The Big Field | 
| Author: Mike Lupica
Publisher: Philomel
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  8 reviews
Sales Rank: 3650
Media: Hardcover
Reading Level: Ages 9-12
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.1
ISBN: 0399246258
EAN: 9780399246258
ASIN: 0399246258
Publication Date: March 4, 2008
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Book Description
For Hutch, shortstop has always been home. It's where his father once played professionally, before injuries relegated him to watching games on TV instead of playing them. And it's where Hutch himself has always played and starred. Until now. The arrival of Darryl "D-Will" Williams, the top shortstop prospect from Florida since A-Rod, means Hutch is displaced, in more ways than one. Second base feels like second fiddle, and when he sees his father giving fielding tips to D-Will--the same father who can't be bothered to show up to watch his son play--Hutch feels betrayed. With the summer league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate? Mike Lupica returns to the big field for the first time since his #1 New York Times bestseller Heat and delivers a feel-good home run, showing how love of the game is a language fathers and sons speak from the heart. Q&A with Mike Lupica Q: Where did the idea for The Big Field come from? A: If it has one starting point, it was when Alex Rodriguez came to the Yankees and left shortstop to play third base. It wasn't so much that Rodriguez was the best all-around player in baseball at the time. It was that I knew he'd always thought of himself as a shortstop. I'm not sure he still doesn't think of himself as a shortstop. And suddenly he was a third baseman. Hutch isn't the best player in this book; Darryl Williams is. But Hutch had been a shortstop his whole life, it defined him as a ballplayer, and now because of the presence of Darryl on their American Legion team, he has to go to second base. It's the starting off point in a book that is ultimately about fathers and sons. But it's about a player having to leave his best position for the good of his team. Q: In The Big Field, the emotional heart of the story is Keith "Hutch" Hutchinson's relationship with his father, a washed-up ballplayer and former boy phenomenon who never advanced past the minor leagues and who completely soured on the game, setting the stage for a distant relationship with his son. Why did you decide to focus on the father-son dynamic in this novel? A: Sometimes with fathers and sons, when they can't communicate, they fall back on sports. It is like some universal language for fathers and sons. But at the start of The Big Field, Hutch and his dad don't even have that. And their journey, both of them, and I think it's a great journey, is finding that language again, finding a bond they never really lost. And finding each other. Q: Can you offer any advice for aspiring sports writers? A: Read the best guys, in books and newspapers and magazines. And then find ways to write. Write for the school paper, write anywhere you can, but write. I believe strongly that if you have the talent and the spirit, somebody will find you. Q: When writing a young character do you find yourself looking back to yourself at that age? Or your children? A: I look back to myself, and remember how important sports were to me, the fellowship, just the sheer fun of having a game with my buddies even if it wasn't organized. I tell people all the time that I still go to games thinking I might see something I've never seen before. I still have that feeling. But more than that, I see sports through the eyes of my children, too. See what they think is good, or cool, or worth watching. See what excites them. They've made me smarter about sports, they really have. But then that always happens when you hang around smart people. Q: Have you started working on your next book? Can you give us a sneak peak? A: My next book is already finished. It's about a young foster child, and his love for baseball. He's a catcher. And I think you're going to like him. The book is called "Safe at Home." The book I'm writing right now is my first soccer book. That's all I'm going to tell you!
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| Customer Reviews: Read 3 more reviews...
Baseball, Father, Team June 17, 2008
Reviewed by Ben Weldon (age 10) for Reader Views (6/08)
"The Big Field" by Mike Lupica is definitely a book for baseball lovers. Follow Keith "Hutch" Hutchison as he and his team push their way to the finals. Can Hutch overcome problems with a teammate? Will Hutch's father ever take notice of him? Will his team get to play on "the big field"?
Keith Hutchison, known to his friends as Hutch, is a fourteen-year-old baseball fanatic. He pretty much thinks of nothing but baseball. He has been shortstop "forever." He is the team captain of the Boynton Beach Post 226 Cardinals, and his team has a shot of making it to the State Championship. When Darryl "D-will" Williams, a star shortstop, moves to town, Hutch is forced to become second baseman. He makes the sacrifice for the good of the team but it is with grief and several fist fights.
As if it weren't bad enough to lose his position, Hutch finds his father playing ball with D-will. Hutch feels betrayed. His father, a former baseball player, won't even watch a baseball game with Hutch, let alone play ball with him. He barely speaks to Hutch and rarely even attends his games. Why is his father like this? Will Hutch ever be able to have a relationship with his father?
Full of baseball jargon, this book is all baseball and lacks a strong plot. Readers who do not know much about baseball, baseball teams and baseball players might feel a bit lost.
I would recommend "The Big Field" to people who want to read the sports page - this book is for them!
Courtesy of Teens Read Too May 7, 2008
Keith "Hutch" Hutchison, the hero of sportswriter Mike Lupica's latest young adult sports novel, loved playing shortstop for his baseball team in Florida. Then Darryl Williams came along and took over at short, forcing Hutch to move to second base.
Worse than the sting of losing his old position, though, is the hurt Hutch feels at the absence of his father from his games. A former baseball player who saw his dreams crushed, Hutch's dad can barely bring himself to watch his son play. So when Hutch sees his father giving Darryl some playing tips, he has a whole new reason to dislike his teammate.
During a summer when their team is fighting to win the state championship and the chance to play on TV, Hutch's rivalry with Darryl threatens the team's chances, and he must come to grips with his father and his teammate to be the team player he needs to be.
While THE BIG FIELD doesn't bring anything new to the sports genre, this is an engaging read. Mr. Lupica throws in plenty of references to current baseball players, which brings even more realism to the story. The characters seem very true-to-life, and anyone who's ever played a sport or just loves baseball can relate to it.
Reviewed by: Katie Hayes
 J. Casey's Book Review April 10, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
In the fascinating story of The Big Field, Mike Lupica shows a lot of breath-taking moments on the field, as well as problems off the field. Thirteen-year-old Hutch Hutchinson is a great shortstop, after all, his idol, Derek Jeter, is a shortstop and his dad almost made it to the big leagues as a shortstop. But when one of the best shortstops in the state joins the team, Hutch is forced to play second base. He is disappointed but that is only the beginning of the many disasters that happen to him.
The Big Field is one of the many great stories that Mike Lupica has to give. He keeps the problems coming and while using third person he makes you feel bad for Hutch, when he makes an error. This is a book for baseball fans young and old and for people who are disagreeing.
He's a natural April 9, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
This will give you a sense of my sportsy prowess. I'm in a bookstore the other day and I see a book with a quote on it from Mike Lupica. The only thing is, it's an adult book. One that has to do with sports of some sort. So I rub my head and I actually have this thought while standing there: What is Mike Lupica doing writing quotes for adult books? You see the problem here? I know Mike Lupica as one thing and one thing only; this is the guy who knows how to write a fabulous sports-related work of fiction for young readers. He's the Matt Christopher of the new millennium. Now I don't like sports myself. They don't really fall within my perceived everyday reality. I know they exist and I know that people follow them, but as far as I can tell I am interested in virtually nothing that has to do with one or another. But do I head for the hills when I see that Mr. Lupica has written a new title for his young fans? I most certainly do not! The notable thing about "The Big Field" is that it returns the author to what is undoubtedly his favorite sport to write about. Baseball. Lupica lovea him the natural tension and stress and story arc that comes with the game. You can hardly blame him. The craziness is that in the process of getting excited, this author has the ability to get YOU rather excited too. I don't love baseball. I know that a lot of kids are like me in this respect, but hand them a copy of "The Big Field" and get them to read the first few chapters. If Mike Lupica does nothing else, he proves to us that good writing is good writing and can lure you in, regardless of the subject matter.
Fourteen-year-old Keith "Hutch" Hutchinson isn't the star of his American Legion team, Boynton Beach Post 226, the Cardinals. That honor belongs entirely to his fellow teammate Darryl. Hutch doesn't even mind all that much since it's really the love of the game that keeps him going. He's the team Captain and a pretty swell player in his own right, not that his dad would ever notice. A former local baseball star himself, Hutch's father had dreams once of hitting the big league. When those dreams didn't come to fruition he decided to protect his only son by denying him any pointers or chances to share in the game they both love so much. Now Hutch's team has a chance to make it all the way. To play for the state championship on "the big field" at Roger Dean Stadium in Jupiter. Only trouble is, there are some problems with Darryl and they involve Mr. Hutchinson. Hutch has never allowed outside distractions to keep him from playing his best, but now it looks as if the fate of the entire team depends on him and his ability to figure out why his dad is the way he is.
I saw a lot of similarities between Hutch in this book and the character of House in Deborah Wiles' The Aurora County All-Stars. In both cases the hero is a kind of Gary Cooper type. Thoughtful and a bit wise beyond his years, but still prone to anger if riled. And riled he gets! The raw jealousy Hutch feels when he sees his father playing baseball with the team star, something Hutch himself has never done, is palpable. It practically sends little ripples down the page. Normally in a middle grade novel a kid will feel betrayed by a parent or a friend and then just sit and stew for chapter after chapter. I was a little afraid that Lupica might go this route as well, but fortunately this wasn't the case. So it felt strangely satisfying to watch Hutch rip into his dad about everything the man has ever done wrong. It's excellent. You want to sip a cool drink after reading a passage like that. And what's even better is that Lupica can make Hutch be entirely in the right one moment and then entirely in the wrong the next without so much as a narrative hiccup.
I've read Heat and some of Miracle on 49th Street so I'm not a complete Lupica newbie. And from these books I've noticed a trend in the author's work. Mike Lupica has a deep and abiding interest in and affection for the smart alecky sidekick. The kind of sidekick that ends up being the voice of reason more than once, but is so jokey that the reader isn't supposed to notice. Some might see this as Lupica getting lazy with his characters, but personally I didn't really mind. In this book the sidekick is Cody, a kid who's been friends with Hutch since the beginning. As with many sidekicks he begins by being the untamed fellow who puts down Darryl while Hutch murmurs that they're all on the same team. Then, at some point, the tables turn and it's Cody who has to keep Hutch in line (and out of trouble). In Heat this kind of character would help the hero directly in a kind of deus ex machina manner. Here, Hutch has to do all the work himself, and as a hero he rises satisfactorily to the challenge.
Lupica isn't afraid of putting contemporary flourishes on his book. This will date it a bit more than it might if he left them out entirely, but in a way I enjoyed it. Admittedly, I liked the references to Derek Jeter better than the references to 24, but whatchagonnado? By the way, can I say how nice it is to have a protagonist in a book who isn't whitey white white? Hutch is part Dominican and it's not a big deal in any way, shape, or form. It defines who he is but isn't the focus of the narrative. It's just part of the story, and it's something that sets the book apart from the ten bazillion books with white kids in `em that stock our library and bookstore shelves.
You know what it is about this writer? Lupica satisfies a reader, deep down somewhere. You read one of his books and you feel good about... something. Maybe it's just about a game, or maybe it's about the characters and what they've figured out, but you feel good. Like you've accomplished something big. For kids who are already converts to Lupica's style, "The Big Field" is not going to be a hard sell. But for kids who enjoy sports and want something a little contemporary and fun, this will be a good Intro to Lupica: 101. Heck, even if they don't like sports this book will still suck you in. That is, if you can get `em past the initial premise. I hate utilizing sports metaphors when describing literature, so let's just take the phrase, "Lupica hits another one out of the park," switch it out for its literary equivalent for now.
Aconnection for fathers and sons March 28, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
Mr. Lupica has gone yard once again. The Big Field is a delightful read that is difficult to put down. As a father of two former little league sons, I can attest that The Big Field demonstrates the connections that fathers and sons enjoy because of their common support of a college or professional team. If my blackberry chirps with a text message at a critical moment of a Red Sox game late at night, I know it is from one of my sons at college thousands of miles away, that is enriching. This is a baseball book that glorifies the bond between fathers and sons and how sports facilitates that communnication. I have a complete library of Lupica's works and this is unquestionably his best yet, and that is saying something.
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