Guys Read: How I Won the World Series

Two outs, down by two in the tenth, and only one thing can save the Mets: an unexpectedly lucky grapefruit. Children's author and lifelong baseball fan Dan Gutman recounts how he himself was actually the hero in the New York Mets' miraculous defeat of the Boston Red Sox in Game Six of the 1986 World Series—the infamous Bill Buckner game. Gutman traces the turning point to an apartment in Princeton, where a simple piece of citrus on a coffee table became a die-hard fan's desperate talisman against Boston. The chronicle follows every strike in the bottom of the tenth, charting how three straight singles and a wild pitch set up the most notorious error in baseball history. From a living room couch, the author claims full credit for Wilson's famous slow roller, insisting that citrus-powered luck helped deliver New York's impossible comeback. This short story from the collection Guys Read: The Sports Pages is a winner. Shea Stadium Shenanigans: The game delivered chaos on and off the diamond, from a daring parachutist trailing a banner onto the infield in the first inning to champagne prematurely iced in the visitors' locker room. Against the Odds: Facing elimination with two outs and nobody on base, New York mounts a frantic rally featuring Kevin Mitchell pinch-hitting on short notice and Mookie Wilson battling through a ten-pitch at-bat. Funny Books for Kids: Gutman's witty mix of authentic baseball trivia, family superstitions, and the noble post-series retirement of a lopsided piece of fruit. Also by This Author: My Weird School 21-Book Box Set, My Weird School Daze 12-Book Box Set and My Weird School #1: Miss Daisy Is Crazy!.