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Author Rajesh C. Oza. Courtesy Rajesh C. Oza.<\/p>\nAuthor Rajesh C. Oza. Courtesy Rajesh C. Oza.<\/p>\n
Novelist Toni Morrison famously said \u201cIf there\u2019s a book that you want to read, but it hasn\u2019t been written yet, then you must write it.\u201d<\/p>\n
For longtime Palo Alto resident Rajesh C. Oza<\/a>, the process of writing his debut novel \u201cDouble Play on the Red Line\u201d was, by his own admission, a way of making good on Morrison\u2019s advice.\u00a0<\/p>\n Blending genres like historical and autobiographical fiction, the book delves into themes such as racial inequity, immigration law and the American social justice system in the foreground, with Major League Baseball in the background.<\/p>\n Set in 1950s Chicago, the book tells the story of an unlikely friendship between two men of color \u2014 Ratan, an Indian-American professor of sports journalism, and Ernie, an African American peanut vendor who loses his shot at a successful baseball career after he is wrongfully convicted of murder. The novel unfolds as Ratan investigates the truth behind the fateful incident that changed Ernie\u2019s life. As Ratan searches for information that will exonerate Ernie, he gets to know him and shares details from his own life. The two men slowly become friends.<\/p>\n That one of Oza\u2019s protagonists is the fictional namesake of baseball legend Ernie Banks<\/a> is not a coincidence. For years, he said that he has harbored a fascination for the \u201cwhat ifs\u201d of life and has been very taken by the idea that a single moment can tilt one\u2019s fortunes toward tragedy. Taking a real-life hero and creating an alter ego for him on the page was his way of scratching that mental itch.\u00a0In real life, Banks, who played for the Chicago Cubs, was a hall of famer<\/a>, a two-time National League MVP, 14-time All-Star and winner of a Gold Glove award.<\/p>\n The character of Ernie shares some of Banks\u2019 background, including launching a career in the 1950s with the Kansas City Monarchs, a team in the Negro American League, and serving in the U.S. military during the Korean War. Once the fictional Ernie is scouted for the Cubs, his story diverges from that of the real Banks.<\/p>\n \u201cThis sense of our doppelg\u00e4nger, this \u2018other,\u2019 this alternate sense of who we are \u2026 the reason to use Ernie is to really bring home the fact that this could happen to anyone,\u201d Oza said.<\/p>\n Inspiration for the book first came to Oza back in 2007 when his daughter worked on The Innocence Project, a program at Northwestern University\u2019s Medill School of Journalism, aimed at investigating wrongful convictions. The program was later renamed Medill Justice Project<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oza\u2019s daughter and the team she worked with helped prove the innocence of an incarcerated person, but that person was not exonerated. Deeply moved by the story, Oza tried turning it into a work of nonfiction but said that he failed because he felt \u201ctoo close\u201d to it.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Double-Play-on-the-Red-Line-Cover-Spine_v05-1.jpg\")
Rajesh C. Oza\u2019s debut novel, \u201cDouble Play on the Red Line,\u201d is set in 1950s and \u201960s Chicago and features a character with some details inspired by baseball legend Ernie Banks. Courtesy Rajesh C. Oza.<\/p>\n