Showing posts with label minor league baseball. Show all posts
Showing posts with label minor league baseball. Show all posts

The Pitch: The Adventures of Luther Woundup and His Magical Orange Ball Review

The Pitch: The Adventures of Luther Woundup and His Magical Orange Ball
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The Pitch: The Adventures of Luther Woundup and His Magical Orange Ball ReviewAs a native Sacramentan and avid science fiction fan, this book piqued my curiosity. The unusual, colorful cover grabbed my attention as I was browsing around Tower Books on Broadway. I bought it on a whim, and only put it down once before I was finished.
The book takes place in the near future in Sacramento, CA, in the familiar territory of downtown, on the Sacramento River, and at Raley Field (called Riders Field in the novel). Our protagonist (or is he? we're not quite sure) is Luther Woundup, a fiery redheaded sprite of a youth, who just happens to hearken from a planet called Spalding (the novel is not without its requisite sci-fi puns - but thankfully, Cabral humors us with a plausible explanation). If nothing else, this kid wants to play baseball, and bad. We soon learn that he's on a mission to collect energy from people to deliver back to his home planet - and where better to collect it than from 13,000 upbeat baseball fans? (Well, Arco Arena - but Spaldingians are apparently not into basketball.)
Luther's mission leads him to some interesting characters - Bo Wandele, a good-natured river rat with a bum leg and a homeless lisp; Susan "Mink" Minkin, a PR career woman for the baseball team whose only flaw is determination in the face of almost certain humiliation; and, believe it or not, a shockingly accurate Rush Limbaugh - who becomes more central to the story than one would ever think possible.
It's a really great book. Well written, funny, with lively characters and dialogue. We really LIKE Luther, and Bo, and Mink - and we're really rooting for them throughout the story. The plot is also very sophisticated for a "sci fi" piece. (I strongly hesitate to use that label, by the way - this novel would be enjoyed by anyone who just likes a good story.) It was interesting: After I finished the book, I felt like I was waking up from a vivid dream - I guess I was that committed to what I was reading.
I'm very much a supporter of local writers, arts and entertainment, and I think this book is just as good as anything else out there. I gave it four stars instead of five just because it felt a little rough around the edges in places, but it was truly worth reading. I wholeheartedly recommend this book - especially if you're a Sacramentan, a baseball nut, or a Rush Limbaugh fan/enemy (trust me, the character will appeal to both conservatives AND the "bleeding-hearts!")The Pitch: The Adventures of Luther Woundup and His Magical Orange Ball OverviewTo contact the author, please send e-mail to RAC@ThePitchBook.comFrom the moment Luther Woundup launches the orange baseball over the wall at Riders Field, Sacramento fans are introduced to the most intriguing mascot the game has ever seen. Luther bursts onto the field and into their hearts with the most ingenious, magical displays. But like a modern day Trojan Horse, the display serves as a ruse to collect human brain waves with an innocent-looking device invented by Luther's father, the reigning scientist on Spalding. The mission: convert the contents into cortesium, which is needed to save his people. At least, that's what Luther is told. Eventually, he learns the true purpose of his mission, pitting father against son in The Pitch

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A Nice Tuesday Review

A Nice Tuesday
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A Nice Tuesday ReviewThis book is not about baseball, and it is not a sequel to "A False Spring," which was a classic in its own right. It is also not about dogs, cigars, fast cars or South Florida, although all of those things figure prominently in the book. Instead, "A Nice Tuesday" is a deeper, fuller portrait of an unusually talented guy living out his life as best he can despite a nagging feeling that he has failed.
That may not sound particularly interesting, but Pat Jordan himself is a far better subject than 99% of the atheletes he usually writes about. He is an intelligent guy, with a wide range of interests. His writing captures that struggle we all go through of being able to perceive our shortcomings and only have limited success trying to change them. But, at least he does try. In this book, he's completely unafraid to reveal himself through his writing.
Beyond this, Jordan is a very skilled writer. He has a great sense of judgment as to what will capture and keep the reader's attention. He doesn't abuse this gift by lingering on his stories too long. There are dozens of memorable scenes and vignettes in this book, but it does not come off as being choppy or disorganized. The connections make sense to Jordan, and he convinces the reader that they should make sense.
Although this is non-fiction, the book "A Nice Tuesday" resembles most closely is "The World According to Garp" by John Irving. I mean that as a compliment; Garp is one of my favorite books of all time. For me, the similarities are in how Jordan and Garp are both fascinating individuals who have improbable life experiences -- much more interesting than the rest of us -- develop a unique way of looking at life, surround themselves with unusual, even quirky companions and still manage to come off as average guys. Just as John Irving novels have wrestling, dancing bears, New England prep schools and scenes in Vienna, Austria, Pat Jordan's life has baseball, dogs, cigars and Florida. We can relate to these elements, but the books are more than the sum of the elements. Neither Irving's novels nor Jordan's memoir are about these things. They just give the writer an excuse to display talent, skill and a unique way of looking at the world.
"A Nice Tuesday" also conveys Jordan's sense of inevitable doom -- this obviously comes from the heart -- which reminds me of the "Under Toad" in Garp. Jordan knows that he always drives the people he loves away from him, but can't figure out why and can't seem to stop the process. How honest and uncommon to admit this secret fear that so many of us have.
A Nice Tuesday is an excellent choice for any adult reader, male or female, young, middle aged or old. It has humor, insight and poignancy. It is much more rewarding than any sports book I have ever read and should not be cheapened by that label. It would have been just as good a book if he had not pitched in the minor league game.A Nice Tuesday Overview

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