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Castro's Curveball
The story of a young Fidel Castro choosing between politics and a promising baseball future. Recently widowed and now retired, Billy Bryan is “coming to the end of many things.” Then a long-forgotten scrapbook stirs memories of a distant past—and beckons him and his grown daughter on a reluctant journey to relive his role in history. In 1947 Bryan was playing winter ball in Cuba, his future as uncertain as the island country’s. Then one fateful night Bryan witnessed a young student radical named Fidel unleash an amazing curveball. So begins Bryan's tug-of-war with destiny.
304 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 1999
9 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Tim Wendel
27 books69 followersTim Wendel is an award-winning novelist and journalist. He is the author of 16 books, including Rebel Falls: A Novel, Summer of '68: The Season When Baseball, and America, Changed Forever, and Castro's Curveball. His stories have appeared in Gargoyle and The Potomac Review, and his articles in The New York Times, Esquire, GQ, Washingtonian and USA Today. A longtime writer-in-residence at Johns Hopkins University, Tim teaches fiction and nonfiction writing. Tim has worked has worked on both coasts, covering everything from the Olympics to the America's Cup. More information and his blog can be found at www.timwendel.com."
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 11, 2018
Decent fictional story about a catcher, struggling to keep his baseball career going, who "discovers" the pitching prowess of a young Fidel Castro. The story, both baseball and non-baseball parts, seemed to lose steam by the end. Even though this is fiction, we all know what path Castro eventually chose
November 12, 2015
This was Brilliant, the use of historical incidents like the Moncada attacks,Assassination attempt on the Dominican Republic's Raphael Trujillio along with the rise of Fidel made this a tremendous read. You need to understand and know some Cuban history to get much of the reading which I liked. The Capri/Tropicana/Malecon/Hotel Nacional etc. are all mentioned and well represented. A fine representation of the Cuban Revolution period.
April 7, 2020
"It's not the people who've never fallen or lost that are worthy of our admiration. It's what you do after you fall that's the surest test of a hero."
Playing winter baseball in Cuba is the only path left to the major leagues for Billy Bryan in 1947, and the deep-thinking catcher knows that he doesn't have many chances left to stand out to the people who decide who makes it and who doesn't. Cuba is at a similar crossroads as young revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro are working to usurp the country's government and instill a new way of life for its people.
Billy and Fidel's lives intersect on the baseball diamond one night as Castro leads a group of radicals onto the playing field during a game, and Billy offers young Fidel a chance to throw a few pitches. That interaction sets Billy off in an unexpected direction, and he finds himself in the middle of a revolution and falling in love with Malena Fonseca, the photographer tasked with documenting it.
Malena's photographs are why, more than 40 years after leaving Cuba, Billy finds himself on a plane headed back there with his adult daughter and a host of memories of baseball, Castro, Cuba, and the woman Billy left behind.
CASTRO'S CURVEBALL by Tim Wendel combines sports, history, and personal relationships in a wonderful amalgam with a terrific plot and characters that make you care deeply about them. The story alternates between modern day(ish) and Billy's final days in Cuba in the 40s.
Just to be clear--I love Billy Bryan, and not just because "aging catcher" is my favorite baseball character in both literature and film. Billy has more depth than the typical sports protagonist, and his story is set in a fascinating time. I haven't studied nor read much about Cuba in the late 40s, but after reading CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, I'm going to have to remedy that.
But since I do love baseball so much (baseball was the first game I learned to play in depth), let's talk about the baseball scenes for a minute. Those sections are incredibly well written, and I could almost feel the grit from the infield and hear the crack of a bat every time the book's action took me to the ballpark. But, when reading a book that revolves around a sport, I'm often sad when the plot takes me anywhere other than the field, but that wasn't the case with CASTRO'S CURVEBALL. I was thrilled to find that the action outside of the diamond was just as engrossing as the games in which Billy played.
CASTRO'S CURVEBALL is a great book of historical fiction, it's a fantastic sports book, and the relationships between the covers are just as intriguing as the play between the foul lines. I regret that my dad isn't alive so that I can share the book with him and get his take on it--I'd love to talk about this novel with someone else who is a fan of baseball, history, and politics. Also, I hear that there's a sequel of the book coming out soon, and I'm excited to read that one, too. Kudos to Tim Wendel to characters and a story that will stay with me for a while.
For more reviews, check out https://thesisterhoodofbooks.com/.
Playing winter baseball in Cuba is the only path left to the major leagues for Billy Bryan in 1947, and the deep-thinking catcher knows that he doesn't have many chances left to stand out to the people who decide who makes it and who doesn't. Cuba is at a similar crossroads as young revolutionaries led by Fidel Castro are working to usurp the country's government and instill a new way of life for its people.
Billy and Fidel's lives intersect on the baseball diamond one night as Castro leads a group of radicals onto the playing field during a game, and Billy offers young Fidel a chance to throw a few pitches. That interaction sets Billy off in an unexpected direction, and he finds himself in the middle of a revolution and falling in love with Malena Fonseca, the photographer tasked with documenting it.
Malena's photographs are why, more than 40 years after leaving Cuba, Billy finds himself on a plane headed back there with his adult daughter and a host of memories of baseball, Castro, Cuba, and the woman Billy left behind.
CASTRO'S CURVEBALL by Tim Wendel combines sports, history, and personal relationships in a wonderful amalgam with a terrific plot and characters that make you care deeply about them. The story alternates between modern day(ish) and Billy's final days in Cuba in the 40s.
Just to be clear--I love Billy Bryan, and not just because "aging catcher" is my favorite baseball character in both literature and film. Billy has more depth than the typical sports protagonist, and his story is set in a fascinating time. I haven't studied nor read much about Cuba in the late 40s, but after reading CASTRO'S CURVEBALL, I'm going to have to remedy that.
But since I do love baseball so much (baseball was the first game I learned to play in depth), let's talk about the baseball scenes for a minute. Those sections are incredibly well written, and I could almost feel the grit from the infield and hear the crack of a bat every time the book's action took me to the ballpark. But, when reading a book that revolves around a sport, I'm often sad when the plot takes me anywhere other than the field, but that wasn't the case with CASTRO'S CURVEBALL. I was thrilled to find that the action outside of the diamond was just as engrossing as the games in which Billy played.
CASTRO'S CURVEBALL is a great book of historical fiction, it's a fantastic sports book, and the relationships between the covers are just as intriguing as the play between the foul lines. I regret that my dad isn't alive so that I can share the book with him and get his take on it--I'd love to talk about this novel with someone else who is a fan of baseball, history, and politics. Also, I hear that there's a sequel of the book coming out soon, and I'm excited to read that one, too. Kudos to Tim Wendel to characters and a story that will stay with me for a while.
For more reviews, check out https://thesisterhoodofbooks.com/.
January 12, 2017
An odd book with which to be resuming my participation in Goodreads, but ….. it addresses my interests in Cuba and in baseball. There’s very little in it about two other main interests, cats or bicycles, but one of the book's morals is that you can’t have everything, and maybe, not anything.
Billy Bryan is a journeyman catcher whose minor league career is drawing to a close during winter ball in 1947 in Havana (reminiscent of Bull Durham). A bunch of Cuban college kids disrupt one of his team’s games with a political protest on the field. The leader of the group is a certain Fidel Castro, who takes over the pitcher’s mound. A bored and tired Billy encourages Fidel to throw a few pitches while he’s up there, and Billy is impressed by Fidel’s sharp curveball.
Billy sees an opportunity to redirect his baseball career into scouting and coaching, and, with the encouragement of the Washington Senators chief scout, pursues Fidel as Fidel pursues overthrow of the thoroughly corrupt Cuban government. Mix in a beautiful, strong-willed photographer who’s helping Castro by documenting the misery in Cuba (Malena), throw in the glitzy gambling casinos and brothels run by the Mafia and the Batista regime, and bake in a hot Cuban climate until it erupts.
About 45 years later, during the “special period” of extreme economic hardship in Cuba after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an aged Billy returns to Cuba with his 40-year-old daughter. Malena’s daughter meets them and guides them through the country and her mother’s final years.
There are some rather unlikely aspects to the plot, including Malena’s passionate interest in the totally apolitical Billy when they met in Havana, but it’s an engaging read, it tries to explain Fidel, and any diversion while we await the horrors unfolding in Washington is well appreciated.
By the way, if you share my interests in Cuba and baseball, here's a really really thorough exploration of Castro's (lack of) connection with MLB: http://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/fidel-c...
Billy Bryan is a journeyman catcher whose minor league career is drawing to a close during winter ball in 1947 in Havana (reminiscent of Bull Durham). A bunch of Cuban college kids disrupt one of his team’s games with a political protest on the field. The leader of the group is a certain Fidel Castro, who takes over the pitcher’s mound. A bored and tired Billy encourages Fidel to throw a few pitches while he’s up there, and Billy is impressed by Fidel’s sharp curveball.
Billy sees an opportunity to redirect his baseball career into scouting and coaching, and, with the encouragement of the Washington Senators chief scout, pursues Fidel as Fidel pursues overthrow of the thoroughly corrupt Cuban government. Mix in a beautiful, strong-willed photographer who’s helping Castro by documenting the misery in Cuba (Malena), throw in the glitzy gambling casinos and brothels run by the Mafia and the Batista regime, and bake in a hot Cuban climate until it erupts.
About 45 years later, during the “special period” of extreme economic hardship in Cuba after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, an aged Billy returns to Cuba with his 40-year-old daughter. Malena’s daughter meets them and guides them through the country and her mother’s final years.
There are some rather unlikely aspects to the plot, including Malena’s passionate interest in the totally apolitical Billy when they met in Havana, but it’s an engaging read, it tries to explain Fidel, and any diversion while we await the horrors unfolding in Washington is well appreciated.
By the way, if you share my interests in Cuba and baseball, here's a really really thorough exploration of Castro's (lack of) connection with MLB: http://sabr.org/bioproj/topic/fidel-c...
November 28, 2020
Interesting baseball story about Fidel Castro’s near major league career. Fiction, but is it?
November 10, 2012
From http://weeksnotice.blogspot.com/2012/...
Tim Wendel's Castro's Curveball is a light, pleasant novel that brings together pre-revolutionary--late 1940s--Havana, Fidel Castro, and baseball. You need to suspend disbelief, but it plays on Castro's love of baseball and the rumor that he'd been signed by the Washington Senators. In this book, Havana Lions catcher Billy Bryan is the one who is trying to sign him. After many years, Billy returns to Cuba during the Special Period with his daughter to come to peace with his past.
Castro and his early political activism is woven into the book, along with a fictional female photographer he falls in love with, and who is part of Castro's political circle. Wendel does a nice job of bringing that era to life.
Also noteworthy, for me at least, is that this book was an impulse buy at my local used bookstore, The Last Word. Leisurely browsing still a really fun way of finding books.
Tim Wendel's Castro's Curveball is a light, pleasant novel that brings together pre-revolutionary--late 1940s--Havana, Fidel Castro, and baseball. You need to suspend disbelief, but it plays on Castro's love of baseball and the rumor that he'd been signed by the Washington Senators. In this book, Havana Lions catcher Billy Bryan is the one who is trying to sign him. After many years, Billy returns to Cuba during the Special Period with his daughter to come to peace with his past.
Castro and his early political activism is woven into the book, along with a fictional female photographer he falls in love with, and who is part of Castro's political circle. Wendel does a nice job of bringing that era to life.
Also noteworthy, for me at least, is that this book was an impulse buy at my local used bookstore, The Last Word. Leisurely browsing still a really fun way of finding books.
October 16, 2012
This book is about the evil communist Fedel Castro before he ran the counrty. He was a naturally amazing baseball player and had alot of skill. This is mostly of his journey before becoming the crual leader that he was, and how good of a person he could have been. I gave this 3 stars because I didnt find alot of enjoyment in this book as I usually do in others, It was good but not for me. "Maybe he isnt all that bad of a guy." Said by the narrorator of the book on pg. 56, it shows that maybe he wasnt all that bad of a guy before he ruled the country. In class weve been talkin about memiors and this was a memoir of the narrorator because he use to play baseball with Fedel. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes sports or anyone who loves history and what happended durring the mid - 1900's.
December 4, 2008
Perhaps I don't know enough about Cuba or Castro to realize that this book is not good. If the author's ability to accurately portray life in Cuba during the early 1950's is limited, as I suspect, it is somewhat mitigated by his passages about baseball, which I very much enjoyed. I also liked his depiction of the younger Billy Bryan, the main character in the book. He's a baseball player clearly at the end of the line, but still burning with indignation that he never "got his shot" in the big leagues. I never felt sorry for him, but rather I was anticipating the moment when he would realize that life has more to offer than a starting catching job with the Washington Senators. Perhaps that is what kept me reading more than anything, because we all know what happened with Castro...
August 22, 2009
This is a three way love story between the narrator, his Cuban girlfriend and Fidel Castro. It also uses baseball in Havana Cuba as the background. Bryan is the narrator and American catcher playing winter ball in Cuba. Castro is a young revolutionary with a great curveball. Bryan is instructed to get him signed to a Washinton Senators contract. All this is going on while Castro is moving to liberate Cuba.
This is all a flashback because the main story deals with Bryan going back to Cuba with his daughter when he is 70 after his wife has died. A few suprises and some touching moments. A good read.
This is all a flashback because the main story deals with Bryan going back to Cuba with his daughter when he is 70 after his wife has died. A few suprises and some touching moments. A good read.
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February 4, 2016Narrated by LJ Ganser. In 1947 Cuba, Billy Bryan is a pitcher playing winter baseball when he meets Fidel Castro during a political protest at one of his games. He asks Fidel to throw some pitches and he is surprisingly good. Papa Joe, a baseball scout for the Washington Senators presses Billy to get Fidel to sign with the Senators. But Fidel seems more involved and committed to revolutionary activities. Billy also falls in love with Lena, a photographer and revolutionist. Descriptive of the times and atmosphere and of the baseball player life. Novel apparently inspired by a rumor that Fidel had signed with the Senators.
January 11, 2015
Great insight into life in Cuba prior to reveloution.... If you think recruiting baseball playes from the Caribbean is something new....think again. Imagine Castro pitching in a World Series.
Given todays political climate between US and Cuba..... you may again see spring training in Cuba
Given todays political climate between US and Cuba..... you may again see spring training in Cuba
September 22, 2012
Although the frame is a bit contrived at times, the overall narrative is compelling and wonderfully done, with an eye toward history, character, and landscape. Wendel writes a novel that breaks much like Castro's curveball and left me shaking my head at the plate.
December 7, 2020
Good fictional story that could certainly be called a “what if.” What if Fidel Castro had decided to try his luck at professional baseball after an almost washed up catcher saw him strike out a slugger with a magnificent curveball? Full review to come
May 10, 2007
Communists heart baseball. Casey hearts baseball. Casey did not heart this book that much.
April 23, 2011
Probably one of the best I've read in a while. A riveting story with sharp, tight prose that's a pleasure to read.
March 27, 2017
Very plausible historical "what if" about Castro's imagined opportunity to play baseball in the Major Leagues. Wendel's knowledge of baseball and Cuba combined with his fast-moving writing style make an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews