Mickey Rawlings

It's One...Two...Three Strikes You're Dead Mickey Rawlings will do whatever it takes to help his New York Giants get past the Brooklyn Dodgers and into the World Series. If that means playing a bit part in a movie starring screen goddess Florence Hampton, he's game. What's not in the lineup is Florence washing up on a beach bloated and dead following a glitzy night of champagne and paparazzi. Since Rawlings has a perfect batting average when it comes to solving murders, he can't just walk away from the crime--especially when the killer has an agenda that could change more than a few lives forever--and puts the Series into perspective for Rawlings. While the boys of summer heat up for the final playoff stretch, every pitch, every swing heightens the tension on a mystery that might be too tough for Rawlings to deliver in the clutch this time.

THE DEADLY CONFINES While the nation wages war against Germany in 1918, utility infielder Mickey Rawlings has been traded to the North Side of Chicago. He's batting a career high (a respectable.274) and the Cubs are in first place. For the first time in a long while Mickey is feeling financially secure enough to buy furniture. That's when his best friend-rookie Willie Kaiser-is shot dead right on the diamond. While the official explanation is "accidental death from a stray bullet," Mickey thinks someone's taken the anti-war sentiment too far. Between collapsing bleacher seats and pretzel sabotage in the stands, Mickey's search for answers takes him from silent movies to speakeasies to the stockyards. As long as he keeps fouling off clues, it's only a matter of time before a killer is caught in a rundown-or Mickey is tagged out permanently.

Murderer's Row. It's 1920, and perennial 25th man Mickey Rawlings has found a spot on the Detroit roster with a .250 average and 20 stolen bases. Respectable numbers for a utility infielder. Unfortunately, that doesn't exempt him from being put in a lineup for murder, even if he's playing toss with the tempestuous talents of Ty Cobb. Mickey admits he was at a player's union rally in Fraternity Hall, but he insists he had nothing to do with the bullet that shot organizer Emmett Siever. It turns out convincing his teammates and the front office of his innocence is about as easy as selling a slide into second to a blind ump. Before Mickey's journeyman career takes one last wrong turn--into a grave--he needs to find the real killer to keep the ball in play and maybe contribute to the Tigers climbing out of last place in the standings.

The Big Dead Machine It's 1921, and journeyman infielder Mickey Rawlings finds himself on yet another team, the Cincinnati Reds, who everyone remembers for "winning" the 1919 World Series against the infamous Chicago Black Sox. In an effort to refurbish their image, Oliver Perrimen, a die-hard Reds fan cooks up a memorabilia exhibit of the 1869 Cincinnati Red Stockings, who went undefeated in a historic coast-to-coast romp. But before the tour can reach first base, someone strikes Ollie out with a well-placed bullet. Since murder seems to follow Mickey around like a hitting slump he can't quite quit, he starts snagging clues. Soon enough he finds his hands full with a forgotten murder, breaking and entering, and an angry girlfriend. But when the game of his own life is on the line, Mickey Rawlings is a born survivor. At least he hopes...

A Race To Stay Alive 1922. Another year, another team. Utility infielder Mickey Rawlings is now warming the pine for the St. Louis Browns, a team poised to go all the way. Rawlings should be overjoyed with the situation but the lack of playing time has him sneaking off to play incognito in the semi-pros. The competition is just as rough, though. In fact, some of the best players to ever throw a curveball or line up for a swing are his opponents. The only reason they aren't in the majors is because of their team color--black. Turns out that's the least of their worries. When the star pitcher of the Negro East St. Louis Cubs is found lynched after a win, Rawlings has to do everything he can to track down the killer and prevent a repeat of the deadly race riots of 1917. If he can stay alive. . .