William F. Burke

Double Play: (The Spy Who Loved Baseball) William F. Burke

The book is a story of a young man's dream of playing professional baseball. While in the U. S. Air Force, stationed at Lajes Field in the Azore Islands Oct. 1956, and during an alert as a result of a flare up in the Middle East, his life takes a turn towards adventure and intrigue. Billy Bell meets Mike Malone who is suspected of being a Russian Agent. For the next six years, Bell's life is consumed with a desire to play professional baseball and making secret trips into Cuba with his covert team of agents. His persistent efforts pay off as he is signed by the Boston Red Sox to a Minor League contract. When the CIA learn of missles being placed in Cuba (denied by Castro and the Russians) Bell's team is sent in to take photographs of missile silos under construction. These photographs would then be presented to the United Nations proving Castro and the Russians were lying. The success of the mission depends on Bell's team to get photographs, and return.