Local Author Releases Children’s Book: Billy the Blue-Stitched Baseball

John W. Scafetta is a New York transplant who moved to Georgia in 2020 just prior to the pandemic, along with his wife Sarah and 13-month-old daughter Sienna. The family is pretty new to the area, living in Buckhead before calling Peachtree Corners home about a year ago. They have started to settle into the community by virtually attending services at the Christ the King Lutheran Church.

And Scafetta is already making a name for himself, publishing a debut children’s book with Page Publishing titled “Billy the Blue-Stitched Baseball”, a creative tale about a unique baseball who learns how to deal with being teased for not looking like the other baseballs due to his irregular blue laces.

Scafetta currently works as a Senior Marketing Communications Specialist with Canon Solutions America, a branch of Canon U.S.A. But Scafetta’s career started as a sports journalist, covering high school athletics and local colleges. Credit lines of note include articles for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Los Angeles Times, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, and many more before shifting to the marketing and corporate communications field.

Some fun trivia about Scafetta, given the recent Atlanta Braves World Series victory, is that despite growing up in New York, Scafetta is actually a die-hard Atlanta Braves fan. Prior to his grandparents passing away, they retired to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Between the proximity to Atlanta and TBS broadcasting games nationwide at the time, Scaffetta became a huge baseball and Braves fan from the age of four.

“Needless to say, us Braves fans have had an unbelievable year!” Scaffetta said.
So perhaps all that dreaming in the afterglow of the baseball diamond culminated in his latest writing project.

“I never envisioned writing a children’s book, to be honest. As I was brainstorming ideas for my first non-fiction book, I began to think about why I first fell in love with baseball. My grandfather, who I previously mentioned above, got me into baseball. We would analyze stats, watch games together, discuss the strategy and history of the game,” Scafetta said.

About the time that Scafetta pondered the question of a story worth telling, the birth of his daughter became a source of inspiration.

“As an anti-bullying advocate, I wanted to create something that would teach not only my daughter but other children the Golden Rule of treating others the way you want to be treated and following your dreams no matter what others might say,” Scafetta said.

The charming story is currently available on all platforms, including Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Keep an eye out for Scafetta’s next creative ventures, as he’s currently in the research phase of his next book, a non-fiction journalistic piece, tentatively titled “The Paper Chase.” It will examine the impact print journalism’s coverage has had on 20 specific events in baseball history.

He’s also brainstorming his next sports-related children’s book, as well as outlining a future novel in the thriller genre.