No Runs, No Hits

Last night Tampa Bay pitcher Matt Garza tossed the fifth no-hitter of the 2010 season (and the first for the Rays' franchise). I took a quick look through my library collection and found the following books that include a perfect game or no-hitter.

For the Love of the Game, Michael Shaara (perfect game)
Screwball, David Ferrell (perfect game)
The Spring Habit, David Hanson (no hitter)

My opinion is that there are just not that many novels featuring, or including, a no-hitter or perfect game. I think, simply, because writing about position players allows for more action and perhaps more drama. If we looked, we're likely to find a multitude of stories that end with the classic bottom-of-the-ninth home run, or late inning comeback. It seems to me that the perfect game and, similarly, the no-hitter are correspondingly as rare in literature as they are in real life.

All Stars and Hall of Famers

This being Hall-of-Fame weekend, I thought it appropriate to take a look at Kevin King's All the Stars Came out That Night (Plume: 2006). King's historical novel takes us down a Depression-era road filled with famous personalities who come together for an All-Star game in Fenway Park following the World Series. What makes this game of All-Stars different is that it pits white major-leaguers against their Negro League counterparts. King paints a vivid picture of the period, featuring gambling, prohibition, famous movie stars, and even a Central American dictator. At times, though, you do feel that King is name-dropping (especially when the scene switches to lavish Hollywood parties), but since this is a debut novel a degree of leeway can be granted. Even so, this is an entertaining, quick-paced, and overall fun read. If there is anything non-forgivable, it's suggestion by several characters of various players and their Hall of Fame chances. The novel is set in 1934 and it wasn't until 1939 that the newly formed Hall of Fame started inducting players.

Being someone interested in history (as well as baseball), what I found particularly interesting was the descriptions of the various non-baseball characters such as Henry Ford and George Raft. King presents Ford as the racist businessman who becomes persuaded to bankroll the game. Raft is the movie icon who has “discovered” a rising star in the Pacific Coast League named Joe DiMaggio and eventually enables his participation in the game. Added to these characters are, of course, the baseball players: Satchel Paige, Babe Ruth, Josh Gibson, Dizzy Dean, and Joe DiMaggio, along with a host of others. Each add their spin to the events.

While some reviewers have commented on the length of this book (over 400 pages), I found the ancillary accounts interesting and worth including. My thought is if you’re going to write a period piece, then include descriptions of the period. I find the historical novels I like best are those that are developed like a painting: with details woven into both the fore- and background of the subject. In this way, the result is a richer and more colorful presentation. A level of context is created, and maintained. The only downside is that by the time King gets around to it, he seems to quicken the pace and the ending comes across a bit condensed.

Now, in the end, would it have been possible that such a game could have been played? Probably not. While the Major Leagues did a wink and a nod toward its players barnstorming against, and with, African American players during the off-season, actually allowing a game between the League’s best and that of the Negro Leagues would have exposed the all-white league to what it was and what it was missing. Baseball of the first half of the twentieth century was a product of its time. And while there’s current sentiment that the Game should have been integrated, the country just wasn’t ready. But that’s what makes the premise so interesting, and creates the basis for a good yarn.

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This weekend saw the induction of Whitey Herzog and Andre Dawson (as well as umpire Doug Harvey) into the Hall of Fame. Congratulations to each of these men. They are certainly worthy additions to the Hall.

Welcome to The Books of Summer

I'd always imagined that the first post would be on Opening Day, but like many things we want to do that plan got pushed back (and back, and back...) Anyway, this time of summer - the period around the All-Star Game and the annual Hall of Fame inductions at Cooperstown - is just as appropriate, I suppose. This is a project I've been considering for quite a while. Baseball fiction has a long history as a genre, with many of its titles featured prominently as works of literature (Malamud's The Natural and The Celebrant, by Eric Greenberg, are two that quickly come to mind).

A little background about me is needed, I think. I was not a literature major - but do hold a Masters in Library Science, if that means anything. But I am a big fan of the game and its history. I do a fair amount of reading during the course of the year, primarily fiction with some history and biographical pieces added along the way. I've been reading (and accumulating a good-sized library of) baseball fiction for the past twenty-five years, or so.

To date, I've read a little over ninety titles in this genre. I typically read five or six baseball novels between April and October each year which, not coincidentally, corresponds with the baseball season. The first story I recall reading was Donald Honig's The Last Great Season (1979). I remember checking this out from the local library; it's a big book (over 400 pages) and is the story of the New York Lions, a quintessential losing team reminiscent of the early Boston Braves, St. Louis Browns, or today's Pirates or Orioles. The novel focuses on the Lions as they head toward the 1942 season (the "last season" before most of baseball's stars would have switched from flannels to khaki). In time, I'm sure I'll provide more detailed thoughts on baseball fiction, including my reviews of the books I've read or am reading, the authors who wrote them, and what others have had to say about them. But I'm sure there'll be other items of interest interspersed here and there as I go along. I hope you enjoy.