Tom Friend - The Chicken Runs at Midnight: A Daughters Message from Heaven That Changed a Fathers Heart and Won a World Series

Contents

The Chicken Runs at Midnight is a beautiful story of baseball, family, and faith. Tom Friend does a wonderful job of weaving these three themes together and telling you a story that will give you the chills. You will cry; you will laugh; and you will tell the story over and over againjust as I have.

Craig Counsell, manager of the Milwaukee Brewers

How do you begin to describe a story that defies description? Well, Tom Friend has done it, masterfully. He has captured the essence of what made Rich Donnelly one of the most respected men in baseball without sugar-coating his personal trials. And he leaves us wishing we had been lucky enough to have met Richs daughter, Amy. It is the fascinating story of a girl with a vision and a man after Gods own heart.

Ernie Johnson Jr., TBS/TNT sportscaster, author of the New York Times bestseller Unscripted

The Chicken Runs at Midnight is the kind of heartwarming story all of us need, not just baseball fans. In our loud, busy world, its a poignant reminder of what is truly important.

Tom Verducci, bestselling author of The Yankee Years and The Cubs Way

In The Chicken Runs at Midnight, Tom Friend does a masterful job of depicting how the tragic death of Rich Donnellys daughter, Amy, resulted in the ultimate victory of the human spirit. Through it all, its clear to see that Rich was not only a great baseball man in his day. Hes also an outstanding human being.

Congressman Pete King, 2nd District, New York

I enjoy everything Tom Friend writes, and the story of Rich Donnelly and his dying daughters encouragement is one of the most compelling Ive heard in more than three decades of covering baseball. This book is sure to be a must-read.

Ken Rosenthal, The Athletic/Fox Sports/MLB Network

Rich Donnelly is one of the funniest people Ive ever metin baseball and in life. But more important, hes one of the most amazing human beings Ive ever met. So Im so glad he and Tom Friend have collaborated on this incredible book. Youll laugh. Youll cry. But when youre through, youll know the real, beautiful Rich Donnelly his friends know. And youll be glad you do.

Jayson Stark, senior baseball writer, The Athletic

The Chicken Runs at Midnight moved me from the minute I began reading it. Having grown up as a Braves fan in the 1990s when Sid Bream slid in safely at home and having watched the 97 World Series, I was mesmerized. But also getting to spend some time with Rich Donnelly at the 2017 World Baseball Classic made this book even more special to read. I admire Rich for putting himself out there with total transparency, and Tom Friend for telling the story with passion. Im sure this book will help many people in more ways than one!

Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants catcher, five-time All-Star selection, and 2012 National League MVP

Tom Friend has written a sweet book that tells the story of family, faith, death, and redemption. What lives beyond the pages is the indomitable spirit of an unforgettable young woman.

Gary Pomerantz, author of The Last Pass: Cousy, Russell, the Celtics, and What Matters in the End

Our daughter, Babe, died of brain tumors in 2005. When I saw the video of Richs story, I cried. I picked up the phone and called Rich. For the next two hours, we bonded like we had been friends for years. I told him about the Canuso Foundation and our Babes Kids program. I invited him to come to New Jersey and tell the story of Amy and the chicken runs at midnight for a group of high schools in our region. Wherever Rich spoke, the audience was overwhelmed and in tears. Richs story is some sort of miracle, and it motivates people who hear it. He is a good man and a great father with an incredible story.

John Canuso, founder and president of the Canuso Foundation

Tom Friends The Chicken Runs at Midnight is an incredible story beautifully told. Its much more than a sports book; its a wonderful gift to our culture.

Christine Brennan, USA Today sports columnist; CNN, ABC News, and PBS NewsHour commentator; bestselling author of Inside Edge

ZONDERVAN

The Chicken Runs at Midnight

Copyright 2018 by Tom Friend

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, 3900 Sparks Dr. SE, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49546

Epub Edition August 2018 9780310352075

ISBN 978-0-310-35206-8 (hardcover)

ISBN 978-0-310-35208-2 (audio)

ISBN 978-0-310-35207-5 (ebook)

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version , NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.Zondervan.com. The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.

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All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Published in association with Blauner Books Literary Agency.

Cover design: Faceout Studio

Cover photos: Shutterstock

Interior design: Kait Lamphere

Photo insert background: David Lee/Shutterstock

First printing July 2018 / Printed in the United States of America

To the best word

in the English language

family.

B aseball writers are not supposed to become friends with the people they cover. It is a conflict of interest, a rule I diligently followed in my forty years in the game with one exception: my friend, Rich Donnelly.

No one has ever made me laugh like he hasor at the same time made me cry. Weve had beers together and attended funerals together. One day, he threw me batting practice at Fenway Park. Another year, he coached our winter league basketball team and still brags about how we erased a twenty-eight-point halftime deficit to win the championship game. No one tells a story better than Rich Donnelly, and now he has told, with the help of another friend, the brilliant Tom Friend, the greatest baseball story of all timeThe Chicken Runs at Midnight.

The best stories in sports come from baseball, given its rich tradition, deliberate pace, and wonderful unpredictability. Yet some baseball stories, including portions of the 1919 Black Sox Scandal, Babe Ruths famous called shot in the 1932 World Series, and nearly any story about Rickey Henderson, are apocryphal or embellished. But my favorite baseball story everthe one told in this bookis all true. And it has every element of a transcendent storytragedy and triumph, tears and cheers, regret and redemption. It will make you smile; it will make you weep; it will inspire you and make you a better person for having read it, as it did Rich Donnelly for having lived it. This book is his life prophecy come true.

It is a baseball story, but like so many baseball stories, its about something more crucial: family. Baseball is a marvelous sport, a beautiful sport, but it can turn cruel. It can tear apart a family because the season is so long, the grind so rigorous and the game so difficult to play. Or as Rich says, If you dont smoke, the game will make you smoke. If you smoke, it will make you stop.