However, Hayhurst’s latest wild pitch does not appear in Major League Baseball’s stat sheet, but it is his most popular one to date.

“Wild Pitches,” is the E-Book complement to “Out Of My League,” The New York Times’ Best Seller about the everyday grind of a Minor League pitcher trying to break into to the Major Leagues; all while dealing with life’s greatest struggles.

Hayhurst played ball during parts of two Major League seasons for the Padres and Toronto Blue Jays. He spent most of his career though in the Minor Leagues.

The E-book is the lost tapes version of “Out Of My League,” consisting over 100 pages of journal entries that did not make it into the first book.

The title of the book reflects Hayhurst’s pitching career.

“A wild pitch is a term for pitches thrown outside the zone,” the pitcher turned author said.

“These are ideas that you had pitch to the publisher and they were called out or a ball. None of them really hitting the mark, they were wild,” he said of the title.

If you have yet to read “Out Of My League,” the baseball author recommends doing so before reading “Wild Pitches,” because he said, neither book would be as “fun” if you were to read it the other way around.

“If you read ‘Out of My league,’ and you know the narrative, then this is some of the stuff that happened in between narratives,” the former Padres pitcher said.

“It is still important very important material as far as humor and insight to a Minor League team, but it wasn’t detrimental to the narration or the plot of ‘Out of My League.’”

“Wild Pitches” was released as an  E-book because it makes it more cost-effective for the reader, and includes exclusive material and pictures a reader can’t get from a book, Hayhurst said.

“Wild Pitches” has a forward by political commentator, Keith Olbermann, who is a good friend to Hayhurst.

Be sure to catch this wild pitch anywhere where digital books are sold.

Merila played for the University of Minnesota and Team USA before being drafted by the Padres in 1994. He played two minor league seasons before an enemy that would stick with him the rest of his life first made an appearance. In 1996, Merila was diagnosed with a brain tumor and forced to retire from baseball – as a player at least.

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Dirk Hayhurst played during parts of two Major League seasons for the Padres and the Blue Jays. He spent most of his career in the minor leagues though. That time as a prospect – or a non-prospect as he often calls himself – is what lead him to his new calling. While Hayhurst is still technically a free agent after spending the 2011 season with Tampa Bay’s Triple-A affiliate, his new passion is for writing. He wrote The Bullpen Gospels in 2010, and he has his second book, Out of My League, hitting shelves this March.

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