So many unanticipated results are coming with the publicity about the book. Cub fans, memorabilia collectors and baseball lovers in general are calling and writing about Charlie Root and the book.

Della is basking in the glow of autograph-seekers. For all those years that fans sought her father's autograph, "nobody ever asked me for mine." Well, the book has changed that.

I've heard from relatives of the Roots and most recently of Sheriff Blake, a 1929 Chicago Cub teammate of Charlie's.

The most pleasant result is hearing from my newsroom friends of a lifetime ago, including Stuart Warner and Bonnie Bolden (former editors where we all won the Pulitzer Prize as a staff in Akron), Marvin Jones (managing editor and then publisher of the Chillicothe Gazette), Andy Zajac (colleague in the Columbus bureau and now with the Chicago Tribune), Steve Wilson (my first boss while I was a college intern for Gannett News Service, USA Today and the Cincinnati Enquirer), Mike Curtin (public affairs editor and then publisher in Columbus) and Howard Wilkinson (the political reporter in Cincinnati for as long as my career).

The single greatest hire that I ever made was a college intern named Shannon Jackson who has had a wonderful journalism career which included stints in management with some top magazines and her own book that got a lot of publicity regarding the history of ice cream. Second best to hearing from her: She ordered several books for her family and friends.

Publisher Charlie Hughes of Wind Publications has completed the book cover so we're only days away from the first proofs of the book and still about one month from public release.

I love the steely eyes of Charlie Root. Everybody described him as quiet, humble and mild-mannered off the field, but an intimidating competitor once he stood on the mound. I think the cover photo captures that.

The eucalyptus trees still shade the left field line and chalk marks the boundaries just as 80 years ago, but this time for soccer and football, not for baseball.

The stands are gone. The field is in disrepair, with construction barriers and materials cluttering the territory once roamed by Hack Wilson, Riggs Stephenson and Kiki Cuyler.

At the Country Club, where the Cubs had their locker room and got the Andy Lotshaw rubdowns and treatments, there is a photo hanging over the bar of Charlie Root, Pat Malone and Gabby Hartnett. A uniform on the wall is from the 1929 team.

At the Casino, the beautiful ballroom where Dorothy and Charlie Root danced is still in perfect condition. Downstairs in the museum is a wall devoted to the Cubs and spring training. The only team photo displayed is of the 1929 team, with rookie Berly Horne smiling in the back row and Charlie Root hiding the secret about his hurting arm.

Joe Saldana (left) showed me all of this, opening doors all over the island today, exactly 80 years after Berly Horne and Charlie Root stood or danced in the same spots.

When the Cubs spent their last days in spring training here in 1951, Joe, then 11, dove for coins in the harbor and shagged flies in the outfield. Joe owns Coyote Joe’s restaurant on the island, and his brother, Lolo, is the barber of Avalon.

The Saldanas hope, and the mayor promised during my visit, to restore the plaque that once marked the ballfield and keep the story alive about how significant Catalina is to Cub fans, history lovers and baseball in general.

The unofficial museum of Catalina is in Lolo’s barbershop (left). He has used every square inch of his walls for old photos and a Cub ballcap, so a large picture of the old ballpark has now spilled to a shelf in the middle of the barbershop. 

If you want to hear the real history of the Cubs at Catalina, pull up a chair at Coyote Joe’s restaurant or stop in for a trim at Lolo’s barbershop.

Or listen to the stories of innkeeper Susan Griffin at The Inn on Mt. Ada as she talks lovingly of William Wrigley Jr. and his wife. Susan watches over the remarkable preservation of the Wrigley home, now a bed and breakfast, overlooking the harbor, the remnants of the ballfield and the Casino.

Here's the live view from the Catalina Cam from the Casino.

After all those hours of phone interviews, I finally get the chance to meet Della Root Arnold at her California home on Feb. 22, 2009, one day after her 90th birthday.

The photo below is in Della's living room under a painting of Avalon harbor on Catalina Island, with the Casino in the background. From left to right are: Nancy Arnold Wade, daughter; Della; Bill Wade, grandson; Susan Wade Santana, granddaughter; and Susan's husband, Dominic Santana.

 Della compares Nancy's collection of Root family photos to the Smithsonian, calling it "The Nancesonian." Below Nancy holds a 1929 Catalina photo of Della and the family when Della was 10:

 Della, Charlie Junior and Dorothy massaged Charlie Root's arm before and after home games in 1929 as he disguised what appeared to be career-ending injuries. The family is shown in this 1929 photo (below); Della, looking far older than 10, kisses her Dad before Game One of the 1929 World Series (bottom); she notes the new coat had a real beaver collar and cost $65: