Patrick Doyle is Full of Blarney — Jennifer Armstrong

In the first of Jennifer Armstrong's Fourth of July series of historical chapter books, it's 1915 and everyone is wild about baseball--especially nine-year-old Patrick, an Irish kid living in the tough Hell's Kitchen section of New York City. Patrick and the other Irish neighborhood kids even have their own ballpark behind Gilhooley's Brewery. But one day a band of bullies show up and proceed to claim the field for themselves. Can Patrick's sneaky plan keep the bullies away for good? Now in paper, "this beginning chapter book features likable characters, a believable plot, and admirable attention to setting details"--Booklist.