Pop Pop: The Fish That Could Play Baseball

By John A. Mercurio

Pop Pop is one of five novels John has written. This is a wonderful story about a ten-year old boy who loved to go fishing with his dad. The boy's name was Timmy. On several occasions a huge fish would break his line. While his dad was at work, Timmy decided to use his mom's old clothes line thinking the b

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brilliant Books Literary
• Release date: Sep 15, 2023
• ISBN: 9798889453437

John A. Mercurio

John Mercurio is an 87-year-old man who began writing in 1980 when he wanted to know who had more records between Babe and Ty Cobb. He could not find a record book with this information so he called the Baseball Hall of Fame and asked for their help. He was informed this book does not exist and no one knows how many records they have. They encouraged him to do the research and after 5 years, he not only had every record of Ruth and Cobb, but every season and career record of every player in baseball history. Harper & Collins published his first book in 1989 which was entitled, "A Chronology of Major League Baseball Records....1876-Present." They also published his second book, "Record Profiles of Baseball Hall of Famers." In addition, they published two team record books, "A Chronology Of New York Yankee Records....1901-Present" and "A Chronology of Boston Red Sox Records....1901-Present." These books did 1.5 million in sales. John has also done chronology research for all 30 major league baseball teams and has recently completed the research in the sports of Football, Basketball, Hockey, Golf, Tennis and the Olympics. Since no one knew how many records Babe Ruth had created, John also published a book which includes every one of Ruth's records and the players that broke his records and all of the unbroken records he still has after 88 years. Typical record books eliminate old records when new ones are created, but John's books never eliminate records but instead add all new ones to existing chronology lists so that no players or their records are ever forgotten and the history of records is forever preserved.

Book preview

CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1: Catching the Big Fish

Chapter 2: The Transformation

Chapter 3: The Trip to the White House

Chapter 4: Pop Pop Performs at Disneyland, Yankee Stadium & The Circus

About the Author

PREFACE

The Jones family lived in a small town in Florida. There was Bill, Mary and Timmy. The family had a dog named Brillo and a cat named Mitt.

Timmy is a ten-year old boy who loves to go fishing with his dad. But every time Timmy hooked on a big fish, his line would break as he was hauling it in. His dad would then give him stronger lines but they just kept breaking. While his dad was at work, Timmy tried to figure out a way to catch that big fish with a line that would not break. In his garage was an old clothes line that his mother was no longer using and Timmy thought that big fish could never break that line so he tied a big hook onto it along with a heavy sinker, and went down to the fishing pier on his bike.

Timmy wanted to surprise his dad by catching that big fish all by himself and put a big worm on his hook and swung it around like a lasso heaving it into the water as other people fishing looked on in astonishment seeing this clothes line being used.

Within minutes that big fish took a big bite onto the worm and began swimming off with it. People were yelling for Timmy to pull it in but Timmy who was only 60 pounds had a difficult time getting the fish in and up over the pier railing. After a half hour Timmy was exhausted, his poor little hands were bleeding and blistering. Timmy called out to God to give him the strength to pull in this monster fish as the crowd rooted him on. With God’s help Timmy pulled the big fish over the railing and flopped it onto the deck. He sat their exhausted and bleeding as the crowd began applauding him. Timmy had landed a 60-pound catfish.

Nearby was a TV crew filming an event on the shore. Hearing all the commotion, they ran over to see what was gong on and filmed Timmy, the big catfish and Timmy’s bleeding hands. This would bea very good story to put on the afternoon news.

Timmy had no way to get the fish home. The TV crew came to his rescue and put the big fish and Timmy’s bike into their van and drove him home as the crowd cheered and cheered.

It took two men to lift the 60-pound fish into their van. They wondered how it was possible for little Timmy to get the fish over the pier railing. Timmy said to them, Didn’t you hear me ask God for help?

CHAPTER 1

Catching the Big Fish

The TV crew quickly sent in what they had filmed and Timmy was now becoming a celebrity. Back at work, his dad was having lunch and saw the news and couldn’t believe his eyes. Getting permission to leave work early he rushed home to see the big fish which the TV crew had hung up on his front porch.

Cars were following the TV van, blowing their horns and neighbors were coming out of their homes to see what all the noise was all about. They were amazed at seeing the TV men hanging this humongous fish up on the porch.

Mom, mom, I did it, I did it, I caught the big fish. Wait ’til dad sees this, he yelled. Oh, Timmy look at your hands, she moaned. Aww, Mom, it ain’t nothing, God helped to do it. He smiled proudly. Oh Timmy, I’m so proud of you. Look at all the people who are here." She said.

This must be a miracle, said one of the men as they were lifting the fish out of the van.

The kid could not have done this by himself. I believe we have just seen the power of prayer, replied the other man who was also struggling. The kid said he was asking God to help him. Kinda makes you believe there is a God, said another. Yeah man, this is a miracle.

Timmy’s dad rushed through traffic and nearing home he yelled, That’s my son, that’s my son! He was very excited and bringing his car to a screeching halt, ran out and was amazed at the sight of this monster catfish which Timmy had caught.

Timmy, Timmy, you did it, you did it, I’m so proud of you, he yelled as he picked him up and gave him a big hug. When Timmy hugged him back the blood from his hands was now all over his dad’s shirt. Oh Tim, your hands are all bloody, shouted dad. Aww, it doesn’t hurt dad, it doesn’t hurt." Answered Timmy. Now his mom was washing the blood away as the TV men kept filming and the world was seeing all this on television as the crowd yelled and applauded. Now the police had arrived and were trying to control the crowd.

Timmy’s dad began wondering, How am I gonna get this big catfish onto my carving table which was along side of his in-ground swimming pool. Hey guys, thank you for getting this fish home and helping my son, would you also help me to get the fish onto my carving table, and hang around to have some catfish stew? The men were happy to help and again were shaking their heads as they struggled to carry the fish to the carving table. The policemen were also flabbergasted. How did the little kid pull this monster over that pier railing? This is incredible." one said.

CHAPTER 2

The Transformation

"W e are going to have one big fish dinner today folks, and all of you who would like a fish dinner, please stick around, "shouted dad. As his knife pricked the skin of the giant fish, a miraculous transformation took place which stunned the crowd as loud popping sounds were heard and two arms and legs burst out of the fish. The crowd screamed, Brillo barked and Mitt hissed. The creature screamed the loudest, jumped off the table and dove into the swimming pool. The policemen could not believe what they had just seen, the TV crew kept filming and now they really had an incredible story to show their viewers.

Did you see that? Did you see what I just saw, yelled a neighbor? I don’t believe this; I must be imagining this. One policemen said to the other, Hey Pete, we better call this into headquarters and get some back up. I sure in hell don’t know what to do about this. Yeah, I’ll do it right now." Answered the other bewildered policeman.

Now the creature was swimming in the pool, as soon as his body hit the water, his arms and legs went back into his body. The crowd could not believe this and they were wondering what kind of a creature this was. For sure, they had never seen anything like this before. The fish began to entertain them by flying out of the water and doing flips high into the air and every time his body came out of the water his arms and legs would pop out then go back in as he entered the water. This flabbergasted the crowd and they were very excited. The creature continued to thrill the people as it turned the pool water in beautiful rainbow colors. The people could not believe their eyes.

We’re going to get a big bonus for this story, said one TV man. This is going viral for sure. Yeah man, we were lucky to be at the pier when this happened. Wow, what is this thing? I’ll be damned if I know, "said the other.

All the while Timmy, and his mom and dad