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Called Out: A novel of base ball and America in 1908
As 1907 becomes 1908, National Base Ball League President Harry Pulliam suspects that the owner of the New York Giants has hired detectives to spy on him and his lover, Ted Russell, with the goal of blackmailing him. The pressure tests the strength of his relationship and his ability to administer his league duties.
Lenore Caylor, Pulliam’s new stenographer, falls in love with him and becomes his staunchest champion as he fights to preserve the honor of professional base ball and the National League. Near the end of the season, one of the most bizarre in base ball history, controversial, game-changing calls result in violent protests, riots, and death. The survival of the national pastime hangs in the balance, as do Pulliam’s relationships with Ted and Lenore—and, indeed, his own life.
Lenore Caylor, Pulliam’s new stenographer, falls in love with him and becomes his staunchest champion as he fights to preserve the honor of professional base ball and the National League. Near the end of the season, one of the most bizarre in base ball history, controversial, game-changing calls result in violent protests, riots, and death. The survival of the national pastime hangs in the balance, as do Pulliam’s relationships with Ted and Lenore—and, indeed, his own life.
364 pages, Paperback
Published May 12, 2017
3 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
About the author
Floyd Sullivan
7 books4 followersFloyd Sullivan was born in Chicago and grew up in Oak Park, Illinois. He graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago with a degree in history. He has written one non-fiction book,
Waiting for the Cubs,
and edited a collection of essays titled
Old Comiskey Park.
He blogs about baseball at Waiting4Cubs on ChicagoNow.com. He works as a freelance writer and photographer in Chicago, where he lives with his wife.
Called Out
is his first novel, now available from Amika Press.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 17, 2017
Let us doff our baseball caps to Floyd Sullivan, for he has written an almost perfect historical novel.
Called Out, set during the 1908 baseball season, is about America’s favorite pastime as it struggles for maturity. The author, like many Chicagoans, appears to be a passionate fan of the game. Although the novel is full of baseball lore, it is highly enjoyable for someone with no interest in sports. The characters are robust, the plot is brisk, and the historical details are vivid.
The plot is complex, driven by the period’s restrictive social conventions and the idiosyncrasies of baseball during this time – “one of the most bizarre seasons in baseball history” to quote the author. “Controversial, game-changing calls result in violent protests, riots, and death. The survival of the national pastime hangs in the balance.” In these impossible circumstances, Harry Pulliam, President of the National Baseball League, struggles with blackmail threats from disgruntled owners over his relationship with his lover, Ted. His secretary, Lenore, is caught up in both the deadly politics of baseball and Pulliam’s socially-driven sexual ambivalence. Ultimately, baseball survives, but Harry Pulliam doesn’t.
In historical fiction, a writer inevitably presents a view of the past informed by the present. All authors struggle with how much to open the aperture, and no one gets it exactly right. Sullivan comes close.
In one particularly striking section, Ring Lardner – the sports writer who will later become a popular author – takes Harry Pulliam for a visit to the Everleigh Club, the legendary Chicago brothel. In a clever bit of fancy, Sullivan imagines how the sisters professionally handle a homosexual client who has turned up in their strictly heterosexual bawdy house. This masterful interlude highlights what may be the novel’s only (and very minor) flaw: the ease with which some of the team owners cast aspersions on Pulliam’s relationship with Ted might be read as reflecting a conversance with sexuality from a much later era.
Sullivan has written two works of non-fiction, but this is his first novel. It is an accomplished book, and we must hope for more fiction from Mister Sullivan about baseball or anything else. If this reviewer can be excused the obvious baseball metaphor, Called Out is a home run at the bottom of the ninth with the score tied and the bases loaded.
Called Out, set during the 1908 baseball season, is about America’s favorite pastime as it struggles for maturity. The author, like many Chicagoans, appears to be a passionate fan of the game. Although the novel is full of baseball lore, it is highly enjoyable for someone with no interest in sports. The characters are robust, the plot is brisk, and the historical details are vivid.
The plot is complex, driven by the period’s restrictive social conventions and the idiosyncrasies of baseball during this time – “one of the most bizarre seasons in baseball history” to quote the author. “Controversial, game-changing calls result in violent protests, riots, and death. The survival of the national pastime hangs in the balance.” In these impossible circumstances, Harry Pulliam, President of the National Baseball League, struggles with blackmail threats from disgruntled owners over his relationship with his lover, Ted. His secretary, Lenore, is caught up in both the deadly politics of baseball and Pulliam’s socially-driven sexual ambivalence. Ultimately, baseball survives, but Harry Pulliam doesn’t.
In historical fiction, a writer inevitably presents a view of the past informed by the present. All authors struggle with how much to open the aperture, and no one gets it exactly right. Sullivan comes close.
In one particularly striking section, Ring Lardner – the sports writer who will later become a popular author – takes Harry Pulliam for a visit to the Everleigh Club, the legendary Chicago brothel. In a clever bit of fancy, Sullivan imagines how the sisters professionally handle a homosexual client who has turned up in their strictly heterosexual bawdy house. This masterful interlude highlights what may be the novel’s only (and very minor) flaw: the ease with which some of the team owners cast aspersions on Pulliam’s relationship with Ted might be read as reflecting a conversance with sexuality from a much later era.
Sullivan has written two works of non-fiction, but this is his first novel. It is an accomplished book, and we must hope for more fiction from Mister Sullivan about baseball or anything else. If this reviewer can be excused the obvious baseball metaphor, Called Out is a home run at the bottom of the ninth with the score tied and the bases loaded.
May 30, 2017
Called Out is a fictionalized examination of the year 1908 in the world of baseball, dealing primarily with the story of National League President Harry Pulliam, the three-way pennant race between the Giants, the Pirates, and the Cubs, and the Merkle incident. The main conflict gleams like a double-edged sword. If Pulliam is successful in his campaign to make umpires and teams adhere to the rules as listed and explained in the baseball rules book, he will make baseball a cleaner, more honorable game in which each participant is required to follow through with his responsibilities. But if Pulliam proceeds with this campaign, baseball magnates such as John Brush, owner of the Giants, will publicly expose him as an “invert” — a gay man. The title alludes to the dual nature of the conflict. If Merkle is called out for failing to touch base, then Pulliam will be outed as a gay man, in a century in which such an outing meant commercial, social, and even physical death.
Even though I knew the results of the Merkle incident before I began to read the book, I knew very little about Harry Pulliam. I enjoyed learning more about both him, his secretary, Lenore Caylor, and the various team owners. I particularly enjoyed the author’s descriptions of bugs — baseball fanatics. Sullivan does an excellent job of capturing the slang of the times and depicting the violence the bugs inflicted on opposing players. And what made me laugh with delight was each and every time a character in the book complained about the Chicago Cubs always winning the World Series.
A lot of very interesting baseball-history information in packed into this book, but when this exposition is relayed in dialogue, it sounds forced: as if the characters are speaking to each other mainly to convey information to the reader.
Despite this caveat, I cared about the characters in the story, and I cared about their personal outcomes as well as the outcomes for major league baseball. Called Out is a a book I’m glad I read, and I recommend it to others as an enjoyable way to learn about an important part of baseball history — and the more important issue of how to people should behave toward one another.
Even though I knew the results of the Merkle incident before I began to read the book, I knew very little about Harry Pulliam. I enjoyed learning more about both him, his secretary, Lenore Caylor, and the various team owners. I particularly enjoyed the author’s descriptions of bugs — baseball fanatics. Sullivan does an excellent job of capturing the slang of the times and depicting the violence the bugs inflicted on opposing players. And what made me laugh with delight was each and every time a character in the book complained about the Chicago Cubs always winning the World Series.
A lot of very interesting baseball-history information in packed into this book, but when this exposition is relayed in dialogue, it sounds forced: as if the characters are speaking to each other mainly to convey information to the reader.
Despite this caveat, I cared about the characters in the story, and I cared about their personal outcomes as well as the outcomes for major league baseball. Called Out is a a book I’m glad I read, and I recommend it to others as an enjoyable way to learn about an important part of baseball history — and the more important issue of how to people should behave toward one another.
May 30, 2017
Rabia Tanveer, Readers’ Favorite: “Intriguing, intense and action packed, Called Out is a fast paced novel that is built on solid characters and an amazing story line. The story and the plot lines are very well-constructed and the characters are well-rounded. No one is perfect and you will find human flaws in each and every one of the characters. For me, this made the novel even more attractive. The dry humor, the wit and the crisp dialogues made Floyd Sullivan’s writing even more entertaining than I was expecting it to be. Brilliant, and a fun read.”
April 18, 2019
Set in the heady long-ago days when the Cubs dominated baseball and won back-to-back World Series (1907 and 1908), Called Out is the fictionalized story of Harry Pulliam, president of the National League. Baseball (or base ball as it was known then) was wild and woolly, a long way from the sport we watch today. This was more than ten years before the Black Sox scandal exposed gambling within the game, remember. Wily owners tried to increase profits by selling more tickets than their stadiums had seats—resulting in fans sitting on the outfield and reducing the field of play. Hot dogs were a novelty, and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" was the desperate brainstorm of a songwriter trying to for another hit. The rule book existed, but some rules were ignored because of tradition; at least, they were until a sharp but thoroughly unlikeable Cub named Johnny Evers (of Tinker to Evers to Chance fame) calls the league on the enforcement of one particular rule. This puts Pulliam, a man who loves the game for its beauty and wants nothing so much as to protect all that is best in it, on the spot. If he enforces the letter of the law, he will make powerful enemies among the game's magnates, enemies who threaten to expose his own weakness, a secret that could cost him his reputation, his career, his lover, and his very freedom.
November 9, 2017
Today, professional baseball is a multi-billion dollar industry. But back in 1908, it was still experiencing growing pains. As the young game exploded in popularity, it was also rife with scandal, while unruly behavior from fans often gave baseball a bad name.
Floyd Sullivan gives us a glimpse into this world with his book, Called Out: A Novel of Base Ball and America in 1908. This is a fictionalized account of the bizarre 1908 National League pennant chase, centered around League President Harry Pulliam, who seeks to bring integrity to the game while facing hostility from owners, players, and fans who each have their own interests. Pulliam does this while trying to conceal his homosexual affair from the public, though he suspects that the owner of the New York Giants has been spying on him, planning to use his taboo personal life to blackmail him. Pulliam’s staunchest ally is his stenographer, Lenore Caylor, a likable and strong young woman who provides critical support in guiding Pulliam through the tumultuous 1908 season.
As the Giants are battling the dreaded Chicago Cubs for the National League pennant, a baserunning mistake by a Giants player in a crucial game between the two teams late in the season throws a Giants win into question. It is during this climatic part of the story, when Pulliam must rule on the situation, that Sullivan’s character development skills shine. Pulliam wrestles with this controversy while thinking about what is best for the game despite pressure from all sides.
As he tells the story, Sullivan showcases his strong writing skills. It’s a fast-paced story with lots of detail that gives the reader a great insight into life in America in 1908, particularly its fascination with its national pastime. The amount of research that must have gone into writing this is impressive. Baseball fans who pick up this book hoping to experience a lot of on-the-field action may be a little disappointed, as there is little narrative of actual games played, especially in the first half of the book. However, it seems to be a story focused more on history and on character development, and in this way, the book succeeds.
We see how much the game means to many fans in this story, as we also saw this last year when the Cubs won the World Series for the first time since that 1908 season. But this book also serves as a reminder to keep things in perspective. Despite the difficulty and even pain that the game caused some of the characters in this book, it is still just a game. Called Out is a great read for baseball fans, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction.
Note: This review was originally posted by Public Libraries Online on October 27, 2017, located at http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017....
Floyd Sullivan gives us a glimpse into this world with his book, Called Out: A Novel of Base Ball and America in 1908. This is a fictionalized account of the bizarre 1908 National League pennant chase, centered around League President Harry Pulliam, who seeks to bring integrity to the game while facing hostility from owners, players, and fans who each have their own interests. Pulliam does this while trying to conceal his homosexual affair from the public, though he suspects that the owner of the New York Giants has been spying on him, planning to use his taboo personal life to blackmail him. Pulliam’s staunchest ally is his stenographer, Lenore Caylor, a likable and strong young woman who provides critical support in guiding Pulliam through the tumultuous 1908 season.
As the Giants are battling the dreaded Chicago Cubs for the National League pennant, a baserunning mistake by a Giants player in a crucial game between the two teams late in the season throws a Giants win into question. It is during this climatic part of the story, when Pulliam must rule on the situation, that Sullivan’s character development skills shine. Pulliam wrestles with this controversy while thinking about what is best for the game despite pressure from all sides.
As he tells the story, Sullivan showcases his strong writing skills. It’s a fast-paced story with lots of detail that gives the reader a great insight into life in America in 1908, particularly its fascination with its national pastime. The amount of research that must have gone into writing this is impressive. Baseball fans who pick up this book hoping to experience a lot of on-the-field action may be a little disappointed, as there is little narrative of actual games played, especially in the first half of the book. However, it seems to be a story focused more on history and on character development, and in this way, the book succeeds.
We see how much the game means to many fans in this story, as we also saw this last year when the Cubs won the World Series for the first time since that 1908 season. But this book also serves as a reminder to keep things in perspective. Despite the difficulty and even pain that the game caused some of the characters in this book, it is still just a game. Called Out is a great read for baseball fans, but I would recommend it to anyone interested in historical fiction.
Note: This review was originally posted by Public Libraries Online on October 27, 2017, located at http://publiclibrariesonline.org/2017....
May 12, 2017
Jimmy Greenfield, author, 100 Things Cubs Fans Should Know & Do Before they Die: “Floyd is a great baseball fan and an even better writer. He constantly finds new ways to write that blend a vast knowledge, endless curiosity and sharp wit.”
May 12, 2017
Patrick Creevy, author, Ryan’s Woods, Tyrus, and Lake Shore Drive: “With the multiplex references that its title suggests, Called Out connects in a human oneness the world of 1908 with that of our own time. And it does so, first page to last, with an ever-intense narrative drive.”
December 1, 2024
Though the subtitle of Called Out tells us it is a “novel of baseball”, you don’t have to love baseball to love this story. It is an historical fiction novel that spans the year 1908 – and you will learn a lot about that pivotal year in baseball. But, Sullivan’s eye and ear for detail makes this a rich story of a particular time for a particular person. That person is Harry Cain Pulliam, president of the National Base Ball League. The story is based on his actual life, experiences and decisions. Most likely gay, as depicted in this story, Sullivan brings to life the man’s passion for the game of baseball and his desire to bring integrity to the game through several controversial decisions, pitted against the constant fear and threat of being “called out” for who he is. While Sullivan’s obvious passion for the game of baseball is evident, the book delivers so much more as an historical story. The author captures the look, feel, and sound (the formal speech between Pulliam and his stenographer, Lenore Clayton, seems so antiquated!) of the times and gives exquisite details when describing the various settings. “Real life” personalities such as Ring Lardner and tidbits about the Ziegfeld Follies and how the song “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” evolved, liven up the story. This is a fast-paced, multi-layered story and a terrific fiction debut novel. I look forward to more writing from Floyd Sullivan!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews