Everyone is a suspect in Nick Garcia’s first published book, but the Fayetteville resident didn’t write a murder mystery. “A Very Big League of Their Own” is about the use of steroids in baseball, and Garcia believes he has found a formula that can “crack baseball’s steroid code.”

Garcia started the book before he knew there would even be a Mitchell Report. A longtime Major League Baseball and Atlanta Braves fan, Garcia’s faith in the game began to crack when Rafael Palmeiro spoke to a congressional hearing and adamantly denied using steroids.

“It made me mad,” Garcia said. “I knew players like Palmeiro and Sammy Sosa were lying.”

Garcia, an attorney, had developed a mathematical theory that basically states, “ a player fits within the theory if he has a 50-99 percent increase in home runs and a corresponding 25 point or more increase in batting average. A player also fits into the theory if he has a 100 percent or greater increase in home runs regardless of any increase in batting average. Garcia first looked at the admitted users and the accused users in Jose Canseco’s book “Juiced.” His theory worked.

One example from the book is Jason Giambi, an admitted user. Giambi was averaging 21 homeruns and a .293 batting average from 1996-1998. In the years between 1999 and 2002, he was averaging 36 home runs and a .326 batting average. Garcia’s theory predicted a range of between 32-42 home runs and a batting average between .318 and .368.

Garcia then went looking at other players who had dramatic increases in their levels of play and saw similar spikes and then saw drops in 2005 and 2006 when Major League Baseball started testing. The names that fit in the theory will blow your mind and, for Garcia, who estimated he watched 150 baseball games a year, it killed the game for him.

“I haven’t watched a full game in two years,” said Garcia. “I can’t get interested. You can only be burned so many times before you just give up.” Garcia stated he was tired of the lying, not just from players but also Major League Baseball itself. He feels they could have taken some action earlier, but they were too afraid of losing fan support.

“I’m not as mad at the players, although the book would make you think that,” Garcia said. “Their use of steroids, though, is a natural response for people trying to make a living and compete with others who they know or suspect are using too. I believe (Commissioner of Major League Baseball)Bud Selig turned a blind eye to the problem, though.”

Garcia and many other fans and sports pundits upset about the steroid problem plaguing baseball believe that serious testing needs to be done and that there have to be repercussions and penalties for players caught using. Garcia also believes that more and more names will come out during the 2008 season and he is sure that, like 80 percent of the names in the Mitchell Report, they will all fit into his theory. He also looks at pitchers and finds that admitted and suspected users have their strikeout rations increase past ages where pitchers in earlier decades used to see theirs drop off.

It should be noted that his book isn’t accusing anyone of taking steroids or using human growth hormone (HGH), it just states that their statistics fit into his theory.

“Not all users fit my theory,” Garcia stated. “I do think that the majority that do are users, but not all of them. It’s not a perfect way to find users.”

Still, a reader will come to accept that it might be a good way to screen players for possible steroid or HGH use and it will challenge them to look at their favorite teams and players and wonder if one of their dream seasons or chunks of their careers might be attributed to some chemical assistance.

The book is a quick and fascinating read for the average baseball fan and Garcia, a 1986 graduate of Fayette County High School, takes a humorous and sarcastic tone that has the reader laughing while shaking their heads in frustration at baseball’s now-tainted era. He started writing the book in September of 2006 and was done in September of 2007. The book was released just before the Mitchell Report was released and that has drawn some media attention to Garcia and his theory.

Garcia, who resides in Fayetteville with his wife, Myra, and their four children, will have two book signings in the next week. He will sign copies of “A Very Big League of Their Own” at the Barnes and Noble in Fayetteville on Tuesday, Jan. 22 from 4-6 p.m. and then at the Barnes and Noble in Newnan on the same evening from 7-9 p.m.

For more information on Garcia and his book, visit www.averybigleagueoftheirown.com

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