Fielder's Choice

by Rick Norman

Beneath the baseball and the shuck-and-jive narration is a story about a young man learning to live his own life. -School Library Journal Andrew Jackson Fielder dreams about pitching in the major leagues. It is an unlikely dream for a kid growing up in Smackover, Arkansas, in 1939. But for Fielder, it comes true, partly due to the afternoons he and his brother spend practicing pitches in a pipe yard down in the south Arkansas oil patch. However, this humorous coming of age story is more about learning to live life and take responsibility for bad decisions than it is about playing baseball. During World War II, Jackson is shot down and ends up in a prisoner of war camp. Following months of abuse, he is "recruited" by a Japanese admiral who wants his son to pitch like a pro. The boy, a young kamikaze pilot is determined to learn how to throw a “goose ball”. His commitment and hard work help Fielder reconnect with his love of baseball and learn valuable life lessons. These baseball stories inspire readers and teach them the importance of trust and responsibility.

Genres: Sports, Fiction

Paperback

First published April 1, 1991

Reviews

[Garrett Willman · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Coach give me a key to the gym so I could throw after work"So far in my book Fielder's choice jaxs is in mexico playing a baseball game with Mexicans and when he was watching another team play the ump was calling pitches that hit the ground then got to the glove a strike and they were really confused by that and then the next game that happened they played in an lost because of the different rules then after that game jax's umped the next baseball game and there was a guy on the browns named bobby bennett who jaxs knew was nervous about going up to hit because he was a rookie and the bobby hit a one hop right back to the pitcher and they had enought time to get booby out at first and the pitcher there the ball to the first baseman off the bag and the first baseman got bobby in a pickle from first to home but bobby decided to go back home and slide in and jaxs called it safe and said "hit again".The parts I am enjoying about the book are when they are playing baseball games and practicing and the parts I don't like is how the spelling is incorrect,and yes i would definitely recommend this to a classmate.

[Bea · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book right after reading Catcher in the Rye. My responses to the two books could not have been any more different.

Fielder's Choice is the life story of a young man who wants to pitch in the major leagues. He develops a particular pitch called the "Gooseball" as a young man, practicing with his older brother. This pitch eventually leads to the chance to play for a major league baseball team. In a championship game, he chokes, causing his team to lose the pennant. As a result of the embarrassment and other life events, he joins the military to fight in WW II. And so goes this man's story. Nothing ever seems to work out for him, but there is an honesty in this character that makes the reader believe he is basically good and was wronged.

The story is told through his remembrances as he makes his case with the military officer who will decide if he, Jackson Fielder, is a traitor. As he tells his story, he reflects on the choicesmade and their consequences. Rick Norman writes in a colloquial manner that feels natural to the reader as Jackson Fielder is an Arkansas country boy.

I really enjoyed the writing and the story and will gladly consider reading more of Mr. Norman's books.

[Rhonda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unaccountably under-read, beautifully structured first novel. There really is a town called Smackover, Arkansas, so our hero Goose Fielder (a pitcher) comes from a literal real place as well as several literary ones. Baseball, love, war, justice, injustice, forceful and economic prose . . . who could not love it? "Short" and teaches well.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting slice of life from the perspective of an Arkansas country boy who finds himself in the major leagues before World War II brings him to Japan, and his life after he returns home after being a prisoner of war. Based on the life of Andrew Jackson Fielder of the St Louis Browns, it will keep you turning the pages.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

More about the hard knocks of life than it is about baseball

While baseball is an integral part of the plot of this story, it is more a tale about life and how hard it can be. The Fielder family, the true origin of the title, lives in the small town of Smackover in Arkansas. There are three brothers, whose names from the eldest to youngest are Jugs, Jax and Jude. The story is narrated by Jax and is the story of his life from high school through the years immediately after World War II. Jugs is an incurable practical joker and the catcher for the high school baseball team. Jax is a pitcher and good enough to play briefly in the major leagues. However, when he balks in the winning run and costs the St. Louis Browns the 1941 pennant, he is labeled as a choker.
By that time, Jugs has become a naval aviator, stationed on the aircraft carrier Enterprise. Shortly after the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, Jax enlists in the hope of also becoming a pilot. He attends flight school and does fairly well, but when Jugs is lost and presumed dead, he loses something. However, he manages to become a member of the crew of a Superfortress bombing the Japanese mainland.
His plane is attacked during a bombing mission and he is inadvertently ejected from the plane. He parachutes to “safety” but is immediately captured and placed in a POW camp. Life there is harsh and he is eventually put in solitary confinement in a piece of pipe. After being freed from that ordeal, he is recognized by a Japanese Admiral as a former baseball player. Jax is then made a gardener at the Admiral’s estate and begins to teach the Admiral’s son how to pitch. When the war is over and Jax comes back to the states, he tries to resume his baseball career. Many things go wrong and he is falsely accused of treason.
While the circumstances of this story are extreme, many men who patriotically went off to win the Second World War experienced similar circumstances. They came back changed men only to learn that their points of origin had changed even more. Despite their sacrifice and victories in battle, many of them came back to situations where they had to struggle to make a life. While occasionally funny and certainly touching, this is a sad story about a good and decent man who truly deserved better than the hand he was dealt. Although as the title implies, Jax accepts the consequences of the choices he has made.

This review also appears on Amazon

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baseball, war, love, and humor. What a combination.

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very entertaining, especially for a baseball fan. I laughed out loud several times.

[Gordon Gammell · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate books that are written in the vernacular. Interesting story but blemished by the writing style.