Ya Gotta Believe!: My Roller-Coaster Life as a Screwball Pitcher, and Part-Time Father, and My Hope-Filled Fight Against Brain Cancer

Tug McGraw's "Ya Gotta Believe!" was the rallying cry of the 1973 New York Mets. But it was also the rallying cry of the boisterous left-handed relief pitcher who made millions of fans believe in the impossible, especially when-as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies-he struck out Kansas City's Willie Wilson to win the 1980 World Series. And when he was diagnosed with brain cancer in 2003, it was the son he denied fathering for seventeen years who came to his rescue-country music star Tim McGraw. Tug was a man who would rise to fame, fall from grace, and become a champion not just in baseball, but in life.

From Casey Stengel, Tom Terrific and the Amazin' Mets; to Lefty, Schmitty, and Pete Rose from the championship Phillies; to his return to baseball; to brain surgery and chemotherapy; Tug McGraw writes openly of his on-field triumphs and off-field antics, of family tragedy and financial problems, and what happens to a professional athlete when the cheering stops. Above all, he turns his no-holds-barred style on his cancer recovery and his ever-evolving relationship with Tim. It wasn't until his own American Dream threw him a curve that Tug began to understand that "Ya Gotta Believe."