Million Dollar Arm
“This book will make longtime baseball enthusiasts reflect upon how truly strange the sport is. Further, watching the discovery of the game by these baseball neophytes will reinvigorate the reader’s own fervor for our national pastime. Recommended for any baseball fans who have ever wished to relive what it was like to fall in love with their favorite sport all over again. Also, from an anthropological standpoint, it highlights nicely how people from entirely different cultures can benefit from interaction.”
Library Journal
A true story of finding the American dream … abroad
India is a country with more than one billion people, a fanatical national cricket obsession, and exactly zero talent scouts. There, superstar sports agent J. B. Bernstein knew he could find the Yao Ming of baseball— someone with a strong arm and enough raw talent to pitch in the major leagues. Almost no one in India is familiar with the game, but Bernstein had heard enough coaches swear that if you gave them a guy who throws a hundred miles an hour, they could teach him how to pitch. So in 2007, Bernstein flew to Mumbai with a radar gun and a plan to find his diamond in the rough. His idea was The Million Dollar Arm, a reality television competition with a huge cash prize and a chance to become the first native of India to sign a contract with an American major-league team.
The result is a humorous and inspiring story about three guys transformed: Bernstein, the consummate bachelor and shrewd businessman, and Dinesh and Rinku, the two young men from small farming villages whom he brought home to California. Million Dollar Arm is a timeless reflection on baseball and the American dream, as well as a tale of victory over incredible odds. But above all, it's about the limitless possibilities inside every one of us.
Praise