A single pitch in the summer of 1973 ended a brilliant young player's career; decades later, the pitcher's son tries to set things right
One pitch, many years later
In the summer of 1973, Joe Castle, a rookie from the small town of Calico Rock, Arkansas, took baseball by storm with a record-breaking start for the Chicago Cubs. Eleven-year-old Paul Tracey idolised him, even though Paul's father, Warren, pitched for the rival New York Mets. Then, in one game, Warren threw a pitch that changed everything. Thirty years later, Paul learns his father is seriously ill and sets out to arrange a meeting that might bring some peace.
Who will enjoy it
Baseball fans, readers who enjoy Grisham outside the courtroom, and anyone drawn to quiet stories about fathers, sons and regret.
What you will get
A short, poignant baseball novel about a famous injury on the field, a hard and distant father, and a grown son's attempt to bring about an apology.
Calico Joe Facts: Pages, Genre and Setting
Genre
Literary Fiction · Baseball · Fathers and sons · Forgiveness
Length
208 pages · ≈ 6 h
More about this book
Grisham clearly loves baseball, and the sections describing Joe Castle's dazzling rookie season capture the excitement of a young talent taking the league by storm. Told through the eyes of a boy who adores the game, these chapters have real warmth and nostalgia.
The emotional core is Paul's relationship with his father, a talented but selfish man who was absent and unkind at home. Grisham shows the damage quietly rather than dramatically, and Paul's adult effort to persuade a dying, stubborn man to apologise gives the book a moving final act. The ending is gentle and restrained.
This is a slim book, more a long story than a full novel, and some readers find it slight or predictable. Those unfamiliar with baseball may skim the game descriptions. The prose is plain and the pace unhurried. Taken on its own terms, a reflective story about regret and second chances, it is touching and memorable. It also makes a good gift for sports fans who rarely pick up fiction, since it can easily be read in an evening or two. About 208 pages in the Doubleday hardcover.
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