The Dean of Clinton County – A Baseball Novel

During the Great Depression in 1934, twenty-three-year-old John Laufketter is struggling to support his wife and infant son as a coal miner in the southern Illinois town of Beckemeyer, forty-five miles east of St. Louis. Once a promising baseball prospect destined for stardom, John’s dream was thwarted by a series of personal setbacks after leaving high school.

The only recreation John can afford is playing in the Clinton County Baseball League, where the Sunday games are fierce battles for local pride among the towns which have teams. It was always expected by Beckemeyer residents that John would one day return and play for the town in the CCL, but only after a lengthy career in the major leagues. With the economy worsening, the availability of work in the coal mine has gradually dissipated – which furthers the disappointment John feels in himself.

But due to an incredible implosion of faith and luck, he is presented with a one-in-a-million opportunity to claim the life in baseball he was supposed to have. It is his one, final chance to get himself and his family out of the coal mine for good.