Knocking on Heaven’s Door

Six Minor Leaguers in Search of the Baseball Dream

2010

Get The Book

"Dobrow's first book is a beautifully written, meticulously orchestrated account of the families, common agents, notable triumphs, and devastating failures of half a dozen talented young men who want to play in the Major Leagues. A veteran sports writer, Dobrow reveals an insider's instinct, a high level of compassion, and finds the drama in the dream of 'making it big.' Minor Leaguers have to make ends meet, often for years, and learn how to embrace a wide range of intriguing styles, like 'the sport's most charming and exasperating pitch," the knuckleball. The importance of the mental game is shown to be paramount: 'Let it all go. Focus on the next pitch. That's all you can control." Dobrow shines a light on the fascinating personalities of minor league towns; the Reading Phillies, for instance, have "no fewer than five mascots… each circulating through the crowd all night…' The book is rife with memorable personalities, tireless mentors, and desperately devoted families, the latter perfectly illustrated by a father's response to the news that his son has been called to the big leagues. 'Don't say that—you‘re lying to me!" A great read for everyone.'"

Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

"At the end of the day, Knocking on Heaven's Door gives us the rarest of sport literature: the true baseball story...that tells us the truth about the game without sugar-coating its unpleasantries or removing its warts--while somehow still managing to make us love it all the more."

Scott D. Peterson, Sport Literature Association

"Detailed, engrossing, entertaining, and supremely illuminating."

The Joy of Sox

The rich slice of Americana found in minor league baseball presents a contradictory culture. On the one hand, the minors are filled with wholesome, family-friendly entertainment-fluffy mascots, kitschy promotions, and earnest young men signing autographs for wide-eyed Little Leaguers. On the other, they comprise a world of cutthroat competition in which a teammate's failure or injury can be the cause of quiet celebration and 90 percent of all players never play a single inning in the major leagues.

In Knocking on Heaven's Door, award-winning sportswriter Marty Dobrow examines this double-edged culture by chronicling the lives of six minor leaguers―Brad Baker, Doug Clark, Manny Delcarmen, Randy Ruiz, Matt Torra, and Charlie Zink―all struggling to make their way to “The Show.” What links them together, aside from their common goal, is that they are all represented by the same team of agents―Jim and Lisa Masteralexis and their partner Steve McKelvey―whose own aspirations parallel those of the players they represent.