THE 30 HIT SEASON

By: J.A. Hitchcock
Review Date: Thursday, August 01, 2002

This is a weirdly fascinating fantasy. I'll explain: When I normally read fantasy books, they are filled with new worlds, odd-sounding names, and sometimes magical creatures. When a friend of mine handed me THE 30 HIT SEASON and told me it was a baseball fantasy, my first reaction was, "Baseball fantasy? Dragons playing baseball?" My second reaction was, "Oh jeez. Baseball."

I'm not a huge organized sports fan. At all. I watched the Patriots in the Super Bowl this past January because I live in New England, and like many other people here, still couldn't believe they'd made it to the Super Bowl in the first place. When they won the Super Bowl, well, you could hear screaming up and down the east coast.

This book is kind of like that. It starts off kind of slow, then you get into it, you can't believe what's happening and bango - the finale.

The main character is an attorney, David Pasteur, who lives in Seattle with his wife, two daughters and a large dog. He's basically an "ambulance chaser," is slightly overweight and in his 40's. Then one night he has a dream that he has joined a major league baseball team and has 30 hits to make them a winning team. He has the same dream for many nights and finally confides in his wife, who tells him it's just a dream.

By chance, he and his wife are in Phoenix, Arizona, watching the Seattle Mariners in spring training. At one of the games, they sit next to a woman about their age and her daughter. An errant baseball comes whizzing in their direction, headed for this woman's daughter. Pasteur leans over, holds out his bare hand and the baseball slams into it. Although there are no broken fingers, his hand swells up. But he saves the girl's life.


By coincidence, the woman is the daughter of the Seattle Mariners new owner, Cyrus Andvik. Andvik is upset because the Mariners basically suck. Do you see where this is going?

Pasteur finally tells Andvik about his recurring dream about the 30 hits. At first, Andvik thinks Pasteur is nuts. Pasteur begins looking at other major league teams and tries to interest them in taking him on. No one does. Everyone thinks he's nuts. His wife is beginning to as well.

Then, when the Mariners lose yet another game, Andvik finally decides to give Pasteur a chance, adding him to the roster as a pinch hitter. The Mariners manager and rest of the team now think Andvik is nuts. Until Pasteur is brought in to hit and bunts. But it's a hit.

And it's the beginning of a streak of wins for the underdog Seattle Mariners.

Like I wrote at the beginning, this is a weirdly fascinating fantasy that I actually enjoyed. I think you will, too.