A baseball seems like a small weapon with which to combat the myriad forces grinding down boys in the inner city. But in Muzikowski's hands, a baseball is mighty indeed. Muzikowski has sponsored four Little Leagues in the grittiest neighborhoods of Chicago and New York, and those leagues have changed—perhaps even saved—young ball players' lives. (Sound familiar? The movie Hardball, coming out September 14 with Keanu Reeves, is loosely based on Muzikowski's accomplishments.) In this ably written and moving memoir, Muzikowski tells the story of his faith—in boys, in baseball diamonds and in God. The first half of the book gives us the pre-baseball Muzikowski, who grew up the Irish Catholic son of a factory worker in New Jersey. As a young adult, he entered business school, spent too much time drinking beer and snorting cocaine, became a born-again Protestant, got sober in AA, and married the lovely Tina. The second half of the book, in which Muzikowski finally recounts his time coaching, flags a bit. One wants to know more about Tina: does Bob's intense devotion to Little League strain their marriage? The eccentric urban characters—the earnest ghetto kids and wizened drug dealers—border on the caricature. Still, readers will be drawn in enough to cheer when Muzikowski's players graduate from school and tear up when they get gunned down. Muzikowski and coauthor Lewis offer a well-executed testimony to what an ordinary man with ordinary faith can do to change his corner of God's world. (Aug.)
