I really enjoyed this fast-paced humorous novel about baseball. I usually enjoy sports-related novels and this one was no exception. I've read some of the classics like The Natural and Shoeless Joe which was the basis for the movie Field of Dreams and California Rush was on a par with these.
The story centers on a group of baseball players who played together on a minor league team in Monmouth, Indiana. The narrator of the story is Charlie Tyke who plays with Jay Bates, a hard-playing foul-mouthed player in the vein of Ty Cobb, and Davy Tremayne, who is an instant star who seems to walk on air. Tremayne gets called up to the big leagues first, playing for St. Louis. Tyke and Bates follow a couple of years later and play for Chicago. Then comes an incident that makes Bates a lifelong enemy of Tremayne--while playing a game against each other, Bates slides into second base trying to spike Tremayne and ends up breaking his knee. Well Bates doesn't forget and this injury leads to his exit from the majors. But down the line he becomes the manager of a new expansion team in Southern California called the California Rush. Tyke is also past his prime at this point and agrees to coach the team with Bates. But before the end of the season, Tyke is on Bates bad side and leaves only to be hired by Tremayne who is now the manager/player at St. Louis. All of this is leading to an epic showdown between the Rush and St. Louis to decide who wins the division. This game is one of the wildest epic games in baseball literature!
The characters in the book were really well written including the owner of the Rush who was a former movie cowboy (he was most likely modeled after Gene Autry who owned the California Angels) and the pitcher in the final game, Fabian Koonce, who had control but no speed to the plate. This sometimes reminded me of the hilarious movie Major League with Charlie Sheen which I also enjoyed. I read this book in a couple of sittings. It was really a quick and enjoyable read. Kiraly has written some other novels that I may try to find which also sound enjoyable. I would highly recommend this one to any baseball fan.
The story centers on a group of baseball players who played together on a minor league team in Monmouth, Indiana. The narrator of the story is Charlie Tyke who plays with Jay Bates, a hard-playing foul-mouthed player in the vein of Ty Cobb, and Davy Tremayne, who is an instant star who seems to walk on air. Tremayne gets called up to the big leagues first, playing for St. Louis. Tyke and Bates follow a couple of years later and play for Chicago. Then comes an incident that makes Bates a lifelong enemy of Tremayne--while playing a game against each other, Bates slides into second base trying to spike Tremayne and ends up breaking his knee. Well Bates doesn't forget and this injury leads to his exit from the majors. But down the line he becomes the manager of a new expansion team in Southern California called the California Rush. Tyke is also past his prime at this point and agrees to coach the team with Bates. But before the end of the season, Tyke is on Bates bad side and leaves only to be hired by Tremayne who is now the manager/player at St. Louis. All of this is leading to an epic showdown between the Rush and St. Louis to decide who wins the division. This game is one of the wildest epic games in baseball literature!
The characters in the book were really well written including the owner of the Rush who was a former movie cowboy (he was most likely modeled after Gene Autry who owned the California Angels) and the pitcher in the final game, Fabian Koonce, who had control but no speed to the plate. This sometimes reminded me of the hilarious movie Major League with Charlie Sheen which I also enjoyed. I read this book in a couple of sittings. It was really a quick and enjoyable read. Kiraly has written some other novels that I may try to find which also sound enjoyable. I would highly recommend this one to any baseball fan.
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