The Big Field

By Mike Lupica

Sport: Baseball

Rating: 4 stars

Another solid entry from sportswriter Mike Lupica. Fourteen year old Hutch loves baseball, inside and out. He's a great shortstop, too. And he's on a summer league team, hoping to win his way to the Florida state championships. There are just a couple of problems. One is that he isn't playing shortstop. Darryl is a superstar player, one of those kids for whom baseball comes so easily it seems obvious that one day he'll be in the majors. And Darryl gets shortstop over him, so Hutch has to move on over to second base. While Hutch can deal with what is best for the team, he has a hard time dealing with Darryl's casual attitude towards the game. And then there's Hutch's dad who was once a shortstop headed for the pros himself. But when his dad couldn't cut it in the majors, he felt disappointed by life. And when Hutch started to become a good--no, great--player himself, it seemed like his dad completely withdrew from baseball and from Hutch. Can this summer be the time when Hutch finally comes into his own on the big field? With some good character development and plenty of baseball action, sports fans will eat this book up.