"Hey Mom, wanna have a catch?"

This is a collection of baseball stories from award winning authors, college professors, baseball broadcasters, former players and baseball fans about the influence their Mom or Dad had on their lifelong passion for the love of America's National Pastime.

In his new book "Hey Mom, wanna have a catch?" author Rob Sheinkopf has collected 42 baseball stories, adding to eight of his own, evoking emotions from contributors as they tell of their Dad taking them to their first Major League Baseball game, their Mom buying them their first glove, the late night phone call after their favorite team finally won it all, the phone call bringing comfort after a tough loss, and yes, for the lucky ones... their Mom or Dad having a catch with them in the backyard.

As Rob puts it, "For my generation, our fathers and mothers survived the Great Depression, WWII, Vietnam era protests and massive social changes; they smoked cigarettes, ate red meat with reckless abandon and their big scary cars didn't have seatbelts or headrests; and when they came home from a long, hard day at work, they had little energy left to play catch with their sons and daughters. Yet somehow, with their love and kindness, they supported our obsession for baseball, so it could be passed on to the next generation."

This heartfelt and unique collection of stories about our parents reflects the depth of emotions we feel as we reminisce about our childhood and the kindness of our parents, remembering our first baseball glove, our first professional game, and baseball, our first love.