Come visit a mighty small town where baseball is a religion in a place you've probably never heard of. . . Iowa. My story was written before I was born, in the death of my namesake. In September of 1943 Tommy Murray pitched for the first private high school to win a state championship of any kind in Iowa. He returned to Bancroft, Iowa as a baseball hero. He returned again as a national hero in 1948 in a coffin after sacrificing his life fighting the Japanese in the Philippines. His story--my story, written from 1973 to 2017 is now your story. Time often slows and even stops in the small town of Cottage Park, Iowa. In fact, time is best measured not by the hands of a clock but by the innings of a baseball game. Praying and playing baseball are two of the town's primary activities. Actually, they are one in the same in a town where baseball is a religion. Still, time does eventually flow on. Much like the Des Moines River just outside Cottage Park, time leads to the site of the 1974 Iowa high school baseball tournament. Cottage Park's Holy Trinity High School has never won the Finals. The team's three elderly coaches vow to at last anoint themselves champions before they retire. For the players, the road to the Finals is a confirmation by fire--a rite of passage before they must face adulthood. Fathers, sons, and the holy ghosts of baseball join together in the quest for the Finals. Along this journey, young and old alike ultimately learn you must sacrifice before you can gain and sometimes you must lose before you can win. " Fathers, Sons, and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball" is a well-executed story of boys, old men, and the power of the game to shape community and individual lives. Iowa native Tommy Murray has penned a solid novel set in small-town Iowa in 1974. As with many a baseball book, Fathers, Sons, and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball uses the game as a jumping off point to consider other themes, including issues of faith, the relationships between fathers (and father figures) and sons, the nature of community, and the inevitability of change--sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The friendship of the three coaches and their individual relationships with young men in need of guidance are at the heart of the story. Murray crafts these affiliations with care, tracing the ups and downs of vulnerable people forging strong bonds." --Rob Cline, The Gazette (Cedar Rapids) WCCO Television in the Twin Cities reported on my story!  minnesota.cbslocal.com/2018/07/07/bancroft-memorial-park/ I keep getting richer, but I can't get my picture on the cover of the Des Moines Register, but they did publish a Memorial Day tribute to my namesake and the inspiration for Fathers, Sons, and the Holy Ghosts of Baseball: desmoinesregister.com/story/opinion/columnists/iowa-view/2015/05/23/world-war-ii-bells-tolled-uncle-tommy/27817477/ Tommy Murray is a retired teacher from the Minneapolis Public Schools. He is the author of one other novel: the forthcoming The Empty Set. Murray is married to Mary Ann, and they reside in Shoreview, Minnesota. They are the parents of four adult children, all of whom are baseball and softball legends in the Shoreview area.