self-criticism." -- Kirkus

"Five Stars. It's so much more than a memoir. It's a grand road trip story as well as a real-life family saga. At its heart, Stealing Home is the consummate baseball story. An enthralling memoir, most highly recommended." Reader's Favorite

"Stealing Home deserves a spot in any good parenting collection. A jaunty yet introspective story about an evolving relationship between father and son. Readers receive unexpected treats that move far beyond the physical journey and into the finer art of sharing not just love, but life. The meat of any family exposé lies in tracing intergenerational patterns. It will especially appeal to male readers seeking enlightenment for their own approaches to fatherhood." Midwest Book Review

"Steady in its narration, the book captures everyday scenes through a father's eyes, picking out and highlighting details that indicate his deep love for his son and his difficulties when it comes to pursuing a perfect outcome. The text is evocative and careful, and even scenes that are filled with sports jargon or inside jokes resonate. -- J Foreword Clarion

"Indie Reader Approved. Rich with sports metaphor, Stealing Home offers a touching and complex look at how, experience by experience, individuals can repair generations of fury-fueled despair." -- Indie Reader

From the Publisher