Fear Strikes Out

True story of the life of Jimmy Piersall, who battled mental illness to achieve stardom in major league baseball. Jim Piersall is groomed by his loving but hard-driving father (living vicariously through his son) to play major league baseball. His desire to succeed to please his father leads to mental illness and a nervous breakdown. Can he overcome those difficulties and return to the major leagues? —Jerry Milani <jmilani@ix.netcom.com> Working class John Piersall of Waterbury CT lives for baseball, so much so that he makes his son Jimmy Piersall proverbially eat and sleep the game from a young age, with John's ultimate goal for Jimmy not only to make it into the major leagues, but specifically with the Boston Red Sox focusing both on batting and skills to make him a good outfielder. As a child, Jimmy willing obliges his father despite some issue within Jimmy not wanting to play, while other factors take over as Jimmy enters into young adulthood to continue that goal of being a Red Sox outfielder for his father. Even when Jimmy gets married to who would become Mary Piersall and they starting their own family does not change that priority of being a Rex Sox outfielder all for his father, despite there being the competing issues of Jimmy needing to plan for his family. The question then becomes if Jimmy can withstand the pressure placed on him by his father and ultimately the pressure that he has placed on himself to please his father or if he has a breaking point. This story is a fictionalized account based in part on the younger Piersall's own account of his life. —Huggo