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Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt: Baseball Stories
Stories deal with a baseball-loving extraterrestrial, diehard fans, con men, veteran ballplayers, children's teams, and the mystery of a vanished star
179 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1988
About the author
W.P. Kinsella
57 books235 followersWilliam Patrick Kinsella, OC, OBC was a Canadian novelist and short story writer. His work has often concerned baseball and Canada's First Nations and other Canadian issues.
William Patrick Kinsella was born to John Matthew Kinsella and Olive Kinsella in Edmonton, Alberta. Kinsella was raised until he was 10 years-old at a homestead near Darwell, Alberta, 60 km west of the city, home-schooled by his mother and taking correspondence courses. "I'm one of these people who woke up at age five knowing how to read and write," he says. When he was ten, the family moved to Edmonton.
As an adult, he held a variety of jobs in Edmonton, including as a clerk for the Government of Alberta and managing a credit bureau. In 1967, he moved to Victoria, British Columbia, running a pizza restaurant called Caesar's Italian Village and driving a taxi.
Though he had been writing since he was a child (winning a YMCA contest at age 14), he began taking writing courses at the University of Victoria in 1970, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing there in 1974. He travelled down to Iowa and earned a Master of Fine Arts in English degree through the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1978. In 1991, he was presented with an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Victoria.
Kinsella's most famous work is Shoeless Joe, upon which the movie Field of Dreams was based. A short story by Kinsella, Lieberman in Love, was the basis for a short film that won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film – the Oscar win came as a surprise to the author, who, watching the award telecast from home, had no idea the film had been made and released. He had not been listed in the film's credits, and was not acknowledged by director Christine Lahti in her acceptance speech – a full-page advertisement was later placed in Variety apologizing to Kinsella for the error. Kinsella's eight books of short stories about life on a First Nations reserve were the basis for the movie Dance Me Outside and CBC television series The Rez, both of which Kinsella considers very poor quality. The collection Fencepost Chronicles won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1987.
Before becoming a professional author, he was a professor of English at the University of Calgary in Alberta. Kinsella suffered a car accident in 1997 which resulted in a long hiatus in his fiction-writing career until the publication of the novel, Butterfly Winter. He is a noted tournament Scrabble player, becoming more involved with the game after being disillusioned by the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. Near the end of his life he lived in Yale, British Columbia with his fourth wife, Barbara (d. 2012), and occasionally wrote articles for various newspapers.
In the year 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
W.P. Kinsella elected to die on September 16, 2016 with the assistance of a physician.
William Patrick Kinsella was born to John Matthew Kinsella and Olive Kinsella in Edmonton, Alberta. Kinsella was raised until he was 10 years-old at a homestead near Darwell, Alberta, 60 km west of the city, home-schooled by his mother and taking correspondence courses. "I'm one of these people who woke up at age five knowing how to read and write," he says. When he was ten, the family moved to Edmonton.
As an adult, he held a variety of jobs in Edmonton, including as a clerk for the Government of Alberta and managing a credit bureau. In 1967, he moved to Victoria, British Columbia, running a pizza restaurant called Caesar's Italian Village and driving a taxi.
Though he had been writing since he was a child (winning a YMCA contest at age 14), he began taking writing courses at the University of Victoria in 1970, receiving his Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing there in 1974. He travelled down to Iowa and earned a Master of Fine Arts in English degree through the Iowa Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1978. In 1991, he was presented with an honorary Doctor of Literature degree from the University of Victoria.
Kinsella's most famous work is Shoeless Joe, upon which the movie Field of Dreams was based. A short story by Kinsella, Lieberman in Love, was the basis for a short film that won the Academy Award for Live Action Short Film – the Oscar win came as a surprise to the author, who, watching the award telecast from home, had no idea the film had been made and released. He had not been listed in the film's credits, and was not acknowledged by director Christine Lahti in her acceptance speech – a full-page advertisement was later placed in Variety apologizing to Kinsella for the error. Kinsella's eight books of short stories about life on a First Nations reserve were the basis for the movie Dance Me Outside and CBC television series The Rez, both of which Kinsella considers very poor quality. The collection Fencepost Chronicles won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour in 1987.
Before becoming a professional author, he was a professor of English at the University of Calgary in Alberta. Kinsella suffered a car accident in 1997 which resulted in a long hiatus in his fiction-writing career until the publication of the novel, Butterfly Winter. He is a noted tournament Scrabble player, becoming more involved with the game after being disillusioned by the 1994 Major League Baseball strike. Near the end of his life he lived in Yale, British Columbia with his fourth wife, Barbara (d. 2012), and occasionally wrote articles for various newspapers.
In the year 1993, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. In 2005, he was awarded the Order of British Columbia.
W.P. Kinsella elected to die on September 16, 2016 with the assistance of a physician.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 16, 2023
”Jamie Kirkendahl would say this is not a story about baseball. Perhaps I should let you be the judge of that.”
So are these ten stories about baseball? They are about people — ordinary (and in a couple of cases, extraordinary) people, and how they live and die. Baseball just happens to be the rhythm that measures their lives. Some are washed up old journeymen who tasted the Bigs for a couple of seasons, then moved on. Others are minor league prospects struggling to break through. Many just played ball in high school, or as kids in sandlot pickup games. In one story, the baseball connection is that the conversation that makes up the bulk of the story takes place in a rural sandlot field. Baseball is the air that gives these stories breath.
Most of these stories lack the magical realism that characterizes much of Kinsella’s work. (The one exception is Frank Pierce, Iowa.) One, Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross are Somewhat Exaggerated, is kinda far out, but closer to science fiction than to magical realism. K Mart is truly extraordinary, as fine a short story as you will ever read. Diehard and Searching For Fred are both top shelf stories as well. It’s a solid collection that any fan of well constructed short stories will appreciate.
So are these ten stories about baseball? They are about people — ordinary (and in a couple of cases, extraordinary) people, and how they live and die. Baseball just happens to be the rhythm that measures their lives. Some are washed up old journeymen who tasted the Bigs for a couple of seasons, then moved on. Others are minor league prospects struggling to break through. Many just played ball in high school, or as kids in sandlot pickup games. In one story, the baseball connection is that the conversation that makes up the bulk of the story takes place in a rural sandlot field. Baseball is the air that gives these stories breath.
Most of these stories lack the magical realism that characterizes much of Kinsella’s work. (The one exception is Frank Pierce, Iowa.) One, Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross are Somewhat Exaggerated, is kinda far out, but closer to science fiction than to magical realism. K Mart is truly extraordinary, as fine a short story as you will ever read. Diehard and Searching For Fred are both top shelf stories as well. It’s a solid collection that any fan of well constructed short stories will appreciate.
April 23, 2022
Baseball short stories, often read while waiting for my partner to show up to umpire baseball games. Some good stuff in here; did not disappoint. "Distances" and "K-mart" are probably my favorites; "The Eddie Scissons Syndrome" is a bit weak.
The author is Canadian and known for the novel Shoeless Joe, adapted into Costner's Field of Dreams. I plan to tackle one of his non-baseball books or collections next.
The author is Canadian and known for the novel Shoeless Joe, adapted into Costner's Field of Dreams. I plan to tackle one of his non-baseball books or collections next.
August 5, 2020
Alison Tyler turned me onto this collection, citing "K-Mart" as one of her favorite short stories ever. Agreed. "K-Mart" is now one of my favorite short stories ever, too. I ended the story in tears.
Early in "K-Mart," the narrator says he doesn't know if "K-Mart" is a baseball story then leaves readers to decide. "K-Mart" is as much about baseball as Tim O' Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story" is about the Vietnam War. Of course it's about the war. But it also transcends the war same way Kinsella's story transcends baseball. In both instances, the authors use a given experience (one might dare suggest obsession) to reveal profound human truths. Great fiction always does.
Other stand out stories in Kinsella's collection include "Distances" and "Punchlines," the later proving readers can empathize with an unlikable narrator even when you're not sure why he's such a beligerent and self-destructive drunk but suspect he's hiding something.
XO
Early in "K-Mart," the narrator says he doesn't know if "K-Mart" is a baseball story then leaves readers to decide. "K-Mart" is as much about baseball as Tim O' Brien's "How to Tell a True War Story" is about the Vietnam War. Of course it's about the war. But it also transcends the war same way Kinsella's story transcends baseball. In both instances, the authors use a given experience (one might dare suggest obsession) to reveal profound human truths. Great fiction always does.
Other stand out stories in Kinsella's collection include "Distances" and "Punchlines," the later proving readers can empathize with an unlikable narrator even when you're not sure why he's such a beligerent and self-destructive drunk but suspect he's hiding something.
XO
May 24, 2024
My third helping of Kinsella short stories and his skill, variety, and quirkiness remain. Two stories that have stayed with me are Frank Pierce. Iowa and The Valley of the Schmoon. The first dabbles with reality, the second with a ride a young baseball player takes with an old coach who does nearly all the talking. This is pleasant reading but I thought The Essential W. P. Kinsella better.
February 7, 2026
I love baseball, so this was a fun book for me. I enjoyed Diehard, Distances and Searching For Freddy.
Some good one liners in the book like “The only way to kill an old catcher is to cut off his head and hide it”.
Some good MLB players references as well as small time ball teams like the Vancouver Canadians.
Some good one liners in the book like “The only way to kill an old catcher is to cut off his head and hide it”.
Some good MLB players references as well as small time ball teams like the Vancouver Canadians.
March 5, 2009
The Further Adventures of Slugger Mc Batt is a book with a bunch of short stories in it. The short stories all have something to do with baseball because Ray Kinsella(the Author)is famous for writing books about baseball. In one of the short stories, Reports Concerning the Death of the Seattle Albatross, has a character named Mike Street who is a mascott for the Seattle Mariners. At the beginning of the story, he all of a sudden retires after being the mascott for five years. Then it goes back to show how his retirement happpens. When he got the job for the mascot, he found out that if people found out who he was he would be fired because he had to stay in character. During the season, Mike dances around and entertains the crowd which makes him really popular. At the end of one of the games, a girl named Virginia meets him and she wants to go out with him. He takes her to to the top of the stadium where he lives. While this is happening, he still has his costume on. When she finds out that he lives up there, she becomes fightened and she backs up slowly. She then falls off the the railing to her death. When the Police find out, they question Mike to get the story. When they ask him to take off his costume, he refuses and the FBI have to restle him to the ground. He yells and screams because he doesn't want to be seen. At the end of the story he ends up going to a isolation cell on a military base.
I thought the book was pretty good and that it had some decent stories. There were a few that were quite boring but there were some that were good, like the one I wrote about. I think I liked this book more than the last Kinsella book just because the stories were broken up and I could follow them better. In the Last book, the story went all over the place and I couldn't really follow it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes short stories or who likes baseball. I gave this book a three out of five because it wasn't the greatest but some stories were interesting and funny.
In this quote, Mike flys Virginia toward the roof of the Kingdome. "How did you do that?" Virginia squealed. "It's all done with mirrors," I said.
In this quote, some of the FBI agents are making fun of Mike, "I've been keeping somethinf from you all these years. I'm really the Seattle Albatross." The three of them smile their charming smiles. "Thats quite a confession, Tony," says Jean. "I suppose it's rather like getting an albatross off your neck."
In this quote, People are starting to find out that Mike has retired. "Albatross fies the coop" was how the headline of the PostIntelligencer sports section read."
I thought the book was pretty good and that it had some decent stories. There were a few that were quite boring but there were some that were good, like the one I wrote about. I think I liked this book more than the last Kinsella book just because the stories were broken up and I could follow them better. In the Last book, the story went all over the place and I couldn't really follow it. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes short stories or who likes baseball. I gave this book a three out of five because it wasn't the greatest but some stories were interesting and funny.
In this quote, Mike flys Virginia toward the roof of the Kingdome. "How did you do that?" Virginia squealed. "It's all done with mirrors," I said.
In this quote, some of the FBI agents are making fun of Mike, "I've been keeping somethinf from you all these years. I'm really the Seattle Albatross." The three of them smile their charming smiles. "Thats quite a confession, Tony," says Jean. "I suppose it's rather like getting an albatross off your neck."
In this quote, People are starting to find out that Mike has retired. "Albatross fies the coop" was how the headline of the PostIntelligencer sports section read."
December 2, 2008
This book was really fun to read I thought at first each of the stories would interconnect, however as i quickly discovered they didnt. This was a really fun book to read each story ended really openly so it left a lot of room for your imagination to run free and make up your own continuation of the story. Things that may concern some is the language it was a bit "racey" however making the characters talk any other way would take away from the context and make it less enjoyable to read. Another thing that I enjoyed about the book was the mention of vancouver, one of the stories takes place there, it made the book a little more personal which was great. Overall a good book for those who like baseball and even for those who just love a good story i would recommend it
October 6, 2013
Kinsella is, for obvious reasons, thought of as a "baseball writer." But as I'm sure has been said before, he's a talented writer regardless of genre. In many of his stories a sort-of magical realism is prevalent, along with other aspects of "literary fiction." With regard to his presentation of characters and story development he reminds, in a lot of ways, of the early Stephen King novels that first got me into reading, up to about Misery. (Everything after that pretty much sucked IMO.)
September 16, 2016
"Distances": Not magical realism, just realistic but told from the perspective of a child, so with an air of wonder. Narrator is Gideon Clark, main character in Iowa Baseball Confederacy and co main character in If Wishes Were Horses. Mentions his father's obsession with an arcane bit of baseball history.
September 23, 2016
Kinsella captures baseball and knows its intimate connection to life. Everyone should learn to love the game so well, and more people who can write about it should. But Kinsella is the best I've read.
October 17, 2023
If you enjoyed Shoeless Joe or love baseball like I do, you will enjoy The Further Adventures of Slugger McBatt. These are all short stories connected (some loosely) to the sport of baseball. A quick read and a good one.
October 22, 2012
Nice book, great stories. Just wish they were interconnected somehow.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews