RELIEF PITCHER

This book makes a dozen for the author who writes of football and baseball. He writes within the formula, but he does it very well. His bleachers aren't crowded with obligatory romace; his hero has his troubles, but he's not a psychological wreck: Pete Conroy gets his injuries, but they come by way of a villain with spikes and are neither psychosomatic nor insurmountable. Conroy is a jack-of-all-trades in a specialized sport. He hits well without being big man with a bat. His fielding is more than lequate. He's played the bases. His big league team hadn't figured out quite what to do with him when another rookie, a talented glory grabber, slid into him with his spikes high. Injured seriously enough to halt his career, recuperating Conroy is a shade too slow to stay with the top team. The organization makes his player/manager at the bottom of the farm organization and he discovers that he can pitch a little too. The story of his come-back is told through the games played. Conroy's grudge feud with the spiker is also there to keep it interesting.