Oakland Athletics | RVGFanatic

***Stephen King | April 25, 2017 | 320 pages***

I love October. Leaves falling. Longer nights. The crisp October air. Halloween season. Baseball playoffs! So imagine my excitement when I found out that Stephen King wrote a horror book related to baseball. I thoroughly enjoyed Stephen King’s It and 11/22/63. So I had high hopes for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. Did King hit a home run, strike out or land somewhere in-between?

THE BOY WHO LOVED RAY FOSSE

Earlier this week, the sad news came out that Ray Fosse died after silently battling cancer for 16 years. Ray Fosse was the color commentator for my favorite team, the Oakland A’s, for 35 years from 1986-2021. I became a fan of the A’s in the mid ’90s when I was about 10. Ray also played for the Athletics during his 12 year MLB career. The news hit me hard, as I grew up listening to Ray Fosse. His personality and stories always made me laugh or taught me something about baseball (or even life in some cases). I invited him into my home 6 days each week from April to September. I will always think of Ray Fosse when I think of the A’s. Thanks for the memories, Ray. You’ll be missed!

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is about a nine-year-old girl named Trisha McFarland. She is a huge Red Sox fan. More specifically, she is in love with relief pitcher Tom “Flash” Gordon. She goes on a hike on the Appalachian Trail with her older brother and recently divorced mother. The horror begins when she gets separated from her mom and brother. It may seem a little far-fetched at first… after all, how the hell do you lose your nine-year-old daughter on a hike? But the sad truth is these things do happen from time to time, and is certainly more realistic than killer clowns and vampires (as seen in two of Stephen King’s most popular novels — IT and Salem’s Lot).

As I said, I’m an A’s guy through and through. Never cared for the Red Sox, especially in 2003 when they ousted my Athletics in the ALDS in dramatic (and painful) fashion. In fact, my A’s have carved out some traumatic playoff blunders over the past 20 years. At any rate, the Red Sox are currently battling the Houston Astros right now in the ALCS, and I find it fitting to review this book. It was nostalgic to come across some old familiar baseball names such as Mo Vaughn and Nomar Garciaparra. That was definitely a great team.

Nothing says the ’90s like Surge soda. Oh yeah, this book will remind you of how ’90s things are.

Castle Rock! A little easter egg for King fans as the man has written about the fictional Maine town of Castle Rock in over 12 of his books. Hell, it’s even got its own TV series on HULU.

So we have a nine-year-old girl lost in the woods, with not much else but some Twinkies, Surge and her Walkman radio. This is where the Red Sox/Tom Gordon baseball elements come into play.

I got a chuckle out of this V.C. Andrews shout out. V.C. Andrews was infamous for her teenage/young adult horror novels. Walk into any used bookstore (like Half Price Books) and browse their horror section. I guarantee you that V.C. Andrews will litter the front end of that section. Followed by Dean Koontz, Stephen King, Anne Rice and John Saul.

I liked the father-daughter relationship and how they bonded over baseball. More specifically, how their love for the Red Sox/Tom Gordon gave them an extra avenue to connect. I’m an old baseball romantic — fuse baseball into any medium (books, movies, games) and I’m usually there.

“Handsome yet evil Yankee shortstop, Derek Jeter.” Great line, ha! You can feel Trisha’s love for baseball bleeding off the pages. Her hopes for survival seem to hinge on Tom Gordon’s shoulders as much as anything else. If Tom Gordon could seal the save, SHE too would be saved. Hope. It’s such a vital thing to have, even when it comes from the strangest source. Blind hope in this case, sure. But hey, a nine-year-old girl’s got to hang on to something, right?

I guess Stephen King didn’t like Tino Martinez much, because he went out of his way to call Tino awful, awful. I like how Darryl Strawberry was simply referred to as the Straw Man.

Throughout the book, Trisha is “hunted” by some ominous being. Is it an evil person or something supernatural? I won’t spoil it but it is revealed in the end.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

I was really hoping to like this book. It started out promising. I enjoyed the various baseball bits littered throughout. I was disappointed that there wasn’t more. Most of the book is about a nine-year-old girl navigating the Appalachian Trail by herself. A lot of goddamn trees and brooks. It got a little boring after a while, and then I felt like reading this became somewhat of a chore. I also felt that Trisha didn’t act like a nine-year-old girl. She felt more like early teens? Maybe King should have made her 12 or 13. It took me out of the story a little bit. Honestly, it was a dry read. I was quite disappointed. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has its fair share of supporters and fans, but it simply didn’t work for me. I came pretty close to not finishing it at several points, but I powered through to see the reveal of the “sinister entity” at the end of the book. The premise of this story had me sold, but the execution left a lot to be desired. A booming smash double off the Green Monster? More like what looks to be a home run only to sail past Pesky’s Pole. Oh well. You can’t win ‘em all. As baseball fans know, there’s always next season.

Pub: Hudson | Dev: Now Production | June 1995 | 12 MEGS — ***Pub: Hudson Soft | Dev: Now Production | June 1995 | 12 MEGS***

Yesterday marked the official end of Major League Baseball’s 2019 season. It was the last day of ball for 20 MLB teams. Now 10 teams have emerged victorious and are prepping to do battle in the postseason. My team of choice, the Oakland A’s, will be taking on the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday, October 2nd. As an A’s fan for most of my life, I’ve witnessed some epic choking. Sadly, there’s a reason why they’re known as the Chokeland A’s. They make the playoffs fairly consistently but never quite make it far. Hopefully things turn around come Wednesday. At any rate, as I gear up for the big game, it made me think of an old obscure SNES baseball game that my brother and I enjoyed playing back in the day. I recently played it again after not doing so for over 20 years. Much to my pleasant surprise, it’s still a fun little baseball game even nearly 25 years on.

EDIT: October 2, 2019. DAMN. The A’s just dropped the Wild Card game 5-1 to the Rays. The A’s are now 0-9 in elimination games, setting a MLB record. Damn. Feels like they’re cursed. But that’s baseball. There’s always next year!

A FIELD OF DREAMS

In the summer of 1995, my brother had me rent The Sporting News Baseball. We both grew up baseball fanatics. I’ve been a fan of the game ever since my 5th grade class went to a ball game in 1994. The Sporting News Baseball isn’t the most refined baseball game on the SNES, but one thing it definitely had going for it was being able to play on that magical cornfield featured in Field of Dreams. Although I had yet to see the movie at that time, I knew it was an iconic field and it absolutely captivated my imagination. My bro and I played on that field every chance we got. There’s something truly magical about launching one deep into the corn stalks on a starlit night.

MLB LICENSE

Back in the ’90s, there weren’t too many MLB licensed games. But this one had the real players and the real teams. It was always nice when you ran across a baseball game featuring the real deal.

This game came out in Japan originally as Super Power League, so perhaps Hudson Soft forgot to remove the Power there from the title screen.

The Iron Man himself, Cal Ripken Jr. — The Iron Man himself

Only 3 ballparks, sadly — Sadly only 3 ballparks

At least you get night options — At least you get a night option

Majestic at night — Even better at night. Majestic

Swung at a pitch in the dirt — Swung at a bad pitch in the dirt

Dont let the ball get to the corn — Love that cornfield

Grabbing the ball or taking a dump — *“Shouldn’t have ate that burrito…”*

The ball cant roll into the cornfield — Ball can’t roll into the cornfield

As take the early lead — A’s take the early lead

Matt Williams puts a charge into that baseball as he launches it high into that starry night. The irony? Matt Williams, most well known for his Giants stint during his playing days, is now the Oakland Athletics’ 3rd base coach. You can’t make this stuff up. Such is life. Such is life.

I GOT IT I GOT IT I GOT IT! — *“I GOT IT, I GOT IT, I GOT IT!”*

Love how they give "the finger" — Love how they sorta give the bird

Or at least kind of :P — Best home run trot ever

The As grab the lead right back — The A’s grab the lead right back

Doing what Mac does — Doing what Big Mac does best

583 career home runs to his name — 583 career home runs

He hits it high, he hits it deep! — Blasted into that majestic night

Good luck catching that, pal — Good luck catching that, buddy

Look at my big boy helmet! — Look at his big boy helmet

"HE HITS IT HIGH!" — *“HE HITS IT HIGH!”*

"HE HITS IT DEEP! -Ish..." — *“HE HITS IT DEEP! -ish…”*

Mike F'N Bordick of all people — Mike F’N Bordick of all people

The previous ABs are a nice touch — Damn he almost got the cycle

Results for previous at-bats are cited, which makes for a nice touch.

Bleacher just like the movie — Bleacher just like from the movie

Love the accuracy — Love the attention to detail there

Home Run Derby's a lot of fun — Home Run Derby is a lot of fun

"Oooooh yeeeeeah!" — *“Oooooh yeeeeeah!”*

Pitcher be like "Fuck this!" — Pitcher be like ***“Fuck this!”***

Then disappears. What a moon shot — What a majestic moon shot

White Bread? I rather be macho man — The 100 pitches go by fast

I love how the camera pans down to give you the full scope. The Field of Dreams ballpark at night in particular is simply majestic.

The ball soars into the night — Watch the ball soar into the night

Love the center field HRs best — Center field home runs are best

You get to see everything — Brings out your inner child

Games can range from 20-25 minutes... — Games can range from 20-25 minutes…

Or 45+. It all depends on the amount of offense — … to even 45+. It all depends on the amount of offense

I like the blurbs :P — Uh, the National League won so…

What a game this was — What a comeback win this was

Now there's a choke job for the National League — Now ***there’s*** a choke job for the National League

Love that you can edit your own All Star team

CLOSING THOUGHTS

If you build it, he will come — **“GO THE DISTANCE.”**

My brother and I had more than our fair share of fun with The Sporting News Baseball back in the mid ’90s. Having played it recently in late 2018, I’m happy to say that for me at least, it’s held up pretty well. Granted, you’re probably not going to play this over the better baseball games available, but there is a quirky charm to this game. It’s definitely the cornfield — who doesn’t want to play a ball game on the iconic Field of Dreams cornfield? It just takes me to a happy place and makes Sporting News Baseball, at the very least, a notable effort. Speaking of which, it’s also the only 4-player baseball game on the Super Nintendo. Real players and teams, and plenty of editing options, round out the package. Unfortunately, there are only 3 ball parks to choose from. But in its defense, when you got the cornfield option, there could be 100 different ball parks to select from and I’d still pick the cornfield one 99 times out of 100. If you’re into old school 16-bit baseball games and you love Field of Dreams, Sporting News Baseball will likely entertain you enough for a few hours. It’s no Ken Griffey Jr. but what is? This certainly isn’t the worst alternative out there.

Graphics: 6.5
Sound: 6.5
Gameplay: 6.5
Longevity: 6.5

Overall: 6.5

Tag: Oakland Athletics

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (Stephen King)

The Sporting News Baseball (SNES)