He called their experience “Fridays with Rich,” coined after Mitch Albom’s popular book “Tuesdays with Morrie.”

Nearly every Friday morning for two years, Jeff Grose called Rich Strack and told him his life story that has been recently published in book length form. “Wild Pitch, A Memoir of Baseball, Booze and the Beast” is a flesh-off-the-bone blast into a man’s brutal past that screams to its readers about childhood pain and a long journey from abject failure to the joys of redemption.

Strack, a Times News writer for the past 13 years, had met Grose during their teaching days at Colonia High School in New Jersey.

“I was nearing my retirement,” Strack said, “and into the department office walks this guy who at age 50 was just beginning a teaching career.”

The two quickly became friends and Strack’s interest piqued when he found out that Grose had played baseball at Colonia, pitched several no hitters and was drafted at age 16 by the New York Mets.

“I had to go to spring training in Florida after my junior year,” said Grose, “and then return to finish my senior year to graduate.”

Lost innocence

What compelled these two former teachers to tell his tale was not just Grose’s desire to pitch in the big leagues, but his backstory of childhood beatings from an alcoholic father that eventually led to nights during his minor league baseball years when Grose was finding himself passed out drunk on bathroom floors and awakening to haunting thoughts of suicide.

Through many tears cried between Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Grose and Strack recreated this horrific childhood scene, one of many, in the book:

“My brother Harry dove under the table with me. Last Saturday, I had blown out eight candles on my birthday cake from the other side of where we huddled now. I heard footsteps coming closer. It wouldn’t be Mom for sure. She disappeared every time Dad came home drunk. With his fingers gripped onto my arm, Harry didn’t see the hand reach under the table. Grabbing him by the back of his shirt, Dad dragged him out on his rear end. Harry screamed. His sneakers pounded drumbeats on the linoleum floor. I cringed at the whap, whap, whap of Dad’s belt on my brother’s bare bottom. Then it got quiet, really quiet until the sound of footsteps came near again. I hoped it was Mom coming to tell me it was okay for me to come out from under the table. He grabbed me by the hair on my head and I knew nothing could save me now. “Here it comes!” Dad shouted. From the kitchen floor, I looked to my right. Mom stood at the bathroom door holding her hand over her mouth.”

“Jeff and his brother and sister were beaten with a belt by their father,” Strack said. “Jeff became a ‘scumbag,’ using his own word, and turned to getting high on pot and drinking whatever was available with his loser friends. He failed his sophomore year after missing 68 days of school.”

The beast, the booze

Grose was able to turn the anger he had stored against his father into an energy he called the “beast” that he funneled into his pitching arm. He was a strikeout machine at Colonia, and his success earned him a contract with the Mets.

“Wild Pitch” has moments of humor, which Grose says was necessary to keep him alive. On his first flight to Florida for spring training, a big man, holding a coloring book and crayons, plopped himself next to Grose and told him that his name was Goofy because he could laugh like the Disney dog. Grose tried to ignore Goofy, but once the conversation turned to baseball, they became close friends and minor league roommates.

“By the time the plane had set down on the runway, Goofy and I had colored two dogs, a bird and an orange clown,” Grose said.

“His minor league baseball success promoted him to the Mets big league spring training camp where manager Yogi Berra told him he would be the first call up when a pitcher was needed, but a serious injury to his pitching arm drove Grose down a dark road to a dead-end street where his baseball and personal life exploded into slivers of broken liquor bottles,” Strack said. “He became his drunken father. He saw no way out and neither will his readers until a spiritual force will try to save him from self-destruction and guide his way to redemption, forgiveness and a lifetime pledge to help others.”

“My children claimed I was their hero, but I became a full-blown addict and I could never understand why they had felt the way they did,” said Grose, who has been sober for the past 36 years. “It is only in connecting the dots backward that I can make sense of this fact.”

Readers react

The reviews of Wild Pitch have all been favorable. One reader said: “A powerful true story of redemption and resilience. In ‘Wild Pitch,’ acclaimed author Rich Strack of Upon a Field of Gold tells the harrowing yet inspiring journey of Jeff Grose — a man shaped by a violent childhood and years of addiction. From surviving his father’s abuse to becoming the very figure he once feared, Jeff’s story is a raw look at what it takes to rebuild a life. Through baseball and spiritual awakening, he finds his way back. A compelling and heartfelt read.”

Another wrote: “ ‘Wild Pitch’ is a deeply moving and powerful exploration of addiction’s far-reaching impact. The author offers an unflinching look at a man’s struggles with addiction and the toll it takes, not only on him but also on his family and friends. Through vivid storytelling and raw honesty, ‘Wild Pitch’ sheds light on the painful struggle with a disturbing reality, making it a must-read for anyone seeking to understand this complex issue on a more profound level.”

“Rich is a writer and I am a storyteller,” Grose said. “If one person can benefit from our story, then we will have accomplished our mission.”

“Wild Pitch” is available on Amazon books and Barnes & Noble online in hardcover, paperback and Kindle editions.