Hidden Treasures

I've spent more time thinking about death this weekend than I have in the past three months combined. Not in a morbid way - more along the lines of what each of us leaves behind to mark our journey on this earth. Besides, its actually turned out to be more life-affirming that I thought.

This morning, I finished a wonderful book - For Love of The Game, by Michael Shaara. Shaara is better known for his historical fiction about the Civil War. His son, Jeff, assumed the family tradition and borrows the same theme in his novels. You may recognize Jeff as the author of Gods and Generals, which was made into a movie a few years back.

In general, I find novels to be of a higher quality than the movies on which they are based. Character development and background information are vital to good fiction; at least they are for me. Movies are usually unable to provide both without losing too much of the audience. It's all about the details.

For Love of the Game proved to be a rare exception when it was brilliantly made into a movie in 1999. It is one of the few movies I think can equally be enjoyed by men and women, for reasons soon to be explained.

The book takes place within a three-hour window of a major league baseball game. The protagonist, Billy Chapel, is an aging pitcher who has dedicated his life to his sport. While he has won virtually every individual and team award possible, his personal life is incomplete. His closest relationships are with an on-again-off-again girlfriend he sees from time to time and another baseball player he sees when their teams meet. On the day of his last game, Chapel learns that not only is he being traded from the only team he's played for, his girlfriend is marrying another man. Our guy suddenly goes from the top of the world to the cavern under the basement.

Still, he forgets his immediate problems and his numbing arm, goes into Yankee Stadium, and pitches the game of his life. The book details the sometimes suspenseful and often emotional play-by-play account of this fictional game as told through the eyes of Billy Chapel.

Shaara is able to pull together the makings of a good sports story: what pitchers and catchers talk about on the mound between batters; what pitchers think about while alone on the mound; the weird hops of the ball that help make great plays.

Between innings when his team is off the field, Chapel mentally escapes as he recalls pivotal moments during his relationship with this girl he's lost. How they met. Certain conversations. The times apart wishing to be together. And the bombshell dropped that morning.

Shaara is also able to pull together the makings of a good love story: what lovers talk about when they are opening their hearts to each other; the thoughts and decisions people make when faced with the possibility of losing that person; the weird twists and turns of Fate that make great romances.

Like most fiction, the simplistic ending is the easiest: Chapel gets the perfect game and the girl. Additionally, one must forgive editorial lapses: Billy, a 17 year veteran and perennial All Star, fails to cover first base on a ground ball hit to the right side. Chapel having two at-bats in a 9 inning game - in Yankee Stadium. Like I said, it's all about the details.

But what I found interesting about the book is this- Shaara wrote the story then hid it in his desk. It wasn't found until his kid cleared out the old man's office. Only then was it published posthumously. It mirrors the story of another favorite book of mine, Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean.

It made me wonder: what will my kids find in my desk after I'm dead? The way things are now, a bunch of overdue bills and some Thin Mints.

But what a gift it would be to find an unread manuscript. And one with a bit of quality.

You never know. I still have a lot of time and a lot of white paper.