Marvin “Merv” Moore was one of the early trailblazers of American baseball coaches relocating overseas to teach the sport to European athletes. The native Texan played a vital role in elevating the game in Switzerland and transformed one of Europe’s weakest national teams into a legitimate B-Pool contender.

However, while he was achieving success on the baseball diamond, his personal life was in turmoil.

Burdened with the guilt of not preventing the suicide of his best friend at the age of 19, Merv turned to drugs and alcohol to escape these haunting feelings.

He was the one whom his friend called late at night to ramble incoherently until he fell asleep on the phone. He was the one who helped Stanley prepare a last will and testament without even considering death. He was the only one who might have saved his best friend’s life. But he dropped the ball.

World Baseball Guy is a collection of real-life stories from places like Basel, Berlin, Zagreb, Vienna, Barcelona, Bandar Seri Begawan, Thimphu, and Kathmandu. Follow the wild adventures of Merv as he navigates living in foreign countries and pursuing a coaching career, all while battling his inner demons.

From playing street baseball with kids at a Slovenian housing project in Ljubljana to having a nightmarish picnic with gymnasts in Ukraine to almost provoking a public riot in Croatia — come along for an extraordinary worldwide journey of struggle and personal growth.

The paperback is listed for $12.99 on Moore’s Books.by storefront, as checked Sept. 25. Readers can find the book’s description and ordering information at books.by/merv-moore/world-baseball-guy.

Disclosure: Merv Moore is the editor in chief of Shop in Seagoville and the author of the book featured in this article.

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