In Front of Fifty Thousand Screaming People

This novel is a sports thriller, about Mafia influence in baseball. A Kansas prairie farm boy breaks into the big leagues as a pitcher for the hapless Chicago Cubs. He pitches so well that he is the spark that can lead the Cubs to their first World Series victory in over a century. But if they do, a New York Mafia Don will lose an $80 million bet to a Chicago rival Don. To prevent this, the New York mobster becomes the pitcher’s enemy, and the Chicago Don his protector. Both try to manipulate his off the field life to suit their interest. He can’t understand what these strange things are happening to him; he just wants to play baseball.

It all culminates at the seventh game of the World Series, Cubs against Yankees, with a crossfire set up in Yankee Stadium to take the pitcher out if the Cubs are in a position to win. Will it trigger?