Regular followers of the bookshelf know my aversion to discussing fiction. I don’t have enough of a creative writing background to pass critical judgment on the hard work of the novelist. All I can pass on is what I like or dislike.
But this summer I was fortunate enough to enjoy back-to-back hits: The Might Have Been: A Novel
I’ve been doing a bit of reading about Adam Greenberg lately, due in part to the One At Bat movement, coupled with his attempt to make the roster for the Israeli National Team as it plays in the World Baseball Classic qualifier (unfortunately, he didn’t make the cut). TMHB could have been his story, although Schuster told me in an email that he had been working on the book for a long time, well before Greenberg had his lone ill-fated appearance in the big league. It’s not giving away too much of the story to say that the protagonist, Edward Everett Yates falls into the category of the majority of athletes seeking a Major League career, regardless of the sport. It’s all the more agonizing in baseball because of the seemingly vast amount of opportunity, given the number of players in the minor leagues. But, truth be told, only a fraction will ever advance to the highest level for more than a cup of coffee. Yates falls into that category, the victim of a ML career-ending injury, although, God bless, him, he never wants to give up, regardless of the cost when it comes to relationships.
Eventually, he does have to give up playing, although not the game itself. He becomes a weathered bush league manager who now has to make the kinds of decisions that will affect the careers — and lives — of the young men in his charge. Like Yates, many of them believe baseball is what they were destined to do, only to discover their fate is not in their hands.
Schuster tells this sad story in a realistic voice for the most part. I found a couple of incidents towards the end a bit unnecessary. Yates’ story is intriguing enough without add a couple of scenes to increase the tension/drama. In a more just world, The Might Have Been would have enjoyed the buzz The Art of Fielding received. I found it a much more realistic story, free from the literary pretensions of TAOF. I guess Schuster’s mistake was not getting a huge advance.
The day-to-day lives of the minor league prospect and has-been is at the heart of the feature film, Bull Durham. At on point in the movie, the PA announcers welcomes fans to”the greatest show on dirt”; James Bailey use that sentiment for his first novel which takes a look at the young men and women behind the scenes who make the game go.
James — who has his own blog that features reviews of baseball books — makes heroes out of these folks, who have to deal with the tedium, the egos, the high demands, and the low salaries. Despite the problems, he makes me wish I was Lane Hamilton, his “hero,” who has the guts to give up a comparatively lucrative job for a chance to work in the national pastime. I think many of us fantasize about a time in our lives when we might have taken a different turn, before family and expectations dug their mitts into us. (Which takes us back, in title and thoughts, to The Might Have Been for us.
Hamilton and his cronies have the thankless jobs of placating disgruntled fans as well as players, trying to be accommodating, but having to deal with differing levels of douchery, for lack of a better word. Can they make a career out of the minors? Will they advance or will they have to “grow up” at some point? Whatever they decide, TGSOD makes for a good distraction from the heaviness of the daily grind.
is available on Amazon.com,
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