Hard to Grip
A Memoir of Youth, Baseball, and Chronic Illness
by Emil DeAndreis
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Pub Date Apr 01 2017 | Archive Date Sep 30 2017
Description
After a record-breaking pitching career in college, Emil DeAndreis's life seemed set. He was twenty-three, in great shape, and had just been offered a contract to play professionally in Europe. Then his body fell apart. What started with elbow stiffness quickly progressed to swelling in his wrist. Soon, his fingers were too bloated to grip a baseball.
The diagnosis: Rheumatoid Arthritis, a chronic autoimmune disease that would shatter his childhood dream of ever playing in the Big Leagues.
Hard To Grip tells the story of a young man's body giving out when he needs it most. It chronicles an ascending sports career, the ups and downs of life in the NCAA, and the challenge of giving up baseball due to a dehumanizing condition. Emil takes the reader on an ironic and bittersweet journey of learning to grapple with a disease associated with the elderly, and older women in particular. From striking out future major league All Stars, to sitting in support groups; from breaking university records, to barely making it up the stairs, De Andreis unveils the disease with humor and fearless honesty through the eyes of an unlikely victim.
Advance Praise
"A vibrant depiction of a ballplayer who finds his way despite losing his ability to play the game he loves. Emil is a total gamer and a wonderful writer. Grab some time, and enjoy." - Mike Krukow (Emmy Award-winning commentator for the San Francisco Giants)
"Hard To Grip is the genuine article: A baseball story about a player and his traumatic, insane, hilarious and completely relatable love of the game-and how fragile that love is." - Dirk Hayhurst (Former MLB pitcher and author of the New York Times best seller, The Bullpen Gospels)
"Emil DeAndreis has written an honest and raw memoir about his life in and out of baseball. It is rare to read an account of a young man's struggle to cope with RA. This book is essential reading for anyone, man or woman, young or old, who has confronted any form of autoimmune disease, and for those who love someone who is fighting this battle." - Alida Brill (Co-author of Dancing At The River's Edge: A Patient And Her Doctor Negotiate Life With Chronic Illness)
"Hard To Grip is a quintessential baseball story: one of talent, success, disappointment and redemption. DeAndreis writes with honesty and humor about losing the sport that was once his identity, and his struggle to find a new one." - Justin St. Germain (Author of the memoir, Son Of A Gun)
Available Editions
| EDITION | Ebook |
| ISBN | 9781943156160 |
| PRICE | $11.99 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Eve W, Reviewer
As a sufferer of a chronic illness, being into weightlifting in my case and sport in general, my life can be hindered in enjoying my passion.
Emil's story is alike mine, only he plays baseball and has rheumatoid arthritis.
He talks of his passion being his dream from an early age, practising with his dad his pitches and the hardships his family faced and for him, wanting to be good enough to qualify for a scholarship. The persistent training for the sport is damn hard and so we can see from reading through the book game after game.
However, persistent left shoulder and arm issues, aggravated a lot by long periods of rest started to alert Emil that something was up and here's where we get into depth about his challenges faced. From starting out, going through college and being set up in a baseball playing position with his girlfriend by his side, things took a turn as his doctor referred Emil on to rheumatology to be tested for rheumatoid arthritis.
I truly thank Emil for writing such an eye opening book here. Me having Fibromyalgia and Reynaud's I often feel a lack of chronic illness is written about in any form of book unless on the set subject. Here Emil has captured every stage I think we go through, from healthy to unsure of of futures, changing career and losing some abilities with areas of our bodies we took for granted previously. It's also shown how important it is to find the right support and a doctor who is auiteds to you and able to help you as much as possible.
Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!
Lauren D, Reviewer
Hard to Grip epitomizes why I love sport; the passion, the camaraderie, the highs of a win and overcoming the lows.
Emil DeAndreis writes brilliantly, and you feel him age and mature through his writing as he works his was through high school to college and beyond.
Sometimes memoirs feel forced and unnecessary, but this has an honesty and depth. The intertwining stories of Charlie's pro career emphasize just what could have been. However with no regret, Emil's story is inspirational. Without putting his illness on a pedestal, it undoubtedly changed his life's trajectory, but has only strengthened the man he's become.
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