Fielder’s Choice Isn’t Your Typical Baseball Book

I am not a sports person at all. I also normally find history to be incredibly boring. So, I was genuinely surprised by how much I enjoyed reading J. Mark Hunt’s Fielder’s Choice.

Fielder’s Choice is set in the year 1969 and tells the story of high school baseball player Brad Williams. Brad desperately wants to escape the gritty steel mills of Birmingham, which is where most of his peers will be working after graduation.

His family can’t afford to pay to send him to college, so his only hope is to get a baseball scholarship. His regular position on the team has been given to a new black player, one of the first students in the school as the result of integration efforts.

The Vietnam War is also weighing heavily on Brad’s mind. He feels like he should be brave enough to want to fight, but his relationship with a fellow classmate involved in anti-war protests has led him to question whether the war is a just battle.

Even though I have zero interest in baseball and admit to skimming over some of the descriptions of the team’s practices and games, I felt like I could identify with Brad. I could sympathize with the pressure Brad felt to fit in with his peers, yet stand up for what he felt was morally right. Brad’s struggle to land a scholarship also made me think of my own high school experience, since I too came from a family that couldn’t offer much in the way of financial aid for college.

At 473 pages, Fielder’s Choice is quite a bit longer than most of the books I’d recommend to my fellow busy mothers. But, if you can find the time to squeeze it in between making your family dinner and helping your kids with their homework, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher.

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