Wild Pitch

This was a fun read. Yes, it was full of clichés, baseball stereo-types, and had a not-so-hard-to-figure-out ending; but it moved quickly thanks to the humor in it. Any sports fan would enjoy it. Mike Lupica is a favorite author and a great sports commentator.

Mike Lupica's book, Wild Pitch, is the story of
a man in his mid 40's named Charlie Stoddard. Charlie was a pitcher who in his youth was almost destined make the Hall of Fame.
After long days of success, Charlie Stoddard suffers an injury and glides along
for the next decade or so, not wanting to give up the life that
allows him to remain a 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 previous accomplishments.
One morning after, when he wakes up next to one of his show more 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 mid-season 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 and other inappropriate activities. Stoddard's new catcher, Pooty Shaw, is an
African American who juggles women like so many billiard balls. In fact, most
minorities speak in dialects and are depicted in ways that some
might find offensive.

I found this book very interesting considering I am a very big sports girl. The plot in this book twisted over and over continuously making me want to turn the page. Although this novel was 352 pages, it felt like a quick read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys sports, and any other book written by Mike Lupica. He is a fantastic author and uses incredible detail. show less

The book wild pitch is a book about charlie who was a super star pitcher up until he tore his arm. He spends a lot of his time at bars drinking and he is starting to throw his life away. I did not like this book because in the first 30 pages or so in the book it was dull and boring. I like sports books very much but this one I did not seem to enjoy reading. All that was talked about was how charlie needs to get his act toghther. This is why I doped this book early on.