Last Game: A Novel in Nine Innings
I went to the research library at Cooperstown, and found that nobody had ever done this: create a novel in which the story is a complete game: every play, every inning. An allegory on multiple levels, it pits the hometown St. John’s Lutheran Church Men’s Club Nine versus the semi-pro Children of Abimelech Athletic Association. On the baseball level, it is like the New York Yankees against the Toledo Mud Hens. On the theological level, it is good versus evil, truth against error, personified in the young Lutheran pastor, Rev. Carl Reinhardt who clashes with Bishop Benjamin “Abimelech” Parcell, leader of a cult commune. The conflict swirls and centers around the beautiful Anne Sweet, the object of Carl’s affections and Parcell’s carnal designs. Scorecards included.