Ode to Pete Rose

Marvin Foley’s ambition would have rivaled that of Julius Caesar. Never has a kid had such great confidence in his own ability on a baseball diamond. Ode to Pete Rose chronicles eighteen months in the life of a self-proclaimed Little League baseball legend, a boy who is forever focused on his lifetime goal—to be enshrined in the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. More immediate however is his goal of taking his All Star baseball team from a small army base near Livorno, Italy onto the European stage of The Transatlantic Championship in Wiesbaden, Germany, and finally to the greatest stage in the world for Little League baseball, The Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. And if it isn’t difficult enough just to play and win baseball games, Marvin Foley is forever burying landmines along his own road to glory. His loud and obnoxious personality and his poor decision making gets him into constant trouble with his parents, teammates, teachers, and most importantly with his coaches. It’s a wonder that this boy can navigate through the minefield given his lack of critical thinking skills, but with the help of Pete Rose, his idol and mentor, sail through he does while all the time remaining true to his own set of baseball-rules-for-life. With the help of his gang-teammates-best friends, Mike Warren, Leonard Liggins, and Danny Mucci, and in spite of the artillery directed at him from his most hated enemy, Miss Lori Campbell, the smartest, prettiest, and meanest girl in his grade, and because he just happens to be the best Little League ballplayer in the entire world, he, Marvin Foley reaches the first stage on his journey to Cooperstown. Marvin carries his teammates from Livorno all the way to Williamsport.