Sometimes You See It Coming: A Novel

By Kevin Baker

Book Overview

Based in part on the life of baseball legend Ty Cobb, this book belongs in the pantheon of great baseball novels. John Barr is the kind of player who isn't supposed to exist anymore. An all-around... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0517590883
• ISBN13: 9780517590881
• Release Date: February 1993
• Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
• Length: 326 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.2" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

If you love baseball, this book is for you!!!

I picked this book up at a book fair for a couple of bucks thinking it would be your average baseball book. Boy was I mistaken!!! Baker does an excellent job detailing the characters so you know exactly who they are. The first 100 pages or so does start slow, but after that, it becomes a definite page turner!!! Highly recommended for avid baseball fans.

Well written saga of a baseball talent and hero

I bought this for 2 bucks at an A & P checkout counter. It was worth 10 times that. Mr. Baker writes beautifully about the game. Our hero John Barr is more a Freddie Couples on spikes than Robert Redford, yet there are enough subplots to keep the reader curious....Contains one of the greatest descriptions of a perfect throw that you will ever read.

A book about baseball and life

It is unfortunate that this book is out of print. In my mind, it is as stirring a book as "If I Never Get Back" or "The Natural" or practically any baseball book short of "Shoeless Joe." It's about a hybrid Dimaggio/Teddy Ballgame type player who is driven to excel by an almost psychotic urge to prevent things from happening before they happen. The book also includes a cast of memorable characters, from the Rickey Henderson-esque Old Swizzlehead to the shortstop Roberto Rodriguez, who knows two words on English, one of them being "you" and the other word being unprintable in a family website.A great book; well worth reading if you can get your hands on it.

A Very Good Baseball Novel

It's a shame that this book is out of print. If you are into sports stories and want to try a new one, I'd recommend seeing if you can pick up a used copy. I liked it more than, say, the book of The Natural. I saw Field of Dreams, which is perhaps my favorite Baseball Movie, and I think this book is sort of in that league.A small bit of plot: A tremendously good player, of Ted Williams Calibre, arises almost out of nowhere. His past is very mysterious, and the book presents several points of view in observing him. There are several characters who are clearly composites of famous personalities, such as a bit of a Billy Martin character, a Mays-ish character and several others. So, it's a fun read for those who enjoyed following those personalities. The hero is, so far as I can see, a composite of a few as well, but I'll stop there.jl

Most read for baseball fans!

This is a book that which you can read over and over again. I found myself reading it before every baseball season. I let my teammates read it and EVERYONE feels the same way I do. This book also show what comes with being a profesional ball player. Manily how the women treat you!I don't read much but this book cought my eye.