A Drive into the Gap is a true story about fathers and sons, baseball and memory, and the improbable journey of a bat from one of the most iconic moments in the history of the game to the bedroom of a 12-year-old boy.
The first edition of Kevin Guilfoile’s
A Drive into the Gap is available as a beautifully designed and
made-in-the-USA book for $6.95, and we’ll ship it out to you immediately.
Can’t wait even a couple days? A Drive into the Gap is also available as an e-book for your Kindle, Nook or iPad or iPhone.
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Roberto got his hit in the fourth, a double to left-center off Jon Matlack. With all eyes and camera lenses focused on second base as Clemente tipped his helmet to the crowd, Tony was thinking, “I have to get that bat. I need to hide it.” —Chapter 15
This Sunday, September 30, is the 40th Anniversary of Roberto’s 3,000th hit.
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One evening his neighbor stopped by for a cup of coffee and during the conversation he asked if Jackie would be interested in arranging some local gigs for his teen-age son, Frankie, whom the father felt might have a future as a singer. Jackie turned him down, saying, “If he were a wrestler I might be interested, but singers are a dime-a-dozen.” Over the years Jackie often wondered how his life might have been different if he had seized the opportunity so many years ago to become Frank Sinatra’s manager. —Chapter 2
(Pictured are members of the New York Yankees front office staff sometime in the 1960s. L-R: Bill Kane, statistician; Louis Requena, free-lance photographer; Bill Guilfoile, Asst. PR Director; Jackie Farrell, Director of Speakers’ Bureau; Connie Fernandez, PR secretary; Bob Fishel, PR Director.)
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We (Cooperstown) were rarely in the same league as the teams we were playing—they were often state champion all-star squads from much bigger towns. We lost a lot. I used to call us youth baseball’s Washington Generals, after the basketball team that barnstorms the country getting clobbered night after night by the Harlem Globetrotters, except in our case the good teams would ride a bus all night for the privilege of playing us on our home field. —Chapter 4
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Clemente Museum Benefit
Some nice photos in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from a recent Clemente Museum benefit, including some of founder Duane Rieder, who plays a key role in A Drive into the Gap.
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(We) spent six weeks at spring training in Bradenton each year, and even enrolled in Florida schools for the duration. —Chapter 14
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I think about all the stuff that happened between that picture and now that my dad can no longer remember. –Chapter 25
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Kevin Guilfoile and Jim Coudal were interviewed for Printers Row, the Chicago Tribune Sunday books section.
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He took me into his office, where my mother couldn’t hear, and he said, “Kev, I’ve been talking to Captain Cornwall, and we think we have a plan to get these pirates.” —Chapter 13
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They are holding a bat together, apparently presenting it to the lens as the bat he hit 3,000 with. —Chapter 22
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A Drive into the Gap on the Home of the Cubs
Kevin talks with the Tribune’s Rick Kogan about Field Notes, his father, and Roberto Clemente on WGN Radio.
“An extraordinary, beautifully written story about baseball and memory.
Simply amazing.”
– Jonathan Eig, New York Times best-selling author of Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of
Lou Gehrig and
Opening Day: The Story of Jackie Robinson's First Season.
“Kevin Guilfoile weaves laughter with tears, history with mystery, and the blessings of baseball with the curse of Alzheimer’s.”
– Steve Wulf, Senior Writer, ESPN The Magazine
“A suspenseful mystery involving one of baseball’s greatest heroes, Roberto Clemente, and the relationship between a devoted son and a remarkable father. A spectacular home run.”
– Rick Kogan, Chicago Tribune
Other books by Kevin Guilfoile
“I’m not writing it down to remember it later,
I’m writing it down to remember it now.”
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