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Brooklyn Dodgers #6
Highpockets
Dodger right fielder Highpockets McDade learns about teamwork and sportsmanship from a hospitalized boy
189 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1948
7 people are currently reading
38 people want to read
About the author
John R. Tunis
47 books10 followersJohn Roberts Tunis "the 'inventor' of the modern sports story",was an American writer and broadcaster. Known for his juvenile sports novels, Tunis also wrote short stories and non-fiction, including a weekly sports column for the New Yorker magazine. As a commentator Tunis was part of the first trans-Atlantic sports cast and the first broadcast of the Wimbledon Tennis Tournament to the United States.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
After graduating from Harvard and serving in the Army during World War I, Tunis began his writing career freelancing for American sports magazines while playing tennis in the Rivera. For the next two decades he wrote short stories and articles about sports and education for magazines including Reader's Digest, The Saturday Evening Post and Esquire.
Tunis' work often protested the increasing professionalization of sports in America. He believed that amateur participation in sports taught values important for good citizenship like perseverance, fair play and equality, and that the emphasis on professional sports was turning America into a country of spectators. His sports books also tackled current social issues such as antisemitism and racial equality.
Though Tunis never considered himself a children's writer, all but one of his twenty-four books were published for juveniles; their success helped create the juvenile fiction book market in the 1940s. Books like Iron Duke (1938), All American (1942) and Keystone Kids (1943) were well received by readers and critics. Iron Duke received the New York Herald Tribune Spring Book Festival Award for best juvenile novel and was named a The Horn Book Magazine Best Book. The Child Study Association of America gave its Golden Scroll Award to Keystone Kids.
In his tribute to the writer, Bernard Hayes said "Tunis has probably made good readers of millions of young people." His success with the juvenile audience helped change the publishing industry. Along with writers like Howard Pease, his books demonstrated to publishers that there was money to be made in targeting books for teenagers. His influence went beyond simply creating a market for young adult books. "In his attempt to link sports with the communities in which they are played, he broached some highly significant issues in the literature written for and about America's youth", according to John S. Simmons in John R. Tunis and the Sports Novels for Adolescents: A Little Ahead of His Time. Tunis never considered himself a writer of boys' books, insisting his stories could be read and enjoyed by adults. He felt that the word "juvenile" was an "odious... product of a merchandising age". Despite his dislike of the term, Tunis' novels helped create and shape the juvenile fiction book market.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
July 16, 2023
This is a story of a selfish man altered by his love for an injured boy. Cecil (Highpockets) McCade is a rookie outfielder for the Brooklyn Dodgers whose primary thoughts are his batting average and other on-field accomplishments. He is not a bad person, he is a farm boy from North Carolina who wants to pay off the mortgage and help his younger siblings get an education. However, his constant thoughts only of himself turn off his teammates, coaches, fans and the sports writers.
However, while he is in a frustrated, self-absorbed mood, a boy runs into the side of his car. The boy is severely injured and although Highpockets was not responsible, he befriends the boy and helps him with his stamp collection. They become friends and this changes Highpockets into a team player. At the end, there is the predictable big game for the pennant where Highpockets makes the play that wins the game.
This book also features most of the same people that appear in the other Tunis books involving his mythical Brooklyn Dodgers. Spike and Bob Russell, Chiselbeak the clubhouse man, Roy Tucker, Razzle Nugent and Fat Stuff Foster are some of the characters that appear. Like the other Tunis books, this is a sports story filled with a deep lesson for life. No man is an island and the accolades of your teammates should matter more than personal achievement. I enjoyed it immensely.
This review also appears on Amazon
However, while he is in a frustrated, self-absorbed mood, a boy runs into the side of his car. The boy is severely injured and although Highpockets was not responsible, he befriends the boy and helps him with his stamp collection. They become friends and this changes Highpockets into a team player. At the end, there is the predictable big game for the pennant where Highpockets makes the play that wins the game.
This book also features most of the same people that appear in the other Tunis books involving his mythical Brooklyn Dodgers. Spike and Bob Russell, Chiselbeak the clubhouse man, Roy Tucker, Razzle Nugent and Fat Stuff Foster are some of the characters that appear. Like the other Tunis books, this is a sports story filled with a deep lesson for life. No man is an island and the accolades of your teammates should matter more than personal achievement. I enjoyed it immensely.
This review also appears on Amazon
January 7, 2020
I picked this up on a lark an ended up thoroughly enjoying it. While it was marketed as a YA book, the dated 1940s feel makes it perfect for a light read by contemporary adults. I'm planning on tracking down more by Tunis.
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January 4, 2024I read this book when I was a young teen and loved it. Reread it in December 2023.
January 21, 2011
A nice entry in the John Tunis series on the mythical Dodgers team that he renders in fictional form. There are other players at various stages of their careers on this team, such as Fat Stuff Foster and Raz Nugent and Roy Tucker. Cecil McDade is a rookie outfielder, whose nickname is "Highpockets." He is talented, but tends to have a high opinion of his skills and ends up not being well liked by his nteammates. The book describes his change after an accident involving a boy. A learning process takes place, and he ends up becoming a different person--more team-oriented.
Anyhow, a solid entry in this series, and a reminder of simpler visions of the game of baseball at the major league level.
Anyhow, a solid entry in this series, and a reminder of simpler visions of the game of baseball at the major league level.
October 12, 2010
I was attracted to this book because Phillip Roth mentions Tunis in "American Pastoral." A morality tale. Startling in its repetitiveness. But awesome 1940s era language. I read a 1962 Scholastic Books paperback, yellowed by time.
June 3, 2013
Highpockets was a amazing story. It had suspense, and it taught a lesson in humility. I read this when I was 12 years-old and remember it well after 60+ years. As a pitcher in Grasshopper League, I learned a valuable lesson from Tunis. And yes, I am a baseball fan.
October 29, 2009
Perhaps more like a 3.5. It bogs down a bit towards the middle, but once the car accident happens it picks up some steam. Not a bad read. These books capture baseball in this time period so well.
September 10, 2010
The book that sold reading to me.
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August 10, 2014Was nice Cecil was definately a star
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews