On the Eighth Day, God Made Baseball

By: Mark Littell

Narrated by: Bill Palanuk

Major League Baseball has had its share of characters. Mark Littell is a one-of-a-kind, mold-breaking country boy from the Bootheel of Missouri. In this book, Mark takes you through his wild and wooly career as a baseball player, from his very first at-bat when he was six years old, through his career in the Major Leagues. This collection of unbelievable tales will have you on the floor laughing, as Mark's Southern twang and quick wit show you a side of baseball you've never seen before.

Listen on to discover what the most common baseball term is, how a country boy from Missouri made it from the farm to the major league pitching mound, and why the city of Cleveland won't let Mark back.

©2015 Mark Alan Littell (P)2017 Mark Alan Littell

There is no one like Mark Littell

Loved the stories, this will be very appealing for all baseball people.

missed opportunity:
Mark Littell is a National treasure, he's lived a life that only he can tell. To have someone else narrate his book... is like driving to a spring training game only to find out it's a split squad. Or like taking a ball to the cojones without wearing your nutty. Rule #1 protect the boys. Rule #17 when you're Captain Ramrod, you gotta narrate your own book.

I would have paid triple to have Mark narrate.

It all happened that way or it didn't happen

Mark has an amazing way of telling a story such that when he's finished with the telling, you'll be left wanting to say that "common baseball term." The best thing about this book is that by the end of it, not only will you be wondering what's embellished and what wasn't, but you'll know for sure that Mark Littell has lived an interesting life.

It turns out that I knew Mark "back when," but most of these stories are new to me. Unlike my little brother, I was a lot more interested in computers than baseball. In later years, the two of them would hang out together in his minor league adventures.

But I will never forget the day that Grandpa and Mark were taking me out to see a log house. You see, Grandpa was deaf in his left ear. I was just a kid; I didn't know anything about driving. Later, I was telling my mom about this spontaneous trip, and she froze. She turned to face me fully and asked, "Who was driving?" and looked very concerned. "Ummm, Mark?" I answered with hesitation at her expression. "Were either of them watching the road?" she asked, her voice a bit higher, and yet, oddly resigned.

Both had the habit you develop when you are deaf on one side for a long time: You turn your head towards the speaker. Mark did this while he was driving. However, with Grandpa in the front and a kid in the back, no one was REALLY watching the road. (And you thought cell phones were distracting!)

I thought about this memory hearing Mark regale us in this book with stories a few stories centered on his driving ... and the knowledge that just like his appearances from the bullpen, he had a tendency to "make it interesting" behind the wheel, too!