Sometimes You See It Coming

by Kevin Baker

A baseball story for a new generation traces the heroic abilities of an elusive baseball legend named John Barr and outlines the cruel absurdity of a business peopled by millionaires with high-school mentalities and sportswriters desperate for a quote. A first novel. 50,000 first printing.

Genres: Baseball, Sports, Fiction, Historical Fiction

326 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Kevin Baker is the author of the New York, City of Fire trilogy: Dreamland, Paradise Alley, and Strivers Row. Most recently, he's been writing about politics for Harper's Magazine and the New York Observer.

Reviews

[Patrick Barry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this baseball story that seems to capture baseball in the 1990s. The book is told by several narrators. It centers around a mysterious superstar player, like Roy Hobbs, a nobody from no where, who gets into an even more mysterious slump late in the season. It is also a story of what a destructive manager can do to a team and its players. The depiction and thoughts of "The Old Swizzlehead" seems to perfectly capture the amorality of the young when confronted with sudden riches. It was one of the best baseball books I have read.

[T. · Rating 4.25 out of 5]

Damn. I just wrote a long-ass review and Goodreads ate it.

So I started by questioning exactly if my husband knows me at all, because he likes this book but insisted I would hate it. And that makes me wonder what he was thinking. This was nearly a five. I loved it.

It’s got this overwhelming sense of melancholy throughout, and that is my favorite thing. Bring me all your pain, loneliness, and suffering. The characters are super compelling as well. It’s about baseball, I guess, but not really. It’s a character study set in the majors. I suppose if you love baseball, you’d like it? But I’m sort of lukewarm about baseball and I did, too. (Don’t hate it, grew up watching it, still like it in theory, but certainly not a super fan nor do I know half the baseball things they talk about in this book and I didn’t feel like I missed anything.) It’s just a book about interesting and authentic-seeming characters dealing with shit. (There’s only one thing I like more in a story than characters going through some shit, and that’s GIRLS going through some shit.)

Why the four then? I took points off because the ending was only bittersweet. I guess it was sad but not in the “my heart has been eviscerated” way I prefer. So the star was removed for only making me shrug in sadness and not weep inconsolably.

Now to figure out whom my husband married, because clearly it wasn’t me.

[L.G. Cullens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having read this back in the 1990s, what mostly sticks with me is that it was well-written enough to keep me distracted from the work-a-day world.

From the blurb:
"Based in part on the life of baseball legend Ty Cobb, this book belongs in the pantheon of great baseball novels.

"John Barr is the kind of player who isn't supposed to exist anymore. An all-around superstar, he plays the game with a single-minded ferocity that makes his New York Mets team all but invincible. Yet Barr himself is a mystery with no past, no friends, no women, and no interests outside hitting a baseball as hard and as far as he can. Not even Ellie Jay, the jaded sportswriter who can out-think, out-drink, and out-write any man in the press box. She wants to think she admires Barr's skill on a ballfield, but suspects she might be in love with a man who isn't really there.

"Barr leads the Mets to one championship after another. Then chaos arrives in the person of new manager Charli Stanzi, well-known psychopath. Under Stanzi's tutelage, the team simply falls apart. Then Barr himself inexplicably starts to unravel. For the first time in his life, his formidable skills fail him, and only Ellie Jay and another can help - if he will let them. Hanging in the balance are his sanity, the World Series, and true love."

[Cameron Smith · Rating 1 out of 5]

Probably the worst book I've ever read. The multiple narrators thing is dumb throughout. The typing in a southern accent is over the top and annoying to read. Way too many nicknames and unnecessary slang. Feels like no attention was paid to whether or not any of the stuff in this book would ever actually happen on a baseball field or in a baseball team. It talks about sexual assault at one point as if it was a normal thing baseball players used to do. Maybe it was I don't know. Pretty much nothing happens for 3/4 of the book. Feels like the book is just for people who want to fantasize about what being a pro baseball player in this era was like, but it was very weird to me. I do think my high school baseball coach read this book and based his personality off of the coach in it. Not sure how I got this book, but I wish I hadn't.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a charming book about baseball, and I liked the shifting narrators. I think we have an advance copy, though, because it's rife with copyediting errors.

They're probably cleaned up in later versions; reading just becomes suspiciously like work when I'm cruising along some text and then HONK SCREE TYPO.

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Baseball story, yes, so I was unable to give up on it. This book is light on character development, cartoonish in its depiction of baseball at the highest level, and ultimately so unsatisfying that I would recommend you steer clear. Pick up David James Duncan’s “The Brothers K” instead if you are looking for an underappreciated novel focused on the sport.

[Thomas Cetrino · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fun Baseball Novel

Kevin Baker takes almost every interesting play in baseball history and weaves them into a fun baseball novel with interesting characters. Many of the characters are composites of real ballplayers. If you like baseball you will enjoy this novel

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Though some scenes and plot points didn’t quite click with me, it was a fun read.

[Lorraine Campbell · Rating 1 out of 5]

Blockade Billy by Stephen King is a better story.

[John M · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hard to get into. Everything is a bit over the top but not in a way that really worked for me.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know if major league baseball is as colorful as Kevin Baker makes it out to be in Sometimes You See It Coming, but in his telling, it certainly is the “big show”—big in characters, memories, melancholy, joy, successes, failure, pathos, and strength.

Joe Barr, whose father was the laughingstock of their little New England town, has escaped his inglorious childhood and emerged to become the predominant player of his era. Unflappable behind the plate and in the field, he leads his Mets to four titles in his ten years in the majors. Barr’s life and times are recounted by a revolving series of folks: a few teammates, a coach, a couple journalists, and a omniscient narrator. The latter also recounts scenes from Barr’s childhood, which grow more ominous as the story progresses.

The first part of the novel recounts Barr’s appearance in the minor leagues, quick promotion to the majors, and his rise to stardom. Well, perhaps “stardom” isn’t quite right. Barr, in a manner not unlike that of Bjorn Borg or Patrick Ewing, never reveled in the fame. A quiet, almost stand-offish man, he is respected but certainly not loved by the press and public.

One day, upon receipt of a letter from his recently deceased mother, Barr snaps, losing his confidence and abilities. It takes a while for everyone to acknowledge it—he’d been great for so long—but soon his team and (few) admirers realize that something is really wrong. Barr’s aloof attitude rules out the normal talk-it-out recovery cycle, and everyone puzzles what to do.

By that time in the book, however, I was far more enchanted with the life and culture of baseball than I was intrigued by the plot tension. In Baker’s hand Barr is fascinating, but not nearly as engaging or likeable as some of his narrators, especially Barr’s teammate Ricky “Swizzlehead” Falls, who overflows with personality.

Baker’s world is fascinating, and I loved the story. The thing is, I don’t know if my fascination is derived simply from Baker’s fictional world or if it comes from my attempts to square his world with its real-world counterpart. Is the relationship between the press and players really as cynical as Baker makes it out to be? Are a significant minority of players mentally on the edge? Are that many coaches really that ignorant of the game and its players? Does the players’ overnight wealth really distance them from their fans? What about the use of performance-enhancing drugs?

Regardless of its relationship to real-world professional baseball, Baker’s world is big, colorful, and full of humanity.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read a few baseball novels and non-fiction and this one was so completely alive that I really wish "they" would make a movie on it. Baker drew the characters so well, any actor would have a blueprint. And his descriptive prose is so rich for the senses, if you've been to the ballpark you'll be transported and if you've never been, you may not have to. One odd sensation while reading was that I kept forgetting what decade the present tense parts were in. I'm not sure if that was intentional or not. There is something timeless about the game and its language and players. If you like baseball novels which are loosely based on actual events, I think you will really like this. This was the start of some of the greatest American novel writing in recent history. I think Baker's Paradise Alley is the best of any of the several NYC stories I've ever read. It was also so well researched that it could qualify for historical fiction. Same for Dreamland.

[Samir · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished reading this baseball book called Sometimes you see it Coming by Kevin Baker and I compare this book to my favorite baseball movie Field of Dreams.
This book is about a baseball team and their experience in a successful season. The baseball team is the Mets that it follows. What this book has is that attraction to it. The magic of the book keeps you in tune with it. You feel like you are at the stadium watching the game by the way the author uses specific details and imagery to describe his setting. I thought Kevin baker did I very good job with that and that’s what made me like the book and that also struck me about the book. What I also like about this book is it had no dull parts. It is filled with baseball which makes this book so good. I recommend this book to people who are baseball fans and love reading about baseball experiences.

[grundoon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Ostensibly a Greatest Player Who Ever Lived tale, it's arguably more a comedic story about the terrible manager during his final season, but either way, the twist is that the guy's a tight-lipped, single-minded enigma. Fans, teammates, sportswriters alike - nobody knows a thing about him beyond his stats. Told through a number of voices, including a "color commentary" narrator, only the reader slowly learns of his background. Well, almost... things unexpectedly take a big turn with many pages remaining, and while this left open any number of potential paths forwards, it unfortunately took an easy and not particularly convincing one towards reveal and closure. It's really quite good despite the disappointing final innings (but do be aware this isn't all-ages, nor all-temperaments for that matter).

[Kerry · Rating 5 out of 5]

another great story. Guess I might be too easy since I either love or hate a book. This was a great baseball narrative, can't alway say the story hung together that well and at times I actually had to write down who was who as the characters were known by as many as three names--much like real baseball players, their own real name, their nick name and what other players referred to them as and a times how they called themselves. It got very confusing but it never lost me. I love baseball so if you are not into the game look elsewhere for a good read. but if you loved The Natural I would say give this book a chance. Once past page 50 you will likely keep going and find the characters and the games a joy to read.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

No matter your level of baseball devotion, this is a charming, well-developed love letter to the sport, full of memorable characters and hilarious anecdotes. I've loved Baker's other novels for their ability to immerse me in another New York, and while this one (despite being about a fictional incarnation of the Mets) wasn't quite so New Yorky, the world was just as absorbing as in his other books.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite baseball novel

[Miriam Supinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good baseball novel.

[Frank Chimkin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Date approximate

[Richard Kravitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this at a bookstore in Cleveland on the way to the airport and finished it on the flight back to
LAX--that good! Really interesting and cool mystery.