A new beginning<\/strong><\/p>\nGronsky moved back with his parents in Danville while re-assessing his future.<\/p>\n
\u201cDave started guiding me around that time. I only saw myself as a baseball player and now that was over,\u201d Gronsky said. \u201cDave started sharing his life, his family\u2019s life and his testimony. It was the thing I needed exactly at that time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then, one day while talking at a local coffee shop, the two starting talking more about Josiah\u2019s miraculous story and the impact he was having on the game of baseball throughout the St. Louis Cardinals\u2019 organization.<\/p>\n
\u201cDave said he didn\u2019t want Josiah\u2019s life to be forgotten. I told him to consider all the lives Josiah had impacted and that he would never be forgotten, but Dave pointed out that if it wasn\u2019t written down, it would fade away over time,\u201d Gronsky said. \u201cRight away, I said that we needed to do it. I had done some writing while in college at Monmouth.\u201d<\/p>\n
Bohner said he clearly remembers Gronsky\u2019s reaction to the idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt looked like he had just hit a grand slam. He immediately said he wanted to help,\u201d Bohner recalled. \u201cWe talked about just writing the story for ourselves. We were going to print it out and make up two nice copies at the local Staples that we\u2019d be able to get out down the road and look back on.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gronsky and Bohner met numerous times, with Bohner sharing not just Josiah\u2019s story, but his own personal tale of abuse and eventual forgiveness and redemption that was sparked by Josiah\u2019s presence in the extended family\u2019s life. Gronsky included stories from minor leaguers who have been forever impacted by Josiah\u2019s therapeutic effect on the Spikes organization, including one player\u2019s struggles with his mother\u2019s breast cancer diagnosis and how Josiah inspired him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe tried to make it as close to the bone as possible. It was never intended to go beyond copies for each of us,\u201d said Gronsky. \u201cBut Ben Houser with ESPN heard about the project and encouraged us to get it published. The idea was to impact those around us, so we decided to try.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process wasn\u2019t easy.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were unknown authors, and we received numerous rejections when we received a call from Sunbury Press out of Mechanicsburg. They wanted to get it out there for us,\u201d Gronsky said.<\/p>\n
The book, \u201cA Short Season: Faith, Family and a Boy\u2019s Love for Baseball,\u201d was released in March and immediately became Sunbury Press\u2019 best seller for the month.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know what the story will do, but part of me doesn\u2019t care,\u201d Gronsky said. \u201cThe goal was tell an honest story that can live beyond any of us \u2014 and I feel we did just that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The process \u2014 with Josiah and his boundless optimism and passion for the game at its center \u2014 has given Gronsky a new direction in life.<\/p>\n
\u201cDave was approached numerous times by more accomplished writers about this story, but the fact that he trusted me, an ex-ball player, with his one shot at this story means more to me personally than anyone will ever know,\u201d Gronsky said. \u201cIt has given me the confidence I need to pursue this. I hope to continue sharing inside stories from the baseball diamond that aren\u2019t already being told.\u201d<\/p>\n
He is already on his next project. After sending a rough draft of Josiah\u2019s story to longtime friend and 2006 World Series Most Valuable Player David Eckstein for feedback, Gronsky received an interesting call from Eckstein.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he had wanted to write a book about his personal story, and when he saw what I did with Josiah\u2019s story, he wanted to partner with me for his own book,\u201d Gronsky said. \u201cHe was my favorite player when I was a kid, with one of his jerseys hanging in my closet and one of his posters on my wall. Next thing I know, he\u2019s booking a flight to Orlando to work with him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gronsky said the first manuscript is done for that book, and he expects it to be published sometime in 2019.<\/p>\n
Regardless of where Gronsky\u2019s writing career takes him \u2014 he admits he will not forget how it all started.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought my whole life that I was destined to be a major league player,\u201d he said. \u201cBut if my entire professional baseball career was setting me up for this \u2014 the broken hand, meeting Josiah and ultimately telling these stories from the diamond, then it was worth the ride the entire way.\u201d<\/p>\n
For more information about \u201cA Short Season: Faith, Family and a Boy\u2019s Love for Baseball,\u201d visit www.sunburypress.com<\/p>\n
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