Satch & Me; A Baseball Card Adventure

New York: HarperCollinsPublishers, 2006. First Edition [Stated], First Printing [Stated]. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Steve Chorney (Jacket Art). ix, [3], 175, [5] pages. Illustrations. Dan Gutman (born October 19, 1955)[1] is an American writer, primarily of children's fiction. His works include the Baseball Card Adventures children's book series that began with Honus & Me, and the My Weird School series and spinoff series including My Weird School Daze and My Weirder School. Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures series, illustrated by Steve Chorney, revolves around a child named Joe Stoshack who travels back in time to meet baseball legends. The first work is based on the premise of his finding a Honus Wagner T206 baseball card in the attic of his neighbor. Further books in the series feature Jackie Robinson, Babe Ruth, Shoeless Joe Jackson, Dorothy Maguire, Abner Doubleday, Satchel Paige, Jim Thorpe, Ray Chapman, Roberto Clemente, Ted Williams, and Willie Mays. The original story, Honus & Me, was made into the Turner Network Television TV-movie The Winning Season, starring Matthew Modine and Kristin Davis. Stosh is back in a new time-travel baseball adventure. This time, his vintage baseball cards carry him and his elderly friend Flip Valentini to 1942 to use a radar gun to determine if Satchel Paige really threw the wickedest, speediest fastball in baseball history. They meet up with Satch on the way to the Negro League World Series. As they travel, they enjoy Satch's eccentricities and unique personality, as well as the camaraderie and competitive spirit among the enormously talented ballplayers. But they are also witness to the humiliation, pain and hopelessness of segregation. The trip also results in a life-changing alteration of Flip's personal history. Stosh is a terrific narrator, a thoroughly modern kid who understands that the past has much to teach us. Gutman has again crafted a delightful mix of humor, magic and history surrounded by the sheer joy of baseball.