The baseball gods blessed Frank Ryder but his conscience torments him.
That’s the guts of “The Fireballer,” a new novel by Colorado author Mark Stevens.
“There is so much paradox to the idea that the exact same thing that is bringing Frank Ryder so much fame and attention — and upending the sport he loves — is the very same thing that took a human life,” Stevens said in a phone interview from his home in Mancos.
Ryder is haunted by the ghost of Deon Johnson, a Black boy he accidentally kills with a fastball when they both were playing little league baseball in Atlanta. Much of the second half of the book explores Ryder’s struggle with Johnson’s death, as well as Ryder’s search for forgiveness and his life’s purpose.
“The thing that Frank doesn’t know is how much the tragedy affected him because he was just a kid,” Stevens said. “It starts out as a baseball book and then I think it sort of becomes a book about mental health. He’s tied in knots because the surface part of his character understands things, but deep down he doesn’t.”
But make no mistake, Stevens has written a lively baseball novel, and he takes great care with details that make the book feel genuine.
For those hungry for spring training — the Rockies’ pitchers and catchers begin practice on Wednesday in Scottsdale, Ariz. — Stevens paints a rich portrait. There are diverse characters here as Ryder, who can throw a 110-mph fastball with precision, transforms the woebegone Baltimore Orioles into the Major League’s most electric team.
Also in the novel are Frank Gallo, the conflicted team owner, a new-age female general manager, and a leathery, old-school manager who treats players like chess pieces. Ryder bonds with his teammates and skirmishes with unscrupulous members of the media who want to peek inside his soul.
The book is also a love story between Ryder and his girlfriend, Maggie Moore. And there are parallels to “The Natural,” Bernard Malamud’s 1952 novel that was transformed into the 1984 movie starring Robert Redford.
“I just re-read the book not too long ago and absolutely there are some strong parallels,” Stevens said. “There is something about baseball that is made for a touch of exaggeration, a touch of poetry and some imagination.
“And ‘The Natural’ is a lot about the business of baseball and the money side of baseball. There is much of that in my book.”
A significant subplot centers on Major League Baseball’s dilemma about what to do with a pitcher who can throw a 110-mph fastball, essentially turning hitters into helpless victims. Should MLB put a speed limit on pitches? Move the mound back? The owners, as well as the commissioner, see Ryder as a threat to the game. And what must the game do about potentially lethal bean balls?
As he researched his novel, Stevens said he read more than 20 baseball books, listened to podcasts and watched hours of YouTube videos.
Stevens, 69, a lifelong baseball fan who grew up near Boston and, of course, became a Red Sox fanatic, adopted the Rockies when he moved to Denver more than three decades ago. He was at Coors Field for Game 163 in 2007 when the Rockies beat the Padres during their Rocktober run to the World Series.
“I love, love, love baseball,” Stevens said. “Ever since my dad took me to Fenway Park when I was 10. All of that green! I was enthralled.”
A large slice of the book takes place in Denver. After the little league tragedy, Ryder’s family moves to Colorado and he attends Thomas Jefferson High School. He is “discovered” while pitching for Metro State.
“I began writing ‘The Fireballer’ in 2018, the same summer when (Rockies left-hander) Kyle Freeland was pitching so well for the Rockies,” Stevens said. “Freeland went to Thomas Jefferson, so that’s exactly why I chose TJ.”
This isn’t Stevens’ first novel. His Allison Coil mystery series is popular and has garnered a number of awards, including a Colorado Book Award for the 2014 book “Trapline.” In 2016, he was named the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers’ Writer of the Year.
The genesis of “The Fireballer” came from former Denver Public Schools superintendent Irv Moskowitz, whom Stevens got to know when he was an education writer for The Denver Post in the 1990s. Stevens moved on from The Post to work for DPS under Moskowitz.
“We became close friends and we both loved baseball,” Stevens said. “The idea of what a pitcher’s speed might do to the game was Irv’s idea. When he laid that on me, that very same night, in fact, I thought of the idea of what would happen if a pitcher hit and killed a kid with a pitch. That came to me out of the blue. So half of the book was Irv’s idea, the other half was mine.”
Unfortunately, Moskowitz died two days before Thanksgiving at age 87, just before “The Fireballer” was published. Moskowitz did get to read the book during the editing process.
“I really miss my friend Irv,” Stevens said. “I never would have written a non-crime novel if it weren’t for him.”
Stevens said he thinks his book might someday make for a good baseball movie — if it was handled correctly.
“My agent has had some preliminary interest,” Stevens said. “But I had a ball writing this book. It took lots of research, but it was the best kind of research because I got to read baseball books and think about baseball. It was a luxury for me and so much fun.”
“The Fireballer” is published by Lake Union Publishing.
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