[.ca] For Love of the Game (ISBN 0345408926)

From Amazon.com:
Serious sports novels often fall through the literary cracks simply because of the arena they play in. Michael Shaara earned his battle stripes--and a Pulitzer Prize--for The Killer Angels, a fictional resurrection of the Battle of Gettysburg, as serious a subject as a writer can confront. Yet, it's no more profound, in the end, than the personal dilemmas protagonist Billy Chapel faces in this, Shaara's final novel, found stashed in a desk after his death and published posthumously. A certain Hall of Famer, Chapel is a major-league anomaly, a contemporary throwback to another sporting era. He's pitched 17 stellar seasons for the same club, and his love of the game has remained paramount; neither money nor fame has been his motivation. But on the single day this story takes place, he finds himself in crisis. At the crossroads of his life, his career, and his future, he must make the hard choices that will define the direction of the rest of his life. It's the end of the season, his team's out of contention, there's a rumor he may have been traded, and the woman he can't fully acknowledge that he loves announces she's leaving him. It is, as he tells himself, "Time to grow up, Daydreamer." Still, he dreams, but he also acts. As Billy takes the mound for his final start of the year--and maybe forever--we enter his stream of consciousness, and rush with him over the sometimes treacherous rapids of what has preceded this moment, and what may come. Amazingly, though his mind seems to wander through time, his concentration is fierce. Pitch by pitch, inning by inning, he remains focused, honoring his job and his legacy as he pitches a masterpiece of mythic proportion, ultimately leaving the field more a man than when he took it. Using baseball to sound the depths of human experience, Shaara delivers a masterpiece, as well. --Jeff Silverman

a hero's tale:
Many of you will have read and loved Michael Shaara's Pulitzer Prize-winning classic of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels (see Orrin's review). For Love of a Game is a previously unpublished baseball novella that Jeff Shaara found amongst his father's paper after he died. Baseball was apparently a great love of his father's and that love is apparent in this work. The story concerns a future Hall of Fame pitcher, Billy Chapel, who has spent his whole career with one team, but now as he nears the end of his career he learns that he's been traded. As he takes the mound for his final game of the season he ponders whether it will be the last of his career. Compounding his problems, his long time girlfriend, Carol, has just told him that she's leaving. Billy has always been a consummate professional, driven by respect for himself and the game, but like many athletes, he's remained somewhat immature, a status that is best reflected in his inability to acknowledge, to her or to himself, that he loves Carol. Over the course of a brilliantly pitched game, Billy has to come to terms with the reality he has been able to hold off until now. He has to grow up. Shaara tells Billy's story as a kind of internal monologue, which inevitably makes for a talky and, despite the intercut action of the game, somewhat claustrophobia-inducing tale. But Chapel is nearly religious in his commitment to excellence and his determination to always use his gifts to the utmost of his ability. He brings a refreshing respect and seriousness to his craft and takes deserving pride in what he has accomplished. Because of this, we can actually believe that he is capable of taking on the responsibilities he now faces. He's a very likable character, but more than that, he's admirable, both as an athlete and as a man. And that's more than enough to carry the book through some slow spots. GRADE : B

This little novel left me in tears (Don't tell anyone.):
I read the book in one easy afternoon sitting, and I'm not a speed reader. The story started slow, but grew better as the book went on - right to the very last sentence of the last page. I have not seen the movie, but I plan to now. It is a simple novelette with a powerful emotional appeal, and a very uplifting message about loyalty, love and determination.

Introspective and moving:
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.

Actually 4 1/2 stars:
Don't get me wrong this was a really good book. And I am so close to giving it 5 stars. It was just a little too short for me. The story invloving the ball game was great and showed why baseball is so pure at its core. The only thing that was lacking in the story was the story outside of the game. You will fly through this book, it is a good story and you will feel satisfied after reading it, even after that mild short coming I mentioned. Just my opnion, I could be wrong.

A Great Little Gem of a Book:
Shutting out everything, concentrating on that one goal, time and time again. Why? All for the love of the game. This little gem of a book was found by the author's son and published posthumously. Though it is no Gettysburg, it is a wonderful book from an author who left us too early before we got a chance to know him. Billy Chapel is an aging major league baseball who once knew the pinnacle of greatness. But age has taken over, and he is on the verge of being put out to pasture--or as rumors roam--being traded. He is pitching his last game of the season, and as he pitches he ruminates over his life over a stream of conscienceless of thought. He knows it is the end of his career, but he is not going without a flash and begins to pitch the best game of his life. As he pitches, he begins to think back on his life, but as he does so he stays focus on the game--the perfect game. Why? For the love of the game. There are no simple answers to his life. Nothing but memories, the future, and the love of the game. A perfect little book from a great author.