Book Description

Baseball diamonds are a girl’s best friend. A WHOLE NEW BALLGAME is the story of a 20-something woman who finds comfort and solace in baseball as her carefully ordered world starts to unravel. 26-year-old Laurie Nicholson thinks she’s beginning to sort things out when it comes to life, work, and love. When a sudden declaration from an on-again, off-again boyfriend inspires her to take a risk, only to meet with crushing heartbreak instead, Laurie finds herself searching for refuge. A chance encounter with Eric Morris and Peter Ellis, two friends spending their summer visiting every ballpark in America, offers Laurie an unexpected way to salve her wounds. Despite growing up in Boston surrounded by Red Sox fans, she wasn’t a fan of the game–until Eric and Peter’s enthusiasm turn that around and she falls in love…with baseball. Life throws Laurie a curveball when she gets laid off from her career-path ad agency job, and then again when her former suitor tries to reclaim her attention. Joining up with Eric and Peter for the remainder of their cross-country baseball odyssey lets her dodge her ex’s efforts as well as look for a new job. Along the way, Laurie and friends encounter Citizens Bank Park and the Philly Phanatic; Fenway Park, the front row of the Green Monster and Wally the Green Monster; the Pirate Parrot and PNC Park; Southpaw and US Cellular Field; the grandstand and bleachers at Wrigley Field; Jacobs Field and that creepy Cleveland Indians mascot; Busch Stadium and Fredbird; Sluggerrr and Kaufmann Stadium; Shea Stadium and the 2006 post-season. But as the season and the journey draws to a close, Laurie realizes that there’s a new set of decisions she’ll need to make: where she’ll live, who she’s in love with, and what team she’s going to claim allegiance to! If you love baseball and best friends, rock and roll and road trips, heartbreak and happy endings, A Whole New Ballgame is for you.