'Curveball' takes game to Cuba

Castro's Curveball

Ballantine Books

Baseball is back. And with the big leaguers kicking off their season over the past week, America's game is once again in the spotlight. Taking advantage of the sport's rejuvenation is author Tim Wendel with his new novel - "Castro's Curveball." This fictitious story springs from the variety of tales circulating in Cuba about Fidel Castro's prowess on the mound in his younger days.

The plot follows protagonist Billy Bryan as he returns to Cuba in an attempt to answer lingering questions that remain from his time spent in the '40s as a catcher for the Havana Lions. Through the flashbacks of his playing days we learn how Bryan becomes acquainted with Castro and ends up as a liaison between the pitcher and the Washington Senators. When he hooks up with Castro, Bryan's time as a professional ballplayer is almost over and he sees the prospect as a way to prolong his career a few more years or get one last shot at the big leagues.

Complicating matters in the flashback sequences is the woman, Malena, who falls between the catcher and the revolutionary. Malena is a photographer who seems willing to risk it all for the right shot and she's torn over whether to continue covering the situation in Cuba or to follow Bryan back to the United States at the end of his season.

The novel's main weakness is the unnecessary details about Bryan's past that come to light towards the end of the story. These happenings are pretty predictable and give the book a softer ending than it needs.

Wendel's experience covering baseball, he writes for "USA Today Baseball Weekly," comes through during the game sequences. He knows the sport, and this helps him create realistic, readable contests on the playing field and makes it easier for the reader to visualize the events of the game.

A firm familiarity with Cuba is another strong point of Wendel's which makes the setting seem authentic and believable. Wendel has been to Cuba three times (including once to do research for "Castro's Curveball," and most recently to cover the exhibition game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cuban national team) and it shows.

According to the author: "Baseball is just as much the national pastime down there as it is here, but for completely different reasons. (In Cuba) it was the game you played if you were a young, hip, radical Cuban who wanted a free Cuba. Baseball here (in America) is mom and apple pie." So dig in and see what America's pastime is like in the land of Castro.

- Matthew Barrett

04-19-99