Review: Courtroom drama hits home run
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 25, 2012
In 1920, Cleveland Indians second baseman Ray Chapman was hit in the head by a ball thrown by New York Yankees pitcher Carl Mays. Chapman died the next day. There was never any lengthy investigation into the incident or even a trial. Chapman remains the only Major League Baseball player ever to be killed by a pitched ball.Harold Kasselman has written a novel about what could happen if a modern day player were hit and killed by a pitch and how it might play out in a courtroom."A Pitch for Justice" raises interesting questions about the game of baseball and a pitcher's need to brush back or throw at hitters as a way of maintaining a competitive edge. Through the ages, it's been an accepted part of the national pastime, but there are ethical and legal questions to consider. The author keeps this story interesting by introducing to us believable characters, some of whom have much at stake.Jaime Brooks, a big baseball fan, is tasked with prosecuting the young Phillies hurler who threw the fatal pitch. He's not even quite sure he wants the case. After all, this wasn't someone shooting a gun at another person with willful intent to murder. There's the Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Tim Charles, a talented rookie with a 100 mph fastball, who unleashes the pitch that kills New York Mets second baseman Kenny Leyton. There had been bad blood between the Phillies and the Mets, and the unwritten baseball code called for Charles to throw some chin music in retaliation. It's what his manager Buck Sawyer expected. But even if Sawyer had no qualms about his pitchers throwing at hitters, Charles certainly did.The victim's widow, Theresa Leyton is understandably distraught and angry and wants badly to see the young pitcher pay for what happened. In fact, she'll stop at nothing to see justice done.Kasselman, a former attorney, certainly knows baseball and the legal world. The reader will see how lawyers from both sides go back and forth on this case. This isn't a book about the corrupt legal world, but rather a realistic story about what often transpires inside and outside the court room. The reader will learn more than a few things about the law. Beyond that, the reader will come away from an enjoyable reading experience. Kasselman has a nice, easy writing style that makes the pages flow.