Ballpark Blues

by C.W. Tooke

Russ Bryant, a lonely and downtrodden reporter trapped in a job he hates, stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he is befriended by Casey Fox, a promising rookie catcher on the local minor league team. Possessed of mythic talents but mortal insecurities, Casey isn’t even sure he wants to play in the major leagues (and unless he improves his attitude toward the team’s management, he may never get the option). Still, when circumstances in Boston lead to an offer from the Red Sox, the lure proves irresistible, and Casey moves on the fast track from the anonymity of the minor leagues to stardom at Fenway Park.

Russ’s dormant dreams of journalistic glory soar as well, as his near-exclusive access to the hottest figure in sports puts him in national demand. And having the world’s leading home-run hitter for a best friend has other benefits. While he used to pass solitary evenings watching SportsCenter, he spends his nights in the company of professional athletes, getting the kind of access that other fans would do anything for. His growing acquaintance with Casey’s foster sister, Molly, gives him something to look forward to away from the world of sports, offering the possibility of love and maybe even redemption.

The closer they get to their goals—Casey to a triumphant season finale, Russ to a plum job at Sports Illustrated —the more they struggle with the dissonance between professional success and personal happiness. Both men begin to wonder whether there’s still a place for heroes in a world where sports has become a hard-nosed business and the media is steeped in cynicism. As Casey’s brilliance becomes increasingly offset by his troubles away from the ballpark, both Casey and Russ wonder if they should abandon professional baseball—and its accompanying dreams—in order to find happiness.

All this in the most edge-of-your-seat season Red Sox fans have ever seen, with the excitement of the fans ringing in your ears and the smell of freshly-mown grass and stale beer.

Genres: Baseball, Fiction, Sports

304 pages, Hardcover

First published March 25, 2003

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best books I've read this year, with intelligent writing and tremendous insight into what used to be considered the All American game. "After all, baseball represents capitalism, not socialism..." (page 246) I'm reminded of the Casey/Mudville poem by Ernest Thayer, and wonder if Tooke was also, when he chose the player's name? It's surprising this book has such few readers and low ratings on Goodreads, as it has so much to offer on many levels, including the pursuit of happiness. Okay, I'm getting a little carried away. lol While C.W. has written a couple of children books under the name of Wes Tooke, this appears to be his only adult novel to date. I hope he'll write more. He truly is both a journalist and a writer!

[Barbara Nutting · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was this book a hit out of the ballpark? Not for me, it read like a non-fiction expose of all the garbage we hear about nightly on the news!! Some of these athletes must be good guys who love their sport but most still come across as illiterate yo yos caught up by their own public relations hype.

I found the book repetitious and read it in one sitting just to get it over with. I didn’t like any of the characters! If there was a moral to this story, I missed it.


I will agree that ALL the TV sports commentators ruin the game. They never stop with their nonsensical chatter and the post game questions are absurd.

[Seth · Rating 1 out of 5]

The book is readable but by the end I was wishing I hadn't wasted the time spent reading it. The author creates a character in Russell Bryant who is a sportswriter who doesn't really seem to like his job or sports in general. He's not a likeable character to begin with and the choices he makes throughout the story make him even less so. But at least he's realistic. The character of Casey Fox is a complete fairy tale. A rookie catcher who is inexplicably the greatest ballplayer of his generation even though he quit little league and didn't play baseball again until college. So he leads the Red Sox as they chase down the Yankees in the pennant race - despite several of his outlandish and childish stunts. The ending is utterly ridiculous and made me want to give up on reading altogether.

[Dan Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a lot more thoughtful than I expected. I pulled it from a pile of books my wife was shipping out - I don't remember when I bought it, or hearing about it, or what possessed me to buy it in the first place. Now, stuck at home during the COVID-19 crisis, it was a fun escape to minor league pranks and major-league drama. Young men trying to figure out what they want out of life, surrounded by a few saintly, redeeming women.

The crux of the book came on 172, in my opinion. "I waste my talent. I'm arrogant enough to believe that I could do almost anything I want, but the problem is that I don't know what I want. So I've been wandering through a buch of crappy jobs and shallow relationships and killing time until I find something that lights a fire in me. But lately I've started to worry. I mean, what if I spend my whole life like this? What if I never find something that I really want to chase? And that's a real possibility. Because the truth is that I don't have any passions. Any compelling reason for existing."

[T.A. Par · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book on baseball that I have ever read. One of the best coming of age books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. Tooke does a great job of telling us about the highs and lows of a sport that for many have lost interest. I have read this book at least 5 times it is like an old friend. The book was written maybe 20 years ago and so much has changed, but remained the same. I would love to see where Casey and the gang are now after all of these years.

[Jimmy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was expecting a baseball book and got very little of that. This entire novel was just not even close to real life.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this represented a good alternative view to the entire Red Sox nation/Yankees suck - our team is better than your team - mindset I see in baseball and politics. Maybe I just identified, or wanted to, with being a little out of the mainstream go-along culture. But I liked learning about the more inside side of professional baseball. A good read for a thoughtful baseball fan?

[Andrew A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of this book turned out pretty hokey, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I love everything baseball, and this was a perfect spring read for me. Anyone else who loves baseball themed reads, also try "Faithful" by Stewart O'Nan and Stephen King.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before Red Sox fans and the city of Boston became super annoying. It is an entertaining story and worth reading even if you are a Boston hater.

[Ron Kaplan · Rating 3 out of 5]

fiction

[Terri Hodgdon · Rating 3 out of 5]

The baseball portion was great; the rest was okay