The Big Field | 
| Author: Mike Lupica
Publisher: Philomel
Category: Book
List Price: $17.99
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Avg. Customer Rating:  13 reviews
Sales Rank: 54675
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
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
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?p Mike Lupica returns to the big field for the first time since his #1 iNew York Times/i bestseller iHeat/i and delivers a feel-good home run, showing how love of the game is a language fathers and sons speak from the heart. /p p align=left span class="h1"strongQA with Mike Lupica/strong/span p strongQ:/strong Where did the idea for iThe Big Field/i come from? p strongA:/strong 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. p strongQ:/strong In iThe Big Field/i, 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? p strongA:/strong 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 iThe Big Field/i, 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. pstrongQ:/strong Can you offer any advice for aspiring sports writers? pstrongA:/strong 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. p strongQ:/strong When writing a young character do you find yourself looking back to yourself at that age? Or your children? p strongA:/strong 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. p strongQ:/strong Have you started working on your next book? Can you give us a sneak peak? p strongA:/strong 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! /p
Product Description
Playing shortstop is a way of life for Hutchnot only is his hero, Derek Jeter, a shortstop, but so was his father, a former local legend turned pro. Which is why having to play second base feels like demotion to second team. Yet thats where Hutch ends up after Darryl D-Will Williams, the best shortstop prospect since A-Rod, joins the team. But Hutch is nothing if not a team player, and hes cool with playing in D-Wills shadowuntil, that is, the two shortstops in Hutchs life betray him in a way he never could have imagined. With the league championship on the line, just how far is Hutch willing to bend to be a good teammate?
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| Customer Reviews: Read 8 more reviews...
 Baseball, baseball, read all about it! January 3, 2009
I would highly recommend anyone to read The Big Field by Mike Lupica. I had just finished reading Heat by Mike Lupica, and wanted to read another one of his books since Heat was so good. I was not let down. The Big Field is a good book for anyone who's into baseball, or all about baseball. br /br /"The Big Field" is about a 14 year old boy Keith "Hutch" Hutchinson. He lives in Florida, and most of the story takes place in Fort Lauderdale or Santaluces. Hutch is the kind of kid that eats, drinks, sleeps, talks and inhales baseball. Hutch loves being on the field, and always wants those plays that some other kids on the field are afraid of. Ever since his first year of little league, he had been shortstop. When Darryl Williams (aka "D" or "D-Will") joins the Boynton Beach Post 226 Cardinals team, he moves aside to second base. Darryl has some talent, comes from playing short stop and hitting hard. Hutch moves over for the good of the team, but knows that he's made for shortstop. Hutch's father, Carl Hutchinson, was signed to a contract to the minors straight after high school, and that's the farthest he had ever made it. They don't mention why he never made it to the big leagues, but because of it, that's what causes the tension between Hutch and his father. All Hutch ever wanted was to be close with his Dad, like father-son baseball. Hutch's best friend Cody helps him throughout his troubled times, and tries to keep him laughing. Hutch will either be with Cody on their bikes early to practice on the field, in his room listening to the Yankees baseball game on radio, or on the field playing baseball with his team. Most of the story is about the Cardinals games leading up to the big playoff game on The Big Field. Leading up to the playoffs, Hutch battles a rival, and his relationship with his father. I liked those little drama spots in the book because it's not ALL about baseball. Even though it's what Hutch is about, it's showing all the other parts of his life along with it.br /br /The book is a bit long, but you would hardly notice it being so engrossed, and I can guarantee that you'll never want to put it down it's so exciting. You'll keep wanting to turn the page to find out what happens next. br /This is another well written book by Mike Lupica. The Big Field is a great book for baseball fans, fathers, sons, and anyone that just loves a good game. I can guarantee that you can relate to this book in a heartbeat, and root for Hutch till the end, on 'the big field.' br /br /Review written by: Kelsey Castellanos
You'll Love This Book! December 1, 2008
I loved, loved, loved this book! Mike Lupica is my favorite author. He has done so good at being a sports talk guy and an author. You'll love it! The main charachter named Hutch is a shortstop who was a SS By trade then after they added a jerk named Daryll who causes him to paly 2nd base instead. I do not at all want to spoil the book before you read it so that's all I'm gonna say. If you loved this you'd love all of the other books by ML. They are: Heat, Miracle On 49th Street, Travel team, Summer Ball, and he also has a Comeback Kids series he's writing as well. I hope I was helpful, and I hope you enjoy as much as I did! 5 Stars!
 For the love of the game October 13, 2008
Fourteen-year-old Keith "Hutch" Hutchinson loves baseball, and he loves being the shortstop, the guy in the middle of all the action. Unfortunately, he's been moved to second base to make room for Darryl Williams, a kid with tons of talent but not the best attitude. But Hutch is still the team captain and he takes baseball seriously. He's a good team player, he works hard and doesn't show off, even when he hits a home run. His dream is to attend a private baseball school up north and make it to the major leagues. His father was a star player in his day as well, but he missed his chance and doesn't offer Hutch any encouragement, not wanting his son to put all his hopes in one long-shot basket. It bothers Hutch that his father isn't more involved with him, but it's too much when he shows up early for practice one day and finds his father coaching and giving pointers to Darryl.br /br /My son who loves baseball and I read this together. Even though Hutch's passion for baseball is obsessive, there was plenty to relate to here. My hope was that it would give my son an idea of how a baseball player should *think* on the field, but while the story is heavy on jargon it's a bit light on fundamentals. It's also pretty long (or at least *felt* that way) and not always the most interesting read. The conflicts with his father and with Darryl offered some fairly interesting plots, and some of the scenes during games were quite exciting and dramatic, but overall it felt kind of formulaic and like it just wasn't a very substantial story. We both liked it, but it wasn't real high on our list.
A genial, fast-paced adventure that should interest young sports fans August 11, 2008
Mike Lupica, the veteran sports columnist for the Daily News in New York, is not content to rest on his laurels. In addition to his adult audience, he's reaching out to younger readers, trying to teach them lessons on the field that can be extended to everyday life. His previous works in the genre include HEAT, TRAVEL TEAM, SUMMER BALL and MIRACLE ON 49th STREET.br /br /His latest offering is THE BIG FIELD, the story of Hutch Hutchinson, a star shortstop for his American Legion team who is displaced by Darryl "D-Will" Williams, a better player with a questionable attitude.br /br /Despite the natural misgivings, Hutch is willing to take one for the team, giving way to Darryl and moving over to second base. The parallel to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez is unmistakable. So is the tense relationship as the two 14-year-olds vie for dominance. Darryl has his mind set on being the "next big thing," already attracting the notice of scouts and the media. Hutch, on the other hand, is content to live in the here-and-now, with the sole goal of playing for the regional championship at the minor league venue of the St. Louis Cardinals.br /br /Hutch is joined in his quest by Codey, his best friend and affable sidekick. It's not too far a stretch to think of the trio as a less dangerous version of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, with bats replacing magic wands.br /br /As the team moves through the rounds of competition to put them in the big game on The Big Field, Hutch must deal with several issues: his continuing resentment of his rival, his perhaps over-consuming love of baseball, and his relationship with his father, himself a heralded player who still has trouble dealing with his failure to make it to the major leagues.br /br /Lupica does an admirable job of presenting the drama of the games, which, with the attention to strategy, often feels more like a chess match. But several elements fall into the area of cliche: Hutch's team is obviously talented, but they're considered underdogs since they are in the low age range, 14- and 15-year-olds competing against players up to three years their seniors (the player pictured on the dust jacket seems more like 10 than 14). And although Hutch does have a couple of momentary setbacks, he nevertheless comes through when it counts, a baseball savant --- wise beyond what should be his ken --- who seems to have no other interest than to excel at his game.br /br /The fact that everything works out to the good despite the blips is also somewhat unrealistic, but hey, this is fiction.br /br /Overall, THE BIG FIELD is a genial, fast-paced adventure that should interest young sports fans.br /br / --- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
For baseball fans everywhere July 24, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mike Lupica, the veteran sports columnist for the Daily News in New York, is not content to rest on his laurels. In addition to his adult audience, he's reaching out to younger readers, trying to teach them lessons on the field that can be extended to everyday life. His previous works in the genre include HEAT, TRAVEL TEAM, SUMMER BALL and MIRACLE ON 49th STREET.br /br /His latest offering is THE BIG FIELD, the story of Hutch Hutchinson, a star shortstop for his American Legion team who is displaced by Darryl "D-Will" Williams, a better player with a questionable attitude.br /br /Despite the natural misgivings, Hutch is willing to take one for the team, giving way to Darryl and moving over to second base. The parallel to Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez is unmistakable. So is the tense relationship as the two 14-year-olds vie for dominance. Darryl has his mind set on being the "next big thing," already attracting the notice of scouts and the media. Hutch, on the other hand, is content to live in the here-and-now, with the sole goal of playing for the regional championship at the minor league venue of the St. Louis Cardinals.br /br /Hutch is joined in his quest by Codey, his best friend and affable sidekick. It's not too far a stretch to think of the trio as a less dangerous version of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Draco Malfoy, with bats replacing magic wands.br /br /As the team moves through the rounds of competition to put them in the big game on The Big Field, Hutch must deal with several issues: his continuing resentment of his rival, his perhaps over-consuming love of baseball, and his relationship with his father, himself a heralded player who still has trouble dealing with his failure to make it to the major leagues.br /br /Lupica does an admirable job of presenting the drama of the games, which, with the attention to strategy, often feels more like a chess match. But several elements fall into the area of cliche: Hutch's team is obviously talented, but they're considered underdogs since they are in the low age range, 14- and 15-year-olds competing against players up to three years their seniors (the player pictured on the dust jacket seems more like 10 than 14). And although Hutch does have a couple of momentary setbacks, he nevertheless comes through when it counts, a baseball savant --- wise beyond what should be his ken --- who seems to have no other interest than to excel at his game. br /br /The fact that everything works out to the good despite the blips is also somewhat unrealistic, but hey, this is fiction.br /br /Overall, THE BIG FIELD is a genial, fast-paced adventure that should interest young sports fans. br /br / --- Reviewed by Ron Kaplan
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