It isn't often I will read fiction, sports or no sports, but when the author reached out to the baseball book club on Goodreads, a few of us decided to give it a chance. This book on the famous "Casey At the Bat" poem is a decent read for those who enjoy baseball fiction. Here is my review of "At the Bat"
Title/Author:
"At the Bat: The Strikeout that Shamed America" by Del Jones
Tags:
Baseball, professional, history, fiction
Publish date:
August 17, 2020
Length:
252 pages
Rating:
3 ½ of 5 stars (good)
Review:
"Casey At the Bat" is probably the most famous piece of baseball fiction that has been written. However, since it is a poem, there is a lot of room to speculate what may have happened before and after that fateful at bat and Del Jones has weaved a good tale doing just that, speaking mostly from the point of view of the umpire.
Walter Brewster is that umpire, who reluctantly went into that profession upon the guidance of a judge who was assaulted while umpiring a game. He strikes me as a different type of protagonist, one that is hard to gauge and whether to love or loathe him. The same was true for the judge and other minor characters as I had trouble trying to figure out the development of these characters.
That couldn't be said for the historical characters such as Moses Fleetwood Walker (the catcher in the famous at-bat, using the pseudonym Grasshopper Nova), Cap Anson and Nelly Bly. Each of them are not only well known due to their real-life accomplishments, their stories are told well in the tale.
While the overall story is good, if it was a little more polished instead of jumping around from before and after, it would have been helpful. On more than one occasion, I found myself going back to try to catch up to what happened up to that point, whether it was before or after the at bat. But the story as a whole, especially the ending, is a good one. That made the book one that I was glad to read, despite my reservations about certain aspects. There wasn't any one particular aspect that I felt was truly outstanding, but at the same time, none of these were so bad that it made the book not worth the time to read. If you like to read historical baseball fiction, this one is worth checking out.
Book Format Read:
E-book (Kindle)
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