The heart and soul of the game.

Chasing A Dream I is based on a season with the last professional barnstorming team in the world, the Indianapolis Clowns. Chasing A Dream I is a baseball story but it is also a story about the heart and soul of America. Chasing A Dream I is a  story of America’s real dream team. These young men and an old man lived the American dream: They tried their best each day and hoped for a better tomorrow. These Clowns covered more than 25,000 miles and never missed a game or failed to produce a smile. Muhammad Y. Ali and Tommy Huckleberry Nolan kept the dialogues jumping as their experiences from opposite sides of the color line in Chicago gave them different perspectives as they came to know and understand each other. These two young men show the “roots” of black anger and white resentment. There were no failures on this team despite the fact that not all the players made the big leagues. Failure to this team was being afraid to Chase the Dream! They learned that when you give your best, you reap the benefits from that effort alone. They were young men and an old man from many different backgrounds and cultures who ate, slept, traveled, fought and worked together. When they woke in the morning, whether it was on the road or in a hotel, they were happy and filled with anticipation for the day ahead. They were happy because they were doing with their lives what they wanted to do: They were Chasing A Dream!

About the Author

Tommy Huckleberry Nolan graduated and was a good baseball player at UIC. He then began a baseball adventure traveling the world playing the game. Huckleberry changed his name, lied about his age, hid injuries and did whatever he could to keep the dream alive. Like “Forrst Gump,” he ended up in many historical places. His Koln Dodgers lost the last West German Championship and first German championship in October of 1990 in the greatest national championship game ever played as Huckleberry helped the CIA and KGB win the cold war. Finally, it was time to grow up and he put the game on hold after he got married and had a baby. Tommy knew a guy, who knew a guy and he became a Crook County Sheriff for close to 17 years before the racism, the politics and the frustration from seeing so many broken dreams forced him to retire and he decided to finish his book on his team the Indianapolis Clowns, the last surviving team from the old Negro leagues. Tommy got  back in the game coaching and playing baseball in Sweden and Germany, promoting his two books, Chasing A Dream I and Chasing A Dream III. He may have wound up  4000 miles from Wrigley Field but he still loves the game and the goodness that it brings to life.