The Education of Jake O'Brien A Novel Author:Michael Freeman For minor league baseball player Jake O'Brien, baseball is as much a refuge from the implications of a tragic past as it is a chosen profession. Fate has teased the athlete with success in an obscure venue but denied him entry to the grand stage of the major leagues. That changes in 1957 when the Cleveland Indians call the 37-year-old outfielder... more » up from the Pacific Coast League franchise to provide offensive punch in their pennant race with the Yankees. After a hesitant start, O'Brien achieves heroic stature on the diamond. However, the roller coaster ride he and his teammates endure during their run to the season-ending playoff game and the anxieties incited by his tempestuous romance with the beautiful divorcee Helen Simopoulos convince him that he will never be happy until he confronts the issues invoked by events he would like to forget. The novel is a celebration of baseball as national mythology, the history of a passionate love affair, and the coming of age story of a heroic figure struggling to find his identity as a human being.« less