Slider by Patrick Robinson
In anticipation of the 2006 baseball season, I picked up Slider by Patrick Robinson. The novel, first published in 2002 and re-printed in 2004, is a homage to the Cape Cod Baseball League, but falls short of portraying the league accurately and favors an unrealistic storyline. However, Slider was in fact carefully written and is a story that will keep one’s attention until almost the very end.
In brief, the story follows star pitcher Jack Faber from Louisiana, who is invited to pitch in the Cape Marlin League for the Seapuit Seawolves (which is intended to resemble pitching in the Cape Cod League for the Cotuit Kettleers). Jack’s dad–Ben Faber, a former ballplayer himself and poor farmer, is very supportive of his son. On the way to Cape Marlin, they meet up with Chicago’s Natalie Garcia, and her son, catcher Tony Garcia. Tony and Jack becomes instant friends, and Natalie and Ben establish their own special relationship. Patrick Robinson does a better job at portraying the issues and relationships in the book than the play-by-play baseball, which is forgivable.
The book is not flawless, by any means. For example, a Major League baseball player is referred to in the book as having a 14-year career and playing for the Florida Marlins first. Well, the Marlins were founded in 1993, and the book was published in 2004! Also, “Cape Cod” is printed towards the end of the book, which is most likely a mistake. Both mistakes, however are very subtle and could be ruled as non-errors.
The ending of the novel was disappointing and predictable, but overall I liked this book. I would recommend it for baseball fans and people who like a good story, but not baseball fans looking for an accurate representation of the game.
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