Endorsements & Recommendations

This is Field of Dreams meets The Road to Damascus, a blend of baseball and belief-at times humorous, at times poignant-that is neither sacrilegious nor shallow. Just as understanding baseball at its deepest levels helps us appreciate the game, so does Sermon on the Mound help us appreciate life and the Author of life. Michael O'Connor for Rookie of the Year.
Bob Welch
Author of Stories From the Game of Life & A Father For All Seasons

"Michael O'Connor brings fresh eyes and new talent to the old craft of baseball writing."
Dan Shaughnessy, The Boston Globe

"The more I read, the more I'm moved. Michael O'Connor finds in baseball a child's joy, a man's salvation, and God's grace."
Dave Kindred—The Sporting News

"Sermon on the Mound is a wonderfully written story of Michael O'Connor's three loves: baseball, his wife, and God. It presents a beautiful word picture of how God uses what we love to establish an eternal, loving relationship with each of us."
Johnny Oates—Manager, Texas Rangers

"What a great combination! Michael O'Connor blends the great game of baseball with a Christian testimony that hits a home run!"
Jerry Colangelo—C.E.O., Managing General Partner, Arizona Diamondbacks

"This book is for anyone who has daydreamed while playing right field, felt a sizzling line drive ricochet off his shin, or made that long, lonely walk back to the dugout after being thrown out at second. Then again, it's for anyone who wants some homespun wisdom grounded in biblical truth, all delivered with O'Connor's gentle pitch from the mound."
Tom Neven—Editor, Focus on the Family

What I know about baseball wouldn't even fill a catcher's mitt. But I know good writing--make that gorgeous writing. Michael O'Connor knows how to make words sing, and sing they do in Sermon on the Mound. His prose is lyrical, his message, novel. I'm a voracious reader, yet there are only a few writers today whom I place in the "excellent" category: Anne Lamott, Frank McCourt, Annie Dillard, Pat Conroy, and John McPhee. To that list, I now add Michael O'Connor.
Laura Jensen Walker,
Author of Thanks for the Mammogram
& Dated Jekyll, Married Hyde

Michael O'Connor crafts each word with the disciplined grace of a poet-albeit one who is clutching a hotdog and spilling a Coke as he roars "SLIDE!" at the guy heading for third base. Sermon on the Mound will leave you whispering, "Thank God for Baseball."  And if you listen closely, you'll hear "You're welcome."
Dave Meurer
Author of Boyhood Daze & Daze of Our Wives

"Michael O'Connor knows how to turn a phrase.  His description of America's favorite pastime is delivered with the precision of a Catfish Hunter and all the flamboyance of a Randy Johnson. You'll have to decide for yourself whether Sermon on the Mound is a baseball book about spirituality or a spiritual book about baseball. Either way, it's a grand slam homerun."
David Brickner
Executive Director, Jews For Jesus

Isn't it ironic that a human error in baseball contributed to Michael O'Connor winning the most important game of his life by accepting Jesus Christ as His Savior.  In baseball, practicing makes us better.  In real life practicing His presence continually puts us in position to lead others to Jesus and enables us to live a life of joy and contentment.  As the Bible declares, "In His presence is fullness of joy." Michael and Sally know that by surrendering to Him, they have won life's equivalent to the World Series!
Gene Pemberton
Chaplain, Houston Astros Baseball Club