Diehard Fan (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9798218125042)

Eddie Fein is a twelve-year-old boy living in Brooklyn. It's the last week of the 1951 baseball season, and his beloved Dodgers are enduring the epic collapse to the hated Giants that will be punctuated by Bobby Thomson's "shot heard 'round the world."Eddie's love for the Dodgers springs from his love for his father Barry Fein, a passionate Dodger fan, but an alcoholic who's prone to bouts of depression and anger.When two Giant fans are murdered, Nick DiFazio, lead detective on the case and Barry's best friend, is afraid of what his suspicions are telling him.Eddie somehow learns of Nick's feelings. He secretly embarks on a desperate mission to prove his father's innocence, a quest that only seems to worsen things.In the meantime, and throughout, we witness the Dodgers' final week, sometimes through radio and TV, sometimes from the playing field itself.And as Bobby Thomson crushes Ralph Branca's fastball into baseball history, Eddie will learn the terrifying truth.