Backstop

faq

I wait for Higgins to dig in and think of my father, whether, wherever he is, he is
proud of my accomplishments in baseball, or whether he is merely ashamed of what
I did to Darlene. I want to forgive him for so much—as I want desperately for
Darlene to forgive me—especially for handicapping me in so many ways. But in
order to forgive him, I somehow feel I must elevate myself into a position of judge,
and that’s something I find I just can’t do. I accepted long ago that I am who I am,
the good and the bad, as a result of this man about whom I know so little and who
left me before I could prove myself to him. If I could only resolve to stop staring at
my past looking for answers, or to assign blame, I might finally be able to consign
him to a less prominent place in my life, into a favorite corner to which I can go
from time to time if only to dust off the cobwebs.

Somehow I found the courage to risk my dreams, even when they seemed to exceed
my grasp, despite Dad’s inability to succor me. Still, in failing Darlene, I failed to
become the man I always wanted to become. The sin rests entirely with me. Yet in
the aftermath of that sin I fought for Darlene. As I continue to fight for us. But it’s
a battle I can’t win alone.

In my youth I once considered that my father, due to my mother’s unhappiness,
should not have married and, in my own unhappiness with my father, that he
should not have fathered children. But what did that say of me, my self-image, my
self-value? Indeed, what does Darlene’s unwillingness to fight for what we once
had say of me? Yet I’m unwilling to concede defeat—perhaps the result of the
ballplayer in me—although my resolve, like my knees, weakens day by day.

“... by the time you get to the last ‘inning’ of this
‘game,’ you’ll be rooting for Backstop to succeed
both on and off the field. He’s not perfect, for
sure, but he’s a good guy at heart, and a great
baseball player! And like me, you’ll be glad you
read this book, whether you’re a sports fan or
not.”

—Terri Kirby Erickson, author of Telling Tales of Dusk

"In Backstop, J. Conrad Guest offers an
entertaining and instructive journey into both
major league baseball and major league matters
of the heart."

—Jeff Vande Zande, author of Landscape with
Fragmented Figures

"Baseball, like love, is a game of errors and
regrets. Pop-outs, ground-outs, strike-outs. A
bad swing, a bad throw, a bad hop. But what
captivates us most is the possibility of the next at-
bat, of the chance for a rally, of an unlikely
clutch play that suddenly changes the stakes.
This is where J. Conrad Guest meets us in
Backstop: in this beautiful, hopeful place closest
to our hearts, where we play for the love of the
game, and we love with everything we have."

─Rachael Perry, author of How to Fly

"In this story of love and sport, told in the
tradition of Field of Dreams and For Love of the
Game, J. Conrad Guest masterfully weaves the
human realities of risk, regret, and redemption in
bold and charming fashion."

―Jeff LeJeune, author of Postmarked Baltimore

Backstop
A Baseball Love Story in Nine Innings
J. Conrad Guest

You know Backstop. He plays the catcher’s
position for any team in any city in
America with a major league ball club. You
cheer him when he delivers, and boo him
when he doesn’t.

Told in his own words during the seventh
and deciding game of the World Series,
Backstop chronicles his rookie season,
takes the reader to Chicago, where he finds
romance, and reveals the heartbreak he
endured in the aftermath of his one
indiscretion.

You’ll cheer for Backstop, both on and off
the field, as he plays the most important
game of his career, haunted by the ghost of
his father, and fights to win back the heart
of the woman he loves more than the game.