Belle of the Ball — Norman Keifetz

Belle Fortman is a feisty, curious, intelligent woman who is determined to break into a traditional world controlled by men who will go to extremes to exclude herprofessional baseball. Against all odds, shes determined to become the first woman umpire in the Major Leagues.

In this endeavor, she faces obstaclesfrom setbacks in umpiring school to travails in her life and on the field as she moves up the minor league system, from tank town sandlot games to Triple A, longing for an assignment in the Majors. Along the way, Belle falls in love and runs into characters readers get to know so well that theyll feel theyve actually met them. The author has the uncanny skill to make the strangest, most unlikely characters seem so compellingly real.