Calico Joe by John Grisham is certainly a change from the John Grisham books many people may come to expect from this author. When shoppers see a book by John Grisham in the check out line at the store, they tend to be New York Times best sellers, adult murder mysteries, and dramas. Many of his books have become hit moves like The Firm, The Pelican Brief, The Client, and A Time to Kill, among many others. Researching John Grisham's biography, revealed that he has a passion for baseball, and has written a few novels (Bleachers, and Playing For Pizza) that are based on the drama of high school, college, and professional sports. Calico Joe is certainly a sports book written for the baseball fan of all ages. The setting for most of the story is the 1970s, and baseball is truly America's pastime. Players like Yogie Berra, Catfish Hunter, and Johnny Bench cover baseball cards that every kid in America cling to like golden dollars. In 1973 a virtually unnoticed rookie named, Joe Castle, is brought up to the struggling Cub's major league team to fill in for injured first baseman Jim Hickman. From Joe's first major league at bat he becomes an instant sports sensation, breaking rookie and major league records. Unfortunately Joe's career is cut short by one famous pitch. It's a pitch that instantly brings to a halt the baseball career of three individuals, Joe Castle, Warren Tracey, the pitcher, and incidentally, Paul Tracey, Warren's 12 year old son, the narrator of this fascinating baseball story.
The reader will follow Paul as he tells the story of that fateful day, and the history that led up to the moment that cut Joe Castle down. Paul lives with the consequences of his father's reckless behavior for over 30 years. It's not until Warren is dying of cancer that Paul derives a plan to help all three ballplayers bring closure to their lives.
Reading this book brought me back to the time when I was a kid, and baseball was life for me. Even though this book is fiction, many of the characters are real. I had the baseball cards of most of the real players mentioned in this book. I wonder where those cards are today. I wasn't a statistics kind of kid, but I do remember mimicking the style of the most successful players. I know I would have loved to watch Calico Joe play ball. The nostalgia in baseball has changed. The million dollar contracts and performance enhancing drugs have made the game seem less real. Baseball for young kids has been benched by technology and over zealot parents. Gone are the days of sandlot games when kids managed their own play. Watch the diamonds as you pass by. Celebrate the few times you might see a group of kids in a pick up game a baseball without a parent in sight. Ghosts of players like Calico Joe, and even Paul Castle don't seem to haunt the diamonds any more. The field of dreams is gone.
