The most enjoyable college class I ever took was Baseball Fiction, taught by one John Lofflin. In the class, we read some of America's classic baseball novels, including "The Natural," "The Celebrant," "The Universal Baseball Association" and others, including "A Ticket for a Seamstitch," whose main character is the inspiration for this blog.
Hard to believe it's been a half-dozen years since I took that class. So it's high time that I head back to the baseball shelf on my bookcase and dust off those classic baseball novels. As I read them, I'll post notes and a short review on this here blog.
I'm in the middle of a non-baseball novel right now ("The Choirboys," a gritty crime novel by Joseph Wambaugh - it's great so far, and I'd highly recommend it), but once I'm done with it I'll start in on a baseball novel.
I'd like to start out with "The Southpaw" by Mark Harris, since it's the first Henry Wiggen book, but for some reason I can't find it on my bookshelf. I'll have to pick up another copy next time I'm at Half Price Books. If I can't get my hands on a copy, maybe I'll start with "Shoeless Joe" by W.P. Kinsella.
Feel free to chime in with your thoughts on each of the books, or tack on some suggestions to my baseball reading list. Lofflin, your comments are also welcome, since you literally taught the class on these great novels. And, it'd be a lot of fun to get Author's perspective...
--Matt Kelsey
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