In order not to give much away, the rest of this quick read is about forgiveness and family with baseball as a backdrop. He decides that once and for all Warren should apologize to Joe and sets off cross country to make that reconciliation possible.
Joe falls into a coma and never plays baseball again.įast forward to the present when Paul learns that Warren is dying. Paul and his mother leave the stadium and he does not watch another game for thirty years. In his second at bat, Warren throws at Joe's head and knocks him unconscious. Joe hits a home run in his first at bat and Paul is ecstatic. Warren is scheduled to pitch for the Mets and Paul and his mother go to the game. He easily becomes Paul's idol as well, and Paul immediately checks the Mets schedule to see when the Cubs will be coming to town.Īll is going well for Castle and the Cubs until they meet the hated Mets in New York for a crucial four game series. To top things off, he is from small town Calico Rock, Arkansas and easily identifiable to Americans pursuing the American Dream. He is an instant success and America falls in love with him immediately. After injuries to their starting first baseman, they call up 21 year old Joe Castle from double a. The Cubs having floundered in 1969 were back in the pennant race. The book is written half in present and half in flashback to the summer when Paul was 11 and Warren spiraled out of control, essentially ending Paul's childhood innocence. Paul wavers back and forth if he should pay a visit to his father before he passes away, inevitably deciding to do so. Warren, a mediocre journeyman pitcher, was an even worse father.
Paul Tracey receives a phone call from his father's current wife that his father Warren is dying and might have three months to live tops. I did not get around to reading it until now, and of course I finished in 3 hours, as it's the time of year where I binge on baseball books. The Cubs were in the midst of another losing season and the radio announcers had John Grisham in their booth to discuss his new baseball book. The blurb on the front of the book reads the great American storyteller meets our national pastime.
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