When the Grain Ran True: Memoirs of a Major League Bat Boy

The true story of a young man and his dream that lasted a lifetime. Masterfully told and inspirational, this is a book for all to enjoy. Here's more...

Glenn Robert Davis (nicknamed Bob) was just a regular 14 year old kid from suburban Chicago—until he spent an incredible season on big league fields with many of the stars of this exciting era in MLB history. Illustrated with pictures and memorabilia, this is his remembrance of that journey.

Specifically, the book describes the personal growth Bob enjoyed that year and is filled with happiness, a bit of drama, some sadness, incredible joy and a few significant challenges to overcome as well. While the focus of this work is on the experiences he had during that amazing era in history, moreover it speaks to the lessons he learned then that he still carries with him in his life today. Along the way, we learn about Bob's family, where he grew up and how his relationship with the great game of baseball evolved over the years. Bob also shares with us many of the lessons The Game taught him, both on and off the field.

Much more than just a collection of stories or name droppings, the work intends to provide the reader with insights that go beyond the corners of the ball diamond and well beyond his days working on them. It is not an expose or tell-all book; the reader will not hear deep insights into the player's personalities, phantom tales of their off-field antics or what the team managers might have said behind closed doors in the Clubhouse, etc. which as a kid, he was never privy to. However, the stories Bob relates are one's that he personally experienced both on and off the field and are not based on locker room gossip. Rather, this is a wholesome coming of age account of Bob's life-journey and how his role as the White Sox Visiting Team Bat Boy impacted him, helping to shape the Grain within his heart forever.

So come aboard and put yourself into Bob's shoes as you follow him into those memories from a time when the very fabric of the Nation and that of Major League Baseball, were being tested as never before. An enjoyable read for dreamers of all ages, When the Grain Ran True is warm, witty and moving while also providing a unique view into the great Game of Baseball, both Then and Now.

Raised in Glenview, Illinois, in 1965 Glenn (then known by his nickname Bob) was chosen in a contest sponsored by the Chicago Daily News to be the Visiting Team Bat Boy for the Chicago White Sox. To qualify as a contestant, he wrote a letter in the requisite 50 words and after a day-long interview process at old Comiskey Park, the rest became history for the then fourteen year old. Later, he graduated from the University of Illinois-Chicago with a Bachelors degree in Communications, before setting-off to pursue the balance of his life's journey. Glenn became the CEO of a national professional organization and then entered the rapidly evolving world of technology in 1986. There, he held various leadership roles in marketing and sales for several noted software companies including Chipsoft, Great Plains and Microsoft. During that time, Glenn honed his writing skills while expanding his love of the game of baseball. He served as a coach and teacher of the game for many years and now watches many local high school and college teams play, nearly on a daily basis throughout much of the year. Today, Glenn is an avid motorcycle rider and the very proud father of his son Chris, himself once an accomplished baseball player, and of his talented and beautiful daughter Ashley. Daughter-in-law Lauren and son-in-law Jose have also become welcomed members of the family in recent years. And then there is Charlie, their incredible canine. The Grain surely Runs True in him! Glenn and his lovely wife Merci recently returned to the Chicago area from California where he can once again cheer on his beloved White Sox!