Honestly, lovers of baseball will probably not love this book. It’s a light-hearted read that immediately reminds the reader of a cross between Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Bill Veeck. The best parts are when Raymond is writing about Tommy, his love of Riptide baseball, against all odds or all of the bullying and his trouble making friends. The rest borders on a bad kid’s movie about baseball. Too much shtick, not enough character building.