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Blockade Billy

3.26 of 5 stars 3.26 · rating details · 6,167 ratings · 800 reviews

"I love old-school baseball, and I also love the way people who've spent a lifetime in the game talk about the game. I tried to combine those things in a story of suspense. People have asked me for years when I was going to write a baseball story. Ask no more; this is it." - Stephen King

Even the most diehard baseball fans don't know the true story of William "Blockade Bill...more

ebook, 132 pages

Published April 20th 2010 by Storyville Records (first published July 2009)

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May 12, 2011 Gavin rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have many pleasures in life, but two that really make me smile are Stephen King and baseball. Now I’m not going to write this review in hopes of changing your mind about Stephen King—he is what he is. You may like him. You may not. For my own two cents, I think he is a wonderful storyteller. Sure, one could peruse his body of work and find numerous examples where he stunk up the place; but, and I am saying this not only as a King fan but also as a fan of literature, one could also find numerou...more I have many pleasures in life, but two that really make me smile are Stephen King and baseball. Now I’m not going to write this review in hopes of changing your mind about Stephen King—he is what he is. You may like him. You may not. For my own two cents, I think he is a wonderful storyteller. Sure, one could peruse his body of work and find numerous examples where he stunk up the place; but, and I am saying this not only as a King fan but also as a fan of literature, one could also find numerous examples of where his storytelling shined. BLOCKADE BILLY and the short story “Morality” provide a welcome place that illuminates both of these instances.

In the title story, King takes the ever American topic of baseball and adds his own dark elements. Essentially, King uses this story to take a few jabs at how baseball has become corrupted today without writing a full-blown essay about steroids or outlandish salaries or how the game really may not be America’s pastime anymore. Billy is a rookie catcher who is called up after the Titans lose both of their catchers in a span of 48 hours. He is never intended to be a fixture in the organization. But Billy surprises the team with his work ethic, Midwest-golly-jeez-charm, and his bat. Before long, Billy is helping the Titans climb from the cellar, begin to compete. This part of the story was fun for me; I love a good baseball story, and if the story is about worst-to-first, all the better. But somewhere in the narrative, I began to think that this story was going to end badly. I had read approximately two-thirds of it, yet, that looming sense of darkness had yet to reveal itself. Dammit, King! I knew this was going to be this type of story! I kept reading. And, much to my unsurprised Reader inside me, the true nature of Blockade Billy came out. (I apologize for being vague, but you must read the story to really understand my disappointment.) The ending was terrible. A let down of epic proportions. And then my mind switched gears. Why didn’t King flesh this bad-boy out? I really enjoy it when he puts three or four novellas together as a book. And this story could have been really good had he done just that. As is, all I can really say is: King does a great job of describing the nostalgia of baseball, but, alas, never fully executes a satisfying ending to the story.

Then I read “Morality.” Again, King does a great job setting the scene. This time we have a young couple under the thumb of personal financial woes. They scrap a living by working as a nurse, and as a substitute teacher in what I guess is New York City. When the wife is let go from her nursing job, she becomes a personal nurse for a retired pastor. Throughout all this, I had no idea where the story was going. When the time came for the story to take shape: The retired pastor wants to experience sin so he asks the woman to commit an act of sin for $200,000 clams; the first thought that came to my mind was RIP OFF!! Hadn’t we already seen this with The Box? I know King is a Richard Matheson fan so the connection between the two wasn’t very surprising. But what was surprising was what the woman had to do to get the $200,000 dollars. After she does what was needed, King takes a bit of time (7 or so pages) and describes what happens to the couple. There aren’t many surprises, but the story was amazing. Of course there were some bizarre situations that I felt were needless (the violence of the latter sex scenes being some), I liked that King didn’t go overboard and bombard the reader with a “moral” lesson.

In the end, at 144 pages, BLOCKADE BILLY and “Morality” are quick, fun reads for all fans of Stephen King. I just hope that his new one, 11/22/63: A Novel, slated for release this November, is vintage King.

RECOMMENDED
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Apr 19, 2012 Stefan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blockade Billy is a very solid and entertaining novella that fans of baseball and non-fans alike should enjoy. There is simply not much good baseball fiction available and this offering from King manages to fill a void that I simply didn't realize was there until I read it. Overall, the story gave me feelings of some of my favorite baseball movies such as Bull Durham and The Natural.

For those who aren't baseball fans though, this book still contains enough of King's wonderful characters and dial...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Kathy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, stephen-king

Blockade Billy:
Ok, now I hate being hard on Stephen King books, but this book confused me a bit. I am not a baseball person at all (any kind of sport really) and throughout alot of the story he is describing games. So much of that was over my head. I did love the conversational tone, as if Granny was telling the story to Uncle Stevie, and that did help a bit. Well, that's my only complaint there. Thought I was gonna trash it didn't ya? lol. I was pretty surprised by the twist and very much enjoy...more

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Aug 13, 2009 Bonita Aranda rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction, horror, new-sk

An uncomfortable tale of a troubled marraige and the lure of the easy money - with a catch. Yeah, there's always a catch, isn't there? I liked it. Different. Unusually and brutally honest. Particularly enjoyed the debate (in the Stephen King Fan's Group) of humanity, what constitute's right and wrong, and a the motivation behind yielding to the secret pleasures of your 'dark half' during desperate times.

Read online at: http://www.esquire.com/fiction/fictio...

sorry. as of Sept. 2010, link is no...more

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Jul 28, 2011 Robert Starner added it · review of another edition

This edition brings together two long stories from the pen of Stephen King. The first, Blockade Billy, is set in the mid-1950s world of baseball, and tells the unlikely story of a rookie ballplayer assigned as replacement catcher for the New Jersey Titans. Billy makes an impressive start in his first game creating a wall with body for runner's to get past in their attempts to reach homeplate. But the first game also comes with an injury to a runner, one that raises some questions about Billy. Ki...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Al rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

EDITORIAL REVIEW:

**From *New York Times* bestselling author Stephen King comes the haunting story of *Blockade Billy*, the greatest Major League baseball player to be erased from the game.**

Even the most die-hard baseball fans don't know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first--and only--player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his tea...more

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Feb 01, 2013 Lexi W. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blockade Billy is made up of a pair of short stories. The main story is about a simple young man with an incredible amount of talent who is poised to be one of the greatest players in baseball. There's something just off about him, though, a hint of a dark secret that will get his name erased from the history of the game. The second story, Morality, is about a woman's life flipping on its head after she sells her values for two hundred thousand dollars.

Both stories are very short: the whole book...more

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Sep 23, 2012 El rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-centurylit, sunday-reading-plan

When I saw Stephen King's author photo on the back of this book, I felt a hole somewhere inside of me fill up with love and joy (or something close to it). This man loves his baseball. Look at that photo and tell me you don't grin ear-to-ear. He's like a kid on Christmas morning, a kid in the candy store, a kid who just caught a home run hit by his favorite baseball player of all time. King is goofy-happy about his baseball. And while I might not care that much about the sport, I can appreciate...more When I saw Stephen King's author photo on the back of this book, I felt a hole somewhere inside of me fill up with love and joy (or something close to it). This man loves his baseball. Look at that photo and tell me you don't grin ear-to-ear. He's like a kid on Christmas morning, a kid in the candy store, a kid who just caught a home run hit by his favorite baseball player of all time. King is goofy-happy about his baseball. And while I might not care that much about the sport, I can appreciate his adoration of it because LOOK AT THAT GRIN OF HIS. C'mon!

The two short stories/novellas here aren't as great as that photo. Again, I can appreciate what he's going for. Blockade Billy was fine, with a sort of Citizen Kane narration... well, Citizen Kane as only King could write - bizarre, freakish, off-kilter. There's no Rosebud here. There's Billy, and he's no Kane. Kane was a peach in comparison.

The second "bonus" story, Morality, was also fine. Nothing new for anyone who has read a few Richard Matheson stories (in particular Button, Button which was inexplicably turned into the 2009 Cameron Diaz movie The Box). But for those of us who grew up reading King and will continue to read King and will read King until the day we die (because does anyone doubt that King will outlive us all?), it's hard to actually be bored by one of his books. (Actually I know at least one person who finds him boring but she's a FREAK and is not allowed in this review, haha!) That being said, as far as the entertainment value goes, this isn't as high as a lot of his other writing. They're short, and maybe that's my issue - I find more connected with King's heftier novels. Although that's not quite true because I loved The Body and Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption. It's not the sports issue that is a turn-off because I actually sort of enjoyed the King/O'Nan non-fiction, Faithful: Two Diehard Boston Red Sox Fans Chronicle the Historic 2004 Season.

Okay, so these stories just aren't that great in my opinion. Doesn't make King a horrible writer, or me a bad reader. It is what it is, and I'll continue to snarf up his books as I come across them. The nice thing is it will never be difficult to get one's hands on a Stephen King novel.(less)

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Sep 08, 2012 John rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: stephen-king, horror, baseball

This is a set of two short story/novellas, one being the title yarn and another called Morality.

The first, Blockade Billy, isn't much of a story, but may have great appeal to baseball diehards, like King himself. That's the staying power it had for me- it wasn't a very good horror story but I enjoyed living and breathing the old time baseball setting that King portrayed so well. In classic King fashion it had a powerful narrative voice, even if the excessive verbage dragged things down a bit her...more

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Aug 15, 2012 Robert rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am not a big aficionado of Stephen King's writing, but I picked this up from my library because it seemed like a quick read an it might be fun. This little novella is written as a first person oration of an elderly former Major League Baseball coach giving his recollection of an unusual rookie catcher by the name of William Blakely aka "Blockade Billy." What is the mystery surrounding this tough and talented young rookie phenom from Iowa?

What is the secret behind Blockade Billy Blakely? What...more

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Jul 15, 2012 C. rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The back cover synopsis of Stephen King’s latest, BLOCKADE BILLY, is an exercise in misdirection.

“Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse…”

Well, yeah, it was bad, but I wouldn’t say it was all THAT shocking, realistically.

Blockade Billy was a young man in the 1950s, an Iowa farm boy w...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Abraham rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blockade Billy

By: Stephen King

Plot:

My Review and Thoughts:

One of my favorite authors from my childhood. A king of woven stories and a pure unrelenting imagination that never really fails in creating true originality in stories. One thing Stephen King injects in his stories is his love for baseball from the modern classic by him The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon to the mention of the Boston Red Sox, King’s favorite team. His passion for the sport always shows.

This book is 132 pages long and contains...more

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May 09, 2012 Jacob rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-part-1, short-fiction, king-and-lovecraft

William "Blockade Billy" Blakely only played the Major League for a month or so, but he just might have been the greatest baseball player the game has ever had. So why haven't you heard of him? Sitcher self down, Constant Reader, and let ol' Stevie tell ya the story!

I'll admit, I haven't read much by King--The Stand, Dark Tower, Under the Dome, one or two others--so I wasn't quite sure what to expect. I figured THE THING that got Blockade Billy erased from the record books would be something mor...more

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May 09, 2012 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This edition on Goodreads says it includes a bonus story but the one I read from the library only had Blockade Billy so that is all I am actually reviewing here.

I think that Stephen King understands, like any hardcore baseball fan does, that there is something almost magical in the game. It is a game of pure skill yet it celebrates and marks failure just as much as it celebrates and marks success. And like anything that is magical there is something wonderful about it but there is also somethin...more

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Mar 25, 2012 David S. rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the deal; I am still fucking pissed at Stephen King for the Dark Tower Series. All seven books of those I read. I had been following that series since I was ten and to come out with that ending after seven books---well I should have erased him from my memory. So I gave him another shot even though I probably should have done the later.

And all I have to say is the King is dead.

This book is pretty bad. The character Blockade Billy as told through the eyes of his third base coach is bland...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Lily rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Even the most die-hard baseball fans don't know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first--and only--player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game's history.

Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Bill...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Carl Ingebretsen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I found it a little weird when I read the flap for Blockade Billy and found it to really, really appeal to me. I'm not a baseball fan, but I am a fan of Stephen King (I like his writing a lot, his stories... not so much) and I am especially a fan of dark secrets. So I ordered the book and was, as per usual with a King-story, a little disappointed by the dark secret. But I didn't hate the story. I liked the feel of it, the descriptions, the writing. I liked the way it was told, the way the secret...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Alice rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audio, library, thriller, horror

I listened to an audio edition which contained the additional short story, "Morality."

Both of these stories were classic King, in that they took something ordinary and everyday and put a creepy spin on them. In this case, it's not inanimate objects coming to life or being possessed. There isn't even a supernatural element in either story. The stories are no less chilling for the lack of an unexplained monster, though.

Blockade Billy is about a miraculous catcher who shows up for a New Jersey team...more

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Feb 18, 2011 Anthony rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

First of all, yes $25 dollars is a bit steep for a 112 page novella. It's a limited edition, first printing, that came with a baseball card of the title character. (And yes, I realize that by opening the wrapping, I've already decreased the value.) If you didn't pre-order the book from Cemetery Dance, chances are good you'll either pay a lot more than that on the secondary market, or you'll wait for the end of May when Simon & Schuster release the audiobook and a hardcover edition with a "bo...more First of all, yes $25 dollars is a bit steep for a 112 page novella. It's a limited edition, first printing, that came with a baseball card of the title character. (And yes, I realize that by opening the wrapping, I've already decreased the value.) If you didn't pre-order the book from Cemetery Dance, chances are good you'll either pay a lot more than that on the secondary market, or you'll wait for the end of May when Simon & Schuster release the audiobook and a hardcover edition with a "bonus" short story ("Morality," which I reviewed in [info]365shortstories back in mid-2009). Had I realized the S&S version would be out so soon, I'd probably have waited to buy the book -- but I fell for the "this story won't be available anywhere else any time soon!" hype.

I'm glad I did, though, for a number of reasons. First of all, I don't think the mass market hardcover will have that beautiful Glenn Orbik painted cover. Orbik does the covers for the Gabriel Hunt books that I love so much, and for a lot of other pulp and hard-crime books. It's a great cover. The black and white interior illustrations are very good, too, by Alex McVey.

Second of all, the story is excellent. It's one of King's quieter period pieces. It's moody, it's colloquial. Reading it, I had a prickling sense up the back of my neck -- the kind of feeling you get when you know something isn't right but you can't tell exactly what, or when you know something bad is going to happen and you're powerless to stop it. When the narrator starts out by saying, "Sure, I'll tell you about Billy Blakely. Awful story, of course, but those are the ones that last the longest," you know someone or something is not going to survive the story intact. And in novella form, you know there won't be a lot of tangents or details to distract you from that growing sense of dread. It should come as no surprise that King builds that sense slowly and methodically throughout the story and even allows the narrator to comment on it as his story nears its end.

I'm what you call a hereditary baseball fan. My parents grew up virtually in the shadow of Shea Stadium, so I'm a Mets fan as much by family tradition as anything. I have no idea if there really was a third NYC area baseball team in the 1950s called the New Jersey Titans or if they are fully a product of Mr. King's imagination. And while I watch baseball, I don't know the finesse of the game. In the hands of some writers who are also baseball fans, I could have been lost in the game-specific terminology. In King's hands, I could gather from context what I didn't already know outright and the details of the game never pulled me out of the story itself. And that helped me maintain that feeling of suspense and dread.

The story of William "Blockade Billy" Blakely, one of the best players the game has ever seen but who officially never played the game, is prime King. Definitely worth seeking out either in this limited form or when the other editions get released.(less)

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Feb 02, 2011 Paul Pessolano rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a story that Stephen King wrote, "for every guy (and gal) who ever put on the gear", especially catchers.

This is a baseball story about a young man, William Blakely, who is pulled out of the minor leagues because the New Jersey Titans have lost both of their catchers. Billy is only brought up until they can get a seasoned catcher signed.

Billy astounds everybody, not only with his play, but also with his hitting. He quickly becomes a fan favorite and is noted for this ability to "block"...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Rachel Haimowitz rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, own, novella

1.5 stars, rounded up simply because I actually finished the book.

Very meh, and frankly disappointing for such a master of the short story.

This was actually two works: Blockade Billy and a short called Morality. BB was better than Morality, but not by very much.

I suspect I might have appreciated BB more if I were a baseball fan, as it seemed very much like a love song to the game. My problem with it--and with Morality as well--was that the actual stories, and the driving forces behind them--were...more 1.5 stars, rounded up simply because I actually finished the book.

Very meh, and frankly disappointing for such a master of the short story.

This was actually two works: Blockade Billy and a short called Morality. BB was better than Morality, but not by very much.

I suspect I might have appreciated BB more if I were a baseball fan, as it seemed very much like a love song to the game. My problem with it--and with Morality as well--was that the actual stories, and the driving forces behind them--were so incredibly shallow that the only way King was able to generate suspense was by deliberately withholding information from the reader that all the viewpoint characters already had. Little drives me crazier than that; it's cheap and it's lazy and it's manipulative and writers only need rely on such tactics when they have absolutely nothing else of worth with which to keep people turning pages. If the viewpoint characters lack information too, then fine, I have no problem at all discovering things along with them. But this way? Not cool.

And really, even for short stories, they were incredibly thin on substance. That super-seekrit long-withheld information in Blockade Billy turned out to be so perfectly average and boring that I'd originally dismissed it as a possibility during my speculation because I simply didn't think King would be so banal.

Morality actually suffered from the same problem of banality, but beyond that, it suffered from constriction. It was a very short story that probably should have been at least a novella, or possibly a book. What we were left with was an outline, where the characters arced from major change to major change with no clear internal motivations or impetus. I mean, the spark that set off the changes was clear, but the characters essentially went from point A to point Z without stopping at ANY of the points in between to show us how they got to Z or why. Which made everything feel orchestrated and artificial, and left me completely unable to connect to the characters after the starting spark happened. The ending was so rushed I was left with whiplash.

I do not recommend this book at all. Just plain lazy. Lazy lazy lazy. It feels half-written. Leave it on the shelf.(less)

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Dec 18, 2010 Chris Freeman rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is actually two long-ish short stories. First, the story that carries the book's title. Ostensibly a book about major league baseball in the 1950's, it's an 80 page read that goes down even faster than that. The baseball detail is entertaining for the baseball fan (like me) but the "King-esqe" touch on the story felt like King might have been watching a Red Sox game while he wrote it: not terribly creative for a man who has written some of my favorite stories of all time. Still, as a w...more

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Nov 23, 2010 Traci rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a special hardcover edition by Cemetery Dance of this never-before-published novella by King. Now, normally I really enjoy King's short works. This wasn't my favorite, though, and I think it's simply because of the subject matter - baseball. Not a sport I personally play or enjoy.

The style is nice, though, with the former equipment manager of the New Jersey Titans narrating to "Mr. King" as if King is a reporter. George Grantham ("Granny" to the players) has seen a lot in his time, but n...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Chibineko rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've always considered myself more of a casual Stephen King fanatic. I'll read his books as they're released, but not really go out of my way to read them during the first week or so of its release. Since this was a relatively short book & I had time to read it, I decided to fit it in with my other reading.

The book contains two short stories, "Blockade Billy" & "Morality". The first story is a mixture of baseball & thriller, with an emphasis on the baseball aspect of it. "Blockade Bi...more I've always considered myself more of a casual Stephen King fanatic. I'll read his books as they're released, but not really go out of my way to read them during the first week or so of its release. Since this was a relatively short book & I had time to read it, I decided to fit it in with my other reading.

The book contains two short stories, "Blockade Billy" & "Morality". The first story is a mixture of baseball & thriller, with an emphasis on the baseball aspect of it. "Blockade Billy" is about a baseball player who would've been famous... if not for the terrifying story surrounding him, one that not many (save the story's narrator) really want to share. Even the baseball industry tries to hush the story up. The bonus story "Morality" is about a young couple on the verge of either making it big or fading into mediocrity. Chad wants to be a writer & seems to have the potential to become the next big thing, except for that much of his time is spent on his teaching job so he can ensure that food is kept on the table. His wife helps to make ends meet by caring for senior citizens, but it isn't until one of her employers offers her the deal of a lifetime- he'll give the couple a little over $200K if they do what he asks them to do. His offer seems too good to be true & might offer no long term repercussions. Or does it?

I liked "Blockade Billy" well enough, although I wasn't as fond of all of the baseball talk as others might have been. While I do appreciate the amount of detail King put into the baseball side, it isn't until the more sinister parts of the story begin to emerge that the plot really takes off. It's a good story, but there just seemed to be a little something missing to it, like it wasn't entirely finished.

"Morality", I liked much better- it had a far more sinister quality to it & I liked how the seemingly "simple" task posed by Nora's employer (a retired priest) had such long reaching side effects. There's not a lot of in-depth detail to the two, but that's to be expected with a short story like this. In my opinion, the lack of further detail seems to expose how ultimately shallow Nora & Chad truly are, which makes the story that much more chilling- they initially view themselves as good people. "Morality" really makes you wonder how much it would take to cause you to do something you would normally never do & how cheap your purchasing price really is. The shallowness of Nora & Chad are further displayed by their lack of true care for the victim(s) of their task- they never stop to think of anyone other than themselves.

Both stories are decent enough to get, but I can't honestly say that I'll be re-reading either of them all that soon. The price for the hardback is a little steep, what with it only being a little over 130 pages. (However, I've seen companies charge far more for the same amount of pages so it could have been worse.)

Ultimately this will be one that I recommend you flip through at your local bookstore. This collection will charm many people, but for some it won't be a "must own" book. I'll warn you though- you'll find yourself thinking about these stories later on, which proves how good Stephen King can still be. (less)

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Aug 25, 2010 Tristan Macavery rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Had not a friend given this book to me, I'd probably not have read it. I'm not all that much a baseball fan; still more, I'm offended as hell at the idea of paying fifteen bucks retail for about 130 pages of well-spaced text. And not that long ago, King was proselytizing about mistrusting "fingernail paring"-sized books. Oh well; when you get that rich and famous, I guess you can break all the rules, and get only more rich and more famous.

This book consists of two stories -- by old-time definiti...more

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Aug 18, 2010 Desiree Koh rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Once upon a time, I wanted to be a horror writer, because of Stephen King. "It" grabbed my heart, kept it warm, then squeezed it cold whenever it grew talons. "Carrie" just plain scared the living shit out of me. "Different Seasons" put short stories in a different light, then freaked me out when the light went out. And so on... there was a time I actually rented "Christine" on VHS and enjoyed it.

But now, I much prefer writing non-fiction, although a big part of that is because it pays the bills...more Once upon a time, I wanted to be a horror writer, because of Stephen King. "It" grabbed my heart, kept it warm, then squeezed it cold whenever it grew talons. "Carrie" just plain scared the living shit out of me. "Different Seasons" put short stories in a different light, then freaked me out when the light went out. And so on... there was a time I actually rented "Christine" on VHS and enjoyed it.

But now, I much prefer writing non-fiction, although a big part of that is because it pays the bills. Mr. King continues to write fiction, because it pays his bills, and a lot more. Because ever since he started churning out books like he was running Freddy Kruger's nightmare factory, he has become the most mediocre, unexciting, lackluster good horror writer (I know my horror), literally going from Wilkie Collins to Joan Collins. Where once his narratives were heartwarming, interspersing human interest with non-living intangibles - you were freaked out because he preyed on fears he knew you had - his 1990s and 2000s work digressed into Fear Street for adults, the C-grade of horror fiction. You believed that Ash from "The Evil Dead" could do better.

One thing King has retained, which makes it such an abject shame that his creativity has run dry (that is always an imminent danger when your perennial loser of a baseball team wins the World Series, so I could be secretly grateful that the Cubs continue to provide me with melodramatic inspiration), is the power of his narrative style. He's got characterization down pat, and his writing continues to be a sort of Norman Rockwell gone wild on Norman Bates and just swerving clear of Norman Mailer. It was all so familiar and happy for me during the first few pages of "Blockade Billy", which I willingly purchased despite not having heard any strikes or balls called about it. A novella about baseball in the 1950s, particularly a slugging catcher? I mean, come on. That captures my heart.

And so it was nice and nostalgic to read King enjoyably. The story is narrated in the voice of the third base coach of the team that Blockade Billy played on, complete with New England dialectic characterizations and the sort of yellow language that comes with years of playing ball and spewing tobacco. And it was all cruising along like Shawn Dunston lopping into second on a double until you realize how lame it all is. Even a pretzel has a better twist than this story, and at least pretzels come with delightful dips. I don't know how else to put it. I finished this in a little over an hour, and I'm glad, because it wouldn't have been worth any more of my concentration.

The novella comes "packaged" with a short story titled "Morality". Suffice it to say that a puritanical morality play from the late 1700s would have been less painful to peruse. What this exercise confirmed for me is that I will no longer be seduced to read any more of King's work, not even if it's about a fishing trip with Bruce Springsteen. It's just not worth it - it's really hard to turn the pages with hands shaking from cringing.
The book gets two stars - one more than what I would have given - because I still have to give props to the pretty writing.(less)

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Aug 12, 2010 Jeff rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Stephen King and baseball. What more could you ask for?

Blockade Billy is a short story, published in this small book, with a "bonus" story in the book, called "Morality."

I can't say much about "Blockade Billy" without spoiling it. Since it's so short, almost anything I say would be giving away important information, and I don't want to do that. But the story is set in the 50s when baseball was still a pretty rough game. The New Jersey Titans is the team, and their catchers (both of them) get in...more

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Jul 15, 2010 Elizabeth rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Blockade Billy by Stephen King (pp. 144)

In 1958, a rookie nobody named Billy Blakely joined the New Jersey Titans. Not expected to be much more than filler, he becomes an overnight fan favorite. Hitting almost .500 and becoming a human barrier to home plate as the Titan’s catcher, he’s a force to be reckoned with and yet really doesn’t grasp the gravity of his skill and contribution. An odd bird to be sure.

Blockade Billy’s story is presented by the aging voice of George Grantham, the Titans thir...more

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Jun 30, 2010 Joshua Palmatier rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I saw this on the shelf, picked it up (because I'm a Stephen King fan), and read it in a day. This is not surprising. It's not Under the Dome in length, a mere 130 pages, including two short stories or novelettes called Blockade Billy and Morality. Neither of the two stories is what you'd consider a Stephen King story, in the sense that neither one relies on some kind of paranormal twist or monster. The monsters here are all human in nature, so the two stories are more along the lines of his fam...more

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Jun 22, 2010 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The new book recently released by Stephen King is actually two of his short stories put together. The book is only a 130 pages and surprised me with the easy way it read and the quick beginning to end rush unlike most of his books. He really showed me unlike his earlier collection of short stories Just After Sunset that he can swing along a short story just like any other.

The short that is the namesake of the book , Blockade Billy, was one of the best short stories I have ever read. Starting wi...more The new book recently released by Stephen King is actually two of his short stories put together. The book is only a 130 pages and surprised me with the easy way it read and the quick beginning to end rush unlike most of his books. He really showed me unlike his earlier collection of short stories Just After Sunset that he can swing along a short story just like any other.

The short that is the namesake of the book , Blockade Billy, was one of the best short stories I have ever read. Starting with King talking to George Grantham ,an old man in a nursing home, who was with the New Jersey Titans when baseball was informal and loose we hear the entire beginning to end story of William Blakely and how he played the most prolific and shortest career in the bigs.

The story begins with George explaining how they were in such dire straights at the beginning of the season. With their starting catcher in jail and their scrawny back-up breaking most of his bones in his first home plate collision . They desperately needed a catcher to play until they could make a deal or find something completely suitable. So thats how the Titans ended up with a guy from Iowa named William Blakely.

The opening day was going good from the beginning to the end until all that stood between a game deciding run and home plate was soon to be known as Blockade Billy. From the glove with the ball in it and the turned down shoulder the man flys over his shoulder and lies screaming on the plate. Hes declared out but it only starts from there. The man had a cut achilles and it was also strained but noone really assumes anything. Even though there was a few yells from the other team manager the game was alot rougher back than and noone thought a difference ,but thats where it only began.

Morality

Morality was the bonus story added onto The book. Its a story of Chad and Nora who were living pay to pay check and barely making ends meet. Chad was a substitute teacher and trying to make a book work and Nora a nurse who had been layed off not long ago and was just as quickly picked up as a private home nurse for retired Reverand George Winston who had left the ministry after suffering a stroke three years earlier.

Even though Chad was having alot of hope for his book and they were evenly skimming by when the chance for the money came by they still dashed for it in the hopes of financial stability They quickly took the ministers offer. All they had to do was fulfill the preachers wish of fulfilling a real sin. Nothing too serious but would it be enough to tear them apart?

These reviews are also on my site http://fantasybookreview.webs.com/rev...

(less)

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About Stephen King

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family...more Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Stephen Edwin King was born in Portland, Maine in 1947, the second son of Donald and Nellie Ruth Pillsbury King. After his parents separated when Stephen was a toddler, he and his older brother, David, were raised by his mother. Parts of his childhood were spent in Fort Wayne, Indiana, where his father's family was at the time, and in Stratford, Connecticut. When Stephen was eleven, his mother brought her children back to Durham, Maine, for good. Her parents, Guy and Nellie Pillsbury, had become incapacitated with old age, and Ruth King was persuaded by her sisters to take over the physical care of the elderly couple. Other family members provided a small house in Durham and financial support. After Stephen's grandparents passed away, Mrs. King found work in the kitchens of Pineland, a nearby residential facility for the mentally challenged.

Stephen attended the grammar school in Durham and then Lisbon Falls High School, graduating in 1966. From his sophomore year at the University of Maine at Orono, he wrote a weekly column for the school newspaper, THE MAINE CAMPUS. He was also active in student politics, serving as a member of the Student Senate. He came to support the anti-war movement on the Orono campus, arriving at his stance from a conservative view that the war in Vietnam was unconstitutional. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono in 1970, with a B.A. in English and qualified to teach on the high school level. A draft board examination immediately post-graduation found him 4-F on grounds of high blood pressure, limited vision, flat feet, and punctured eardrums.

He and Tabitha Spruce married in January of 1971. He met Tabitha in the stacks of the Fogler Library at the University of Maine at Orono, where they both worked as students. As Stephen was unable to find placement as a teacher immediately, the Kings lived on his earnings as a laborer at an industrial laundry, and her student loan and savings, with an occasional boost from a short story sale to men's magazines.

Stephen made his first professional short story sale ("The Glass Floor") to Startling Mystery Stories in 1967. Throughout the early years of his marriage, he continued to sell stories to men's magazines. Many of these were later gathered into the Night Shift collection or appeared in other anthologies.

In the fall of 1971, Stephen began teaching high school English classes at Hampden Academy, the public high school in Hampden, Maine. Writing in the evenings and on the weekends, he continued to produce short stories and to work on novels.(less)

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