Ballpark Blues: A Novel - Hardcover

Tooke, C.W.

3.56

50 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385506406 ISBN 13: 9780385506403

Publisher: Doubleday, 2003

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Russ Bryant, a lonely and downtrodden reporter trapped in a job he hates, stumbles onto the story of a lifetime when he is befriended by Casey Fox, a promising rookie catcher on the local minor league team. Possessed of mythic talents but mortal insecurities, Casey isn’t even sure he wants to play in the major leagues (and unless he improves his attitude toward the team’s management, he may never get the option). Still, when circumstances in Boston lead to an offer from the Red Sox, the lure proves irresistible, and Casey moves on the fast track from the anonymity of the minor leagues to stardom at Fenway Park.

Russ’s dormant dreams of journalistic glory soar as well, as his near-exclusive access to the hottest figure in sports puts him in national demand. And having the world’s leading home-run hitter for a best friend has other benefits. While he used to pass solitary evenings watching SportsCenter, he spends his nights in the company of professional athletes, getting the kind of access that other fans would do anything for. His growing acquaintance with Casey’s foster sister, Molly, gives him something to look forward to away from the world of sports, offering the possibility of love and maybe even redemption.

The closer they get to their goals—Casey to a triumphant season finale, Russ to a plum job at Sports Illustrated —the more they struggle with the dissonance between professional success and personal happiness. Both men begin to wonder whether there’s still a place for heroes in a world where sports has become a hard-nosed business and the media is steeped in cynicism. As Casey’s brilliance becomes increasingly offset by his troubles away from the ballpark, both Casey and Russ wonder if they should abandon professional baseball—and its accompanying dreams—in order to find happiness.

All this in the most edge-of-your-seat season Red Sox fans have ever seen, with the excitement of the fans ringing in your ears and the smell of freshly-mown grass and stale beer.

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From the Back Cover:

"C.W. Tooke is a writer with attitude, and that attitude is smart, witty, intelligent, and passionate. Ballpark Blues is a treat not just for baseball fans, but for lovers of good prose everywhere."
-Kevin Baker, bestselling author of Paradise Alley and Dreamland

"Terrific. You can chew on Bill James' statistics for a year, watch a billion SportsCenters and work as Barry Bonds' personal trainer and fashion co-ordinator and never gain the insights into modern sports--and sportswriters--that you will from Ballpark Blues. C.W. Tooke steps neatly on the cotton candy that professional sports has become...."
-Leigh Montville, author of New York Times bestseller At the Altar of Speed

"As pleasurable an experience as I have had from a novel in the past dozen years. The writing is simply superb: restrained, poignant, imaginative, extraordinarily accomplished, and poised."
-William F. Buckley, Jr., bestselling author of Elvis in the Morning and Nuremberg: The Reckoning

"After I started reading Ballpark Blues, I became so engrossed in the story that I lost several nights' sleep. I was enthralled from start to finish. You get a first-hand look at what goes on behind the scenes of a pro baseball team."
-Peter Golenbock, bestselling author of Dynasty : The New York Yankees 1949-1964 and Amazin': The Miraculous History of New York's Most Beloved Baseball Team

About the Author:

C.W. Tooke has worked as a feature writer and editorial consultant and has published features in Salon, New Jersey Monthly, and Princeton Alumni Weekly. A native of Boston, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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