The Big Field

The book I’m doing this review on is The Big Field by Mike Lupica. Lupica has written lots of great sports novels. This book is about a 14 year old boy named Hutch whose passion is to play baseball. He was the star of the baseball team until Darryl Williams, better known as; D-Will came along and took his position at shortstop. Hutch and his best friend Cody spend their entire summer trying to make the best of the situation and win a championship.

Hutch’s father was a professional baseball player but a career-ending injury caused him to be watching games on TV rather than being a part of them. Hutch’s dream is to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a big-leaguer. But right now that’s too far into the future for him to worry about. Hutch’s goal is to lead his team to Roger Dean Stadium and win a national championship. But that goal is crushed when D-Will comes along and takes away his captain roll on the team. Darryl Williams the biggest prospect in the state just comes out of nowhere and takes every goal Hutch had and ruined it. Hutch absolutely hates Darryl, after a long day of baseball Hutch and Cody decide to go to the field and play some more baseball. That’s when he saw his own dad giving fielding advice to Darryl. In that very moment Hutch’s desire was to do everything in his control to take his team to the championship and win.

This book is full of great moments. I would recommend this book to anyone, even if you aren’t a big sports fan. This young boy overcame his difficulties and everything he could to do his best. This book inspired me and I’m sure it’ll do the same for you.

Book Review by Jacob S.

The Big Field

The book I read was “The Big Field” by Mike Lupica. Mike Lupica writes many sports books and “The Big Field” is as I would say a “Middle of the Road” book, which means that it isn’t outstanding but it is intriguing to a baseball fanatic like me. “The Big Field” is about a boy named Hutch. Hutch is a shortstop on the Cardinals, he is supposed to be the leader of the team but when a boy named Darryl joins the team Hutch’s position changes to 2nd base. To Hutch, switching to 2nd base is a demotion. Darryl is said to be the best baseball player in the state and will go pro when he is older. Hutch has to overcome the demotion and play to the best of his ability in order to have a future in the sport. This book seems to always have the same theme throughout the book and that would be “Overcoming obstacles”. In this book Hutch first has to face the switch of positions but he faces much more than that such as his dad. Hutch’s dad almost went pro in baseball but will not show up to any of Hutch’s games or even talk to him about baseball. Overcoming obstacles is pretty much what life is about, you have to face things that you wouldn’t want to but in order to proceed in life you have to put in the work.

In “The Big Field” Hutch has to perform at 2nd base even though his position is Shortstop. During this book Hutches team has to compete in a big tournament played at a Major League baseball field and will be played on Sportscenter. Hutch has to overcome the obstacle of playing on the same field as Darryl who is cocky and believes that everyone is below him. Hutch and Darryl have to come together and play as one in order to win the tournament. The team will need to play as more than a team, more like a family to go all the way. “If you were a shortstop, you always wanted the ball hit at you” (Lupica 78). This quote is intriguing to me because it shows the views of a shortstop and that no shortstop has a fear of the ball which is true because in order to play that position you cannot be scared of anything.

I loved the book because I am a baseball fanatic and I live for the game. The book never bores me and if I could I would read it 1000 times over. This book has a very good story line and teaches many lessons that can be applied to sports and life. Everyone should read this book if they like any sport and are looking for an exciting sports book.

Book Review by John S.