Stating that “the baseball scenes are crackerjack,” Publishers Weekly praised “this appealing novel of the first woman in the big leagues.” She’s on First (Contemporary Books, 1987; Paperjacks, 1988) is the story of the Chicago Eagles, first major league team to field a female player. When Big Al Mowerinski signs Linda Sunshine as his shortstop, no one can believe he doesn't have ulterior motives. But the season is more than half gone and the pennant race more than blistering hot by the time Linda and the rest of the team learn what Al's motives were.

Also translated and published in Japan. Out of print.

Behind the Book

When I decided it was time to write my first novel, I wasn’t sure whether I should write first about a woman in the big leagues or a detective in the city of the big shoulders. From childhood on I’ve loved both playing baseball and reading detective fiction. I chose to go with the baseball story first. Little did I know that just a few years later I would be combining these two loves, using real-life detective skills to solve a real-life baseball mystery — discovering the identity of Maud Nelson (see my article, My Darling Clementine). In more ways than one, the writing of both She’s on First and Dirty Proof led me to write Women at Play. — Bg