Jonathan Weeks

The Bridgeport Hammer Jonathan Weeks

The year is 1942.

The world is at war and the Nazis are actively plotting against the United States. President Roosevelt has issued a "green light letter" to the commissioner of Major League Baseball, encouraging the game to continue despite the conflict overseas. Rookie pitcher Emmett Drexler becomes an overnight sensation in Boston with a quirky blooper pitch labeled "the bumpus" by sportswriters.

As the strikeouts pile up, the lowly Boston Wranglers begin a gradual climb out of the National League basement. But Drexler is not who he appears to be and several teammates will be unwittingly drawn into a sinister web of Nazi espionage. In this richly detailed memoir, retired major-leaguer "Chick" Dotson recounts his most eventful season. All characters and situations are firmly rooted in historical fact.