With a foreword written by the Emmy Award-winning broadcast journalist, Dave Marash, A Bitter Cup of Coffee tells the true story of a group of former big-league ballplayers denied pensions as a result of the failure of both the league and the union to retro-actively amend the vesting requirement change that granted instant pension eligibility to ballplayers in 1980. As you may know, prior to that year, ballplayers had to have four years service credit to earn an annuity and medical benefits. Since 1980, however, all you have needed is one day of service credit for health insurance and 43 days of service credit for a pension. Talk about a sweetheart deal! A wealth of interviews with former players, including heart-touching stories of the hard times some of them have endured, peppers this thoughtful and timely account, which gains especial relevance in light of the current debate about the state of health care in America. -Midwest Book Review   Doug Gladstone will be signing copies of his book at Burlingham Books on Oct. 23rd, 2010, at a time to be determined.