Rating: 
Summary: Introspective and moving
Review: This book, found in manuscript form among the author's papers after his death, is like an ode to the purity of the game of baseball. The protagonist, Billy Chapel, is a throwback to the old glory days of the sport, when players spent their whole careers with one team, and had annual meetings with the team owner to iron out next year's contract. Chapel is about to take the mound at the end of his 17th big-league season, for a losing team, playing before 80,000 fans in Yankee Stadium (must have been the old, larger House that Ruth built) against a team desperately needing the win for a playoff berth. Amidst personal crisis (Chapel hears a rumor that he's been traded, and his girlfriend is destined to marry another), he tries to block out everything and go out in style, giving it all he's got for one majestic, final game. The book is written like an internal monologue, and especially in between innings Chapel reminisces about childhood, about his chance encounter with the beautiful Carol and their amorous adventures together, and about his departed parents. The scene of Billy pretending to sleep in the backseat of his folks' car, while they marvel at his talent and discuss how special he is, was especially moving. Chapel is so introspective that he is essentially roused out of his reverie to take the mound each inning by his catcher and best friend Gus. I liked the interplay between the baseball game and the dream-like flashbacks, although readers should understand that this is more than just a novel about baseball. Themes such as solitude, grace under pressure, camaraderie between the pitcher and catcher, and the recognition that Billy is an aging athlete playing what could be his last game are all explored in moving detail. I read the book this past week, against the backdrop of a classic game 7 World Series matchup between two old warhorses Clemens and Schilling, and could appreciate even more the way pitchers ignore the pain and lay it all on the line in big games. Shaara, whose masterpiece "The Killer Angels" explored the psyche of civil war veterans like Lee, Longstreet, Armistead and Hancock, does a good job getting inside the head of a hall of fame pitcher. The book is also nice and short, susceptible of being completed in one long sitting if desired. While some of his references may seem a bit dated (like athletes listening to Neil Diamond tapes the night before a game), the book is a winner.
Rating: 
Summary: The Old Man and the Game
Review: This book, published after the death of Pulitzer Prize winner Shaara, was not the final draft the author had in mind. What we have is a stream of thought and action story about getting old and yearning for the opportunities of our youth. Hemingway's Santiago was faced with 84 days without catching a fish. Shaara's pitcher is faced with the same type of problem and approaches it with the same intensity - all of his life has led to this moment. Shaara's message to the reader is that each moment is a culmination of our experiences and "growing up" is realizing that.
Rating:
Summary: Balls - and what else?
Review: This will finally provide a tonic for those of us in need for the last 50 years of a halfway house to break away out of <I>Bang the Drum Slowly</I>. It brings us back to the realization that baseball is not just a case of hitting a ball with a stick and running around a squared plot of ground. Don't even mention <I>The Natural</I>. This is the ultimate one, for sure.
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