It's baseball playoff time again (October) and the Washington Nationals are in the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. I used to live in Maryland so of course I'm rooting for the Nationals to go to the World Series. This time of year, I try to read something baseball related. A few years ago, I read Shoeless Joe, the excellent novel by Kinsella that was made into the movie "Field of Dreams." Iowa Baseball Confederacy is another Kinsella fantasy novel that uses magic realism to blend events and individuals past and present with the author's love of the game.
Gideon Clark has a passion for baseball and is on a quest to prove to the world that the Chicago Cubs traveled to Onamata, Iowa, in the summer of 1908 to play an exhibition game with the all stars of the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, an amateur league. However, this game which lasted over 2000 innings is not on the record books and there is no one who remembers it. His father had a detailed memory of the game after he was struck by lightning but no one believed him and Gideon is carrying on in his father's footsteps by trying to prove that the game took place. Then Gideion and his friend Stan, an ageing minor league ballplayer, follow an old railroad spur which opens a crack in time and they are transported to 1908 and take part in the mythical game. They participate against the world champion Cubs of 1908 including Tinker, Evers, Chance, and Three Finger Brown. Gideon also finds love and Stan finds happiness playing for the Confederacy. But why did this crack in time open for them and how does the mammoth 10-foot-tall Indian, Drifting Away, hold the key to everyone's fate?
I really enjoyed this novel with its descriptions of the game as well as taking the reader to a past that no longer exists. Gideon reminisces about what his father told him about baseball: "There's a lot more to watching a baseball game than keeping your eye on the ball. You don't need base runners to enjoy the game. Notice how the infielders rise on their toes as the ball is delivered. When it looks like nothing is going on, choose a player and watch him react to every pitch, rising like water, receding like water. Watch a different player every inning. The true beauty of the game is the ebb and flow of the players in response to a foul ball, an extra-base hit, or an attempted stolen base." This description of watching players during a game makes me want to see more games in person since you can't really watch individual players on a televised game. Anyway, go Nats!
Gideon Clark has a passion for baseball and is on a quest to prove to the world that the Chicago Cubs traveled to Onamata, Iowa, in the summer of 1908 to play an exhibition game with the all stars of the Iowa Baseball Confederacy, an amateur league. However, this game which lasted over 2000 innings is not on the record books and there is no one who remembers it. His father had a detailed memory of the game after he was struck by lightning but no one believed him and Gideon is carrying on in his father's footsteps by trying to prove that the game took place. Then Gideion and his friend Stan, an ageing minor league ballplayer, follow an old railroad spur which opens a crack in time and they are transported to 1908 and take part in the mythical game. They participate against the world champion Cubs of 1908 including Tinker, Evers, Chance, and Three Finger Brown. Gideon also finds love and Stan finds happiness playing for the Confederacy. But why did this crack in time open for them and how does the mammoth 10-foot-tall Indian, Drifting Away, hold the key to everyone's fate?
I really enjoyed this novel with its descriptions of the game as well as taking the reader to a past that no longer exists. Gideon reminisces about what his father told him about baseball: "There's a lot more to watching a baseball game than keeping your eye on the ball. You don't need base runners to enjoy the game. Notice how the infielders rise on their toes as the ball is delivered. When it looks like nothing is going on, choose a player and watch him react to every pitch, rising like water, receding like water. Watch a different player every inning. The true beauty of the game is the ebb and flow of the players in response to a foul ball, an extra-base hit, or an attempted stolen base." This description of watching players during a game makes me want to see more games in person since you can't really watch individual players on a televised game. Anyway, go Nats!
