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Wild Pitch
Mike Lupica Book Review

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Plot Summary of Wild Pitch
"

Putnam, Sep 2002, 24.95, 352 pp.
ISBN: 0399149279

Though he was one of the reasons the Mets won a hundred games and played in the post season, young fans either never heard of Showtime Charlie Stoddard or think of him as a phenom footnote. However, Charlie, who believed in two things, baseball and partying, hurt his arm in the '88 playoffs and never came back that is until now years later at the age of forty.

After years of boozing, womanizing, and gambling, Charlie meets therapist Chang who provides his aching arm with relief that feels so good the former pitcher makes a comeback with the Red Sox, who as usual are hurting in their run against the Yankees. As he returns to the mound, Charlie also tries to reconcile with his former wife who believes a continent may not be enough landmass between them. Charlie also makes an effort to reconcile with his son who loathes him. While laboring over straightening out his personal life, Charlie works hard on helping the Red Sox overcome the Killer Bs (the curse of the Babe and Buckner's Dent) that haunt New England.

Though the story line is evident from almost the start, sports fans will enjoy this amusing look at baseball, especially in light of the recent settlement. Charlie's injury will remind the boomers of the Bird, but his reaction is so different from Fidrych's contented return to his farm. Mike Lupica provides an entertaining tale that is a walk off home run winner except this reviewer from the Bronx points out that only in fiction could this ending occur.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Wild Pitch
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Tone of book? - very sensitive (sigh)
Time/era of story - present (2000-2010)
Romance/Romance Problems Yes
Kind of romance: - rekindling lost love/marriage
Life of a profession: - athlete, professional
Kind of sport: - baseball
Is this an adult or child's book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Sports Story? Yes
Job/Profession/Status story Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - sports figure
Age: - 40's-50's
Ethnicity/Nationality - White (American)
How sensitive is this character? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - none

Setting
How much descriptions of surroundings? - 4 ()
United States Yes
The US: - Southeast

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - no torture/death
Unusual Style: - a lot of flashback and forwards - a lot of stream of consciousness
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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