Publisher's Synopsis
Like the mystical story of "The Natural" and the feel-good story of "Field of Dreams" mixed with the humor of "Major League," ..".on account of rain" provides one of the most epic tales of a family saga that is set along the backdrop of America's pastime, the game of Baseball. We follow Rookie sensation, young Tom Hunter, right off the docks of a Chesapeake Bay Crab Boat, about to face his final batter and close out the final and deciding game of the World Series with a commanding win. He is suddenly confused as Coach Busby shouts time and heads to the mound. "Hit him!" demands Busby. "Hit him and kill him or the boss is going to pull your new contract next week and cut off the doctors he has working to save your dying wife." Pitching for love and the hope of a miracle for his wife, Tom Hunter makes a fatal decision that will haunt his life forever. Tom and the boys live in anonymity on Long Island for the past ten years as he changed his name to protect his children from his past mistake. Jake, who is now thirteen, faces the challenges of High School and all that comes with it, including his number one nemesis, class bully and superstar baseball player, Jules Fauche Jr., who, like his legendary father, appears to be destined to take his father's place on the Manhattan Bedrocks when he retires and Jules graduates. During a school fair Jake upstages Jules Jr. and will forever be entangled with him at every stage of his young life. The school coach, alerted to Jake's pitching ability during this event, attempts to get him to play ball, but that attempt is quickly blocked by Tom as he tries to keep his boys away from the ugliness and violence that has consumed parents and kids alike in local school and town sports. Tom has made this a promise to his dying wife, however difficult. On the day of Jake's graduation, the lie that Tom has lived and hidden from his boys comes full circle and father and son are torn apart. In an epic ending that concludes where we began, at the final game of the World Series, every character in the story will learn their fate, however good or bad. This is a story about a fathers love for his sons, new love, first love and lost love. It is about what happens when we spend so much time preparing for our lives that life intervenes and our game is called...on account of rain.
