Product Description

"Showtime" Charlie Stoddard blew out his phenomenal pitching arm- along with the rest of his life. Now, the only cheers he gets are from boozing and one-night stands-until a mysterious physical therapist hands him a second chance at the big time.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #794021 in Books
• Published on: 2003-09-02
• Released on: 2003-09-02
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
This novel about baseball and all its trappings from Lupica, a nationally syndicated sports columnist as well as author of both fiction and nonfiction books (Bump and Run; Summer of '98), offers a hilarious account of the comeback of Showtime Charlie Stoddard, a pitching phenom for the New York Mets forced into early retirement by a ruined arm. Five years after his final sorry major league appearance, Charlie encounters a mysterious therapist named Chang, whose treatments make his tortured arm feel so good he dreams of pitching again. Charlie, who is 40 going on 16, has an ex-wife, Grace, whom he still loves; a son, also a pitching phenom, who is so estranged he refuses to acknowledge his father's existence; and a shallow life made up of card playing, booze and one-night stands. How Charlie ends up pitching for the Red Sox as they try to hold off the Yankees in a tight pennant race and just possibly shake off the collective curses of the Bambino, Bill Buckner and Bucky Dent, is fast and funny and occasionally brings a tear to the eye as Charlie begins to grow up just a little and sets out to heal old wounds and make a new life for himself. The plot is obvious, the father and son story line is old hat and the happy ending is telegraphed like a hanging curve, but the laughs, the fast pace and insider baseball lore make up for weaknesses.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
*Starred Review* The kid at the baseball card show always asks, "Didn't you used to be somebody?" Charlie Stoddard always answers yes, he used to pitch for the Mets, even had a couple of 20-win seasons. That's when the shoulder went. Now, he's 40 years old, drinks too much, sleeps with women who are turned on by a whiff of fame, and longs to get back in the baseball life. After an evening of sexual gymnastics, his back spasms, and his partner sends him to an unorthodox therapist who unknots his back and also breaks loose the scar tissue in his pitching shoulder. Charlie decides to try a little semipro ball and finds some of the magic he had when he used to be somebody. His old catcher, Ted Hartnett, is managing the Red Sox in the midst of a pennant battle with the hated Yankees. When two of the Sox starting pitchers are injured, he gives Stoddard a chance. The result is a fantasy that will remind readers of the Ray Milland film classic, It Happens Every Spring. Lupica, a columnist for the New York Daily News and author of 13 books, captures both the insanity that passes for sport these days and the appeal that baseball still has for the eternal child who lives within every fan. It's also about forgiveness, redemption, and growing up, even at 40. It's also very funny. The best sports fiction so far this year, hands down. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
His best stuff...I loved it. -- Elmore Leonard

Customer Reviews

I fell for Lupica again. When will I learn?
A few years ago I bought "Bump and Run" mainly because it came highly recommended; particulary by Don Imus. As I struggled through it, I kept waiting for the laughs, which never came, not even a smile. I find it hard to believe, but "Wild Pitch" is even worse!! A book this size is usually a two stitting read for me, but it took me over a week to finish....

In sum, the book was boring and unfunny. The events predictable and the characters so poorly drawn that I didn't care what happened to any of them.

...
.... The writing is awful and the story is inane. I cringed from the very beginning, and only continued reading because I thought it had to get better. It doesn't.

An interesting story, despite some cliches and stereotypes
Mike Lupica, one of the nation's preeminent sports columnists, takes a turn at his second novel with WILD PITCH, the story of 40-something Charlie Stoddard, a pitcher who in his youth was a sure bet to make the Hall of Fame. But as sport fans know, a proclamation such as this just begs for divine intervention to the negative. Sure enough, Stoddard suffers an injury and floats along for the next decade or so, not wanting to give up a life that allows him to remain a carefree youngster for a few more years. Along the way he finds comfort in an exceptional amount of wine, women, and song. His ex-wife always complained that it was "always about Charlie." Lately, though, Stoddard has become a member of the "didn't you used to be somebody" club, making appearances at sports memorabilia shows and living off past glories.

One morning after, when he wakes up next to one of his assignations and finds himself barely able to stand up straight, he is sent to Chang, a mysterious and cynical fitness guru who, through the voodoo he works so well, manages to undo the damage resulting from the scar tissue left by earlier surgeries. In fact, Chang's intense regimen works so well that Stoddard decides he might just be able to make a return to the big leagues.

The road back is slow and cautious, but it inevitably leads to the Boston Red Sox, managed by Ted Hartnett, Stoddard's ex-catcher and best friend. Of course, by midseason their large lead is quickly dwindling, and the Sox are in a battle for the pennant with their arch rivals, the New York Yankees. So guess who steps in to become the hero?

WILD PITCH falls back on numerous sports cliches and ethnic stereotypes: the athletes are, for the most part, portrayed as alcoholic sex addicts. Stoddard's new catcher, Pooty Shaw, is an African American who juggles women ("primaries and secondaries," as he refers to them) like so many billiard balls. In fact, most minorities speak in dialects and are depicted in ways that some might find offensive. (Lupica's first novel BUMP AND RUN, a football story, followed a similar tone.)

A few wrinkles, however, keep WILD PITCH moving along. One is Stoddard's relationship with his new sensei Chang. While they exchange banter and frustration, there is undeniable respect, as the aging pitcher struggles to change his ways, achieving middling results. Another is the burgeoning romance with his ex-wife, the beautiful and talented (of course) Grace MacKenzie. And then there's Tom MacKenzie, a Red Sox pitching prodigy who just happens to be Stoddard's estranged son. There is a lot of animosity there, but it's one of several problems that Charlie must deal with in order to make a complete comeback, not just as an athlete, but as a person.

It's almost unfair that publishers allow sports columnists to submit manuscripts like this, given the edge they understandably have when it comes to behind-the-scenes reportage. WILD PITCH may be nothing startling and different in the world of sports fiction, but that doesn't make it bad. Fans of this genre will appreciate the detail that Lupica brings to the plate.

--- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan