Finally, after a decade-long journey, in December of Michael's senior year of high school, when my fingers started pounding the keyboard, something magical happened. They could not stop. I wrote a chapter the first week, two chapters the second week, then three and then four. The stories, lessons and messages poured out of my memory and onto the pages of this memoire. The final thirty-five chapters were written in thirty-five days. I always said to my son that we are defined not by our behavior when things are great, when we won the game or when we made the team. We are defined by who we are and how we act when we are faced with our greatest challenges, when losing falls squarely on our shoulders and when we are rejected. In between the covers of this book, in between the laughs, he and anyone who reads about our time together, will understand how the Legacy of Ball shapes and defines each of us.
