What Little Leaguer doesn’t dream about one day taking to the mound at a Major League Baseball park and striking out his idol? Set in 1972, Empty Seats is a fictionalized account focusing on three young pitchers who aim to do just that–go from playing in their respective hometowns as stars to minor-league baseball and making their mark. They think it will be an easy ride from hometown hero to … the big time. Little do they know that they’ll be competing with every other talented kid who has the same idea. Young, inexperienced, immature and far from home. these three face obstacles they never expect. Each has his own quirks and baggage; each has his own approach to the game. What happens as each one spends his first year in minor-league baseball–and what happens next–determines who each one becomes. And the challenges are not always on the baseball diamond.
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As I read, “Empty Seats,” by Wanda Adams Fischer, I recalled the movies, “Bull Durham,” and “Field of Dreams,” in which baseball is a metaphor for the American dream that anyone can reach the pinnacle of success. This novel follows the journey of three different baseball players who play on the same minor league team, but each of them takes a different pathway. Jimmy Bailey is living his father’s dream of playing in the majors which his father could not fulfill because he had to support his family. Bud Prescott is from a well-to-do family from Athens, Georgia who had backup plans for a profession outside of baseball. Bobby Mangino comes from a single-family household in which his father deserted the family. Each young man, considered a star player in high school, must face the reality that only a few will ever make it to the major leagues. Each of their stories is told in parallel to highlight the different challenges that each young man faces playing baseball just out of high school.
Author Wanda Fischer has written an engaging story of three young baseball players with her keen eye for the sport and culture. The story is told in the first-person perspective by Jimmy Bailey, but the other two players are told in third-person. The most engaging story is for Bobby Mangino who has to overcome a rocky upbringing and debilitating accident that forces him out of baseball as a player but opens the door to other opportunities. The novel works best in the first half of the novel in which the young men’s family backgrounds are revealed and they adjust to playing on a Single-A minor league team in Jamestown, NY. In the latter part of the book, each of the stories felt more rushed and could have gone into more detail on how each player felt as they strive to overcome their challenges. Each of their stories had the potential to be a stand-alone novel.
Overall, “Empty Seats,” is an enjoyable read and an eye-opener that most players don’t make it to the major leagues. I recommend this book to those who love the game of baseball and the stories of players trying to fulfill their lifetime American dream of making it to the major leagues.
This Book Hits It Out of the Ballpark
Ms. Fischer’s Empty Seats conveys a deep love of the sport and a deep understanding of the human condition. It follows several young men in minor league baseball who are hoping to break into the majors. What that process entails and the travails they face on the field and off are both realistic and affecting. I confess to not being much of a professional sports fan, but this book drew me in and made me care about these young men and the sport they love. As such, it is an excellent read for the fan and non-fan alike. Hint: If you have a partner who doesn’t understand your love of the game, make a gift of this book! Conversely, if you know a baseball fan, they’d love this book.
A Fan’s View of the Pressure Cooker that Is Professional Baseball
With so many excellent books on baseball written by veteran players and coaches, you might wonder why you’d read one by a spectator? And admittedly, sometimes the thoughts or words of the fictional characters in Empty Seats sound a bit more like the hyperbole of a fan than the analysis of a player, e.g., “Bobby sends a fireball his way, and slugger-boy doesn’t even see it until it’s landed in Russ’s mitt and the umpire calls it.” But the story’s not about baseball strategy or history; it’s about broader themes in life. One, for example, is the sense of belonging provided by sports. When the team wanted to visit an injured player and the hospital was limiting visitors to family members, one coach summed it up well, saying, “Can’t chew see that we come from the same mother? Mother beisbol!”
But the themes pivotal in the story are those magnified by the pressure cooker that is professional sports. How do you handle the mental stress of going from being the best in your hometown to just another kid trying to make the big leagues? Where do you find the drive to maintain the demands of training – in yourself? In the expectations and needs of others? What is your Plan B, if baseball doesn’t work out? It is among these themes that Empty Seats makes its twists and turns, some surprising but all feeling real.
For my tastes, the ‘redemption’ scenes were a bit too syrupy and some of the seedier aspects of the game came across as bland. For example, what appeared a serious addiction from the perspective of one player’s behavior was based on his craving for a few beers. The story could have been edgier with ease. The characters tended toward stereotypes, especially in the secondary figures. And finally, the repetition of certain events was an issue, particularly toward the end of the book. There were too many instances where the reader was part of a scene and then later, heard one or more characters describe it to one or two others.
Overall, you don’t have to be a fan of baseball to enjoy Empty Seats. Its messages apply anywhere a person pushes him- or her- self beyond the norm.
Author Wanda Adams Fischer delivers a story that begins with three pitchers entering Minor League baseball with the Montreal Expos. Each of these young men spent their early lives wanting to play ball in the major leagues, idolizing the players of the 1960s. The different paths and home lives Jimmy, Bud, and Bobby traveled to reach the minors don’t prepare them for the choices they make along the way.
Wanda provides good character development and brings in the passion that people of the times had for the game. The coaches and team building provided these men a chance to grow up surrounded by a diverse group all bent on success. There are several areas where the life lessons are more challenging than the pitchers or families anticipated. I found the author immersed me in a story that begins with a theme of baseball, then travels through the seasons of life. I liked how Wanda wove in horrible events of the times and how Bud’s grandmother’s determination impacted his life choices. Her example highlighted below is a startling reminder of how each person can stand up for the right things and defeat the wrong.
“ … Much to the chagrin of some of her neighbors, she had also allowed a group of civil rights workers from the north to use part of Lindenwood as a classroom, as they sought to teach black residents to read and write as part of a voter registration drive in the 1960s. She’d had to fend off a few visits from the Ku Klux Klan about that. She had confronted them, all alone, on the front lawn of Lindenwood, roaring at them to go home, calling them out by identifying them by their voices.
“You can’t fool me behind those white hoods!” she yelled. “I know who each and every one of you is! I helped some of your families when you were in need, and this is how you thank me? And if you light that cross on my lawn, or set my house on fire, you might as well kill me, too. Kill everything you see here, but you won’t kill my spirit. You think you stand for ‘the old south?’ You’re nothing but a bunch of hoodlums!”
And they went away. They came back a couple of times, acting tough again, but she scoffed at them gave them the same lecture. Each time, she shamed them into going home without completing their mission, or without interfering in hers, often by threatening to call their mothers or grandmothers to report their rude behavior. …”
Baseball as an American tradition during the 1970s ignited the passion of many a city and fan. Those unable to attend the game live the radio and detailed announcers brought the plays to life. Television watching was limited, but kids played baseball in the streets in suburbia.
The love for the game is shared within this coming-of-age story. I recommend this for readers who like baseball, but also like to understand the influences of our pastimes on our lives. It makes me wonder what our children of the 2020s will do with their lives or how social media will influence their behavior.
Empty Seats by Wanda Adams Fischer puts us in the trenches with young hopefuls wanting to make it to the big game. My love for baseball was fulfilled with this woven story of three characters all from different walks of life. Being from Georgia, Bud, of course, was my favorite character. The depiction of southern life was well done through Bud’s story line.
My biggest complaint about the book was the ending. I’m all about happily ever afters when I read a book. Unrealistic I know but that’s why I read. I feel a little let down with how the narrator’s, Jimmy, life turned out. But that’s the great thing about being a reader, we can make up our own happily ever after. Luckily, Fischer left that open for us to interpret on our own. I enjoyed being in the head of these characters as well. I felt like I understood them and was going through their trials with them. I would have preferred all third person. Sometimes when I read, I got a bit confused. Otherwise, I great read. It’s made be follow my beloved Atlanta Braves more this season.