Farm Team

Billy Baggs #2

by Will Weaver

Farm Team VS. Town Team Milking, haying, and planting leave Billy Baggs very little time for the thing he loves most--baseball. So when his mother suggests building a baseball field in their cow pasture and inviting the neighbors to play, Billy is willing to give it a try. After all, a farm team has to be better than no team...or does it? With Gina Erickson in right field, Big Danny Boyer is left, and Skinner, the aging Labrador retriever, in center, the team's lineup is a joke. But who'll get the last laugh when they play the big game--Billy, or his arch rival, King Kenwood?

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Baseball, Fiction, Realistic Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

I grew up in the Midwest, and had no idea I'd become a writer one day. However I gradually felt a need to tell my own stories. To explain, in writing, how I saw the world.

Today I'm a full time writer with 13 novels, many short stories, and two movie adaptations. I enjoy visiting schools and libraries, and sharing what I've learned about writing.

My newest novel POWER & LIGHT (Sept 2023) is now out. The first of a two book adult saga, it follows the arc of a Norwegian emigrant family to the Midwest–their hardships and ultimate triumph.

Reviews

[Harley Bowen]

This book was an all around decent book. I enjoyed the fact that it was about baseball which is something I love. The only downside was that some parts were dragged out too long and the ending was too quick with little detail.

[Aydn · Rating 4 out of 5]

hi

[Jake Cousins · Rating 3 out of 5]

My overall star rating for this book is 3 out of 5. The reason I rated this book in the middle is due to the slowness, how cliché this book is, and the easy reading level. Another reason why I did not like this book was because it resembled the movie The Field of Dreams. I will expand on this later in the paper, but I would recommend a different book if you could find one. Have you ever had an intense battle with a team across town and won?! Well, if you haven’t then you shouldn’t read this book because this book doesn’t make you feel any emotion at all. Overall, I wouldn’t read this book unless I was forced too.
The Farm Team, by Will Weaver, is an extremely slow book that makes you want to set the book down after a few minutes. One of the reasons this book is slow is because of how cliché it is. Who has never read a sports book where one of the best kids in the town has to move away and lives a tough life on the farm? Due to this tough life this kid has to start his own team and then this farm team decides to play the rich city kids to decide who the better team is. This book is like a combination of The Sandlot and The Field of Dreams. Billy Baggs builds his own field out of his corn field and then other farm kids come to his field. It is like the whole “if you build it they will come” theme from the Field of Dreams. Then the farm kids face the town kids, just like the Sandlot. And to everyone’s surprise the poor farm team wins!! Isn’t that just amazing… no it’s not, I could’ve predicted this before the book even started. I don’t know about you but I hate books that are like every other book in the world. I prefer books that have realistic endings, and honestly a farm team will never beat a city team and live happier ever after. I want a book to relate to me personally, and this book doesn’t emit any emotion from me or in me.
Another reason why I didn’t like this book very much was due to the simplicity of it. I felt like a complete idiot during the reading. This book resembles probably a 7th grade novel and I am a sophomore in high school. Another thing I don’t like about Farm Team was that at the end of the book everything that was covered during the book was wrapped up and summarized. I didn’t like this because I like books that get me wanting more. Gladly, the difficulty level was not what needed the most work in this book.
In conclusion, I rated this book a 3 out of 5 because I thought it was extremely cliché, slow, and have a very easy reading level. I wish that I could write a letter to the author because I have many suggestions for his book. I hope that this book review was helpful in your decision to choose a book. Just keep this is mind, I am one person and I have one opinion, read the book for yourself and rate it, I would love to get feedback.

[Bill Nixon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Farm Team" introduced a farm kid named Billy Baggs and his desire to play baseball. He has to delay his pursuit of his dreams to play baseball, but that does not stop him from achieving his dreams, because his father is arrested. Since nobody else is there to work the farm, Billy must work harder than he ever has this summer. He has a rough time in his day-to-day life because years ago he lost his brother in a farming accident. Robert showed Billy the ropes and help shape him into the person he is now.

While Billy goes through the grueling summer work with his dog Skinner's and his mother's company, she suggests making a baseball field in their pasture. So between Billy's visits to the county jail and the feed mill, he spends his spare time carving out a baseball diamond on his land. Once the field is ready Billy's mother rounds up all the farm people every Friday night to enjoy America's pastime. The coach of the town team was amongst those who would congregate at the Baggs' farm. All was well until the farm team called out the coach to a game against his town team. Billy's sights started to drift from the game to the girl of his dreams when he sees her at the beach one day while he was cruising through town. At the game in crunch time Billy realized she had moved her support to the farm team, which flustered Billy, all until Skinner made the play of the game.

[Bryce Schollaert]

This really was a great book. Its about a controversial (to say the least) farm family from I'm guessing takes place in the 60's or 70's. The main character (Billy Baggs) is a 14 year old boy still in school with a love for two things, farming and baseball. Billy sure loved to play baseball, even if he did have to be around the city kids that made fun of his warn a tattered clothing even if he was just as good if not better than him. After Billy's father went to jail Billy had the responsibility of taking care of the farm all summer. He had to milk the cows, plant crops, get feed for the cows, and any other job that needed done on the farm it was his job to get done. It was a full time 24/7 job for up to 2 years if his father had to stay in jail. Although he only had one summer off from school. Since Billy was on the farm all the time he had no chance to pursue his other passion of baseball. After a couple of weeks Billy and his Mother were tossing his special baseball back and forth they came up with a great idea. They decided to make their own baseball field which turned out to be pretty successful and all the farm kids loved being able to play for fun. I enjoyed this book a lot.

[Chase · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was really good. It started off with a boy named Billy Baggs he was a very hard worker. He lives on a farm and works all day with his father and is determined. Billy enjoys playing baseball and he is really good but all of the city kids make fun of him. Billy's mother was ripped off by a man who sells cars and he scams a lot of people. Billy's father Abner was very mad and so he rolled up in his big excavator and flattened a whole lot of cars and the mans office. When the man came out he lit a cigar and accidentally dropped it and the gas lit and everything blew up. Abner had to go to jail but Billy's baseball coach payed the bail. The next day billy arrived at practice and started jacking homers and striking people out everyone was amazed even the coach was and the city kids just made fun of him. Billy was poor and the city kids were rich so that was one of the reasons they didn't like each other. At the end of the book Billy and King when played against each other in a game. King was Billy's rival and King also made fun of Billy a lot and Billy smoked a whole bunch of pitches by King. I hope you enjoy this book I left out some parts so you can read it yourself.

[Keishi · Rating 4 out of 5]

As you can see from the cover page, this book is about baseball. Billy Baggs, a normal teenager, loves baseball. He creates a baseball field in his farm, after his father, the owner of the farm, was arrested. Billy and his mother invite their neighbors on Fridays and play a game. After a while, they realize that they are good enough to play against a baseball team from the city. In the game, he plays against King Kenwood, the pitcher and the rival of Billy. At the end the farm team has a victory.
After I finished reading the book I realized that this story was almost similar to a movie titled Field of Dreams. The protagonists for both books make a baseball field in their farm. And the main characters' favorite sports is baseball. First, I thought the movie was based on the book. However, after a while I realized on some difference between the book and the movie so I know that they are not the same. I will recomend this book to baseball lovers.

[William Lui · Rating 4 out of 5]

THis book is about a family who lives in a farm but is also interested in doing new things. Bill lives on a faarm and works harder than anyone his age. He does everything on the farm and doesnt have time for something he enjoys which is baseball.His dad is in jail because he destroyed poperty of some man's business. He came though all his cars and his office. That person sold a boot-legged car to bill's mom and they can't get thier money back. THen he ends up in jail and now billy has more work to do on the farm. THen thoughtout the summer they, start a baseball team that plays them self on friday nights. They inivited anyone that is interested. Still they magne to get all the work on the farm done. As the team practices evry friday night, they get better at it.My favorite part is when Billy's dad crashs all the cars because i didn't think he would actually do that. It caused a big sence in the book and i never saw someone do that in real life.

[Brock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi, My name is brock and I just finished the book Farm Team. This book has 283 pages. This book is written by Will Weaver. This book is also Realistic Fiction.



Summary: Billy’s dad picks Billy up from school and has th trailer with the bulldozer on it. When they pull up to Randy Meyers A-1 car lot Billy expects trouble and when Abner has him help him unload the bulldozer. When they start the bulldozer Abner backs it off and aims at the line of used cars. When Abner starts to run over the line of cars Randy Meyers calls the sherrif. When the sherrif comes Randy tells him to stop the bulldozer and the sherrif asks how a man is going to stop a d-6 Bulldozer. This caries on through the whole book. When Billy is with his mother they play catch and his mother suggests started a “Farm Baseball Team.” Billy thinks she is crazy but she is serious. When They start it they spend a lot of time building the feild.

I would suggest this book to anyone that doesn’t really like to read.

[Jesu · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a bit cliche as to other sports books. It relates to the typical problems a teenage athlete goes through, which is the stuggle between the team and his family. Billy Baggs is the main character of this book. Even though he had a father that treated him less than family, that is not an excuse for having such an attitude. I feel that since Billy Baggs had more responsibilities than the other teenagers such as running a farm, that doesn't mean he has to be this teenage that presents himself as a rebel. In the beginning of the book, the blowing up the parking lot was a bit overboard, if problems had to occur naturally, the author should have used an alternative. I recommend this book to those who are interested in baseball, but if you have a better book at hand, choose that one instead.

[Natehuts20 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book because it was very interesting. I really Enjoyed reading it because it kept me intrigued as the book went on . I enjoyed the action and adventure packed book. Billy was one great character. The book was non stop fun and wanted to make you keep reading it. I liked how Weaver characterized billy. Billy was smart fun cool and a grade A savage. He was not afraid to speak his mind. I love how when Billy had to step up and run the farm he didn't let other people try and help him he did everything on his own. I also think it is really cool how although billy had a farm to run he still found time to play baseball which is something he loved to do. I thought it was cool that he found a job for everyone on the field and of it. Billy also had some fantastic ideas. This book is in my top20 favorite books i've read. It was also one of the funniest aswell.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Farm Team is a book about a boy who has two loves in life- his family's farm and baseball. The problem is, with his father being in prison for a crime that he felt was necessary to commit, He doesn't have time to play on his school's baseball team. So after lots of thought and asking his fellow farm friends- he creates his own team to show the city kids that you don't need a lot to be good at what you love.
I found this book to be a beautiful insight on farm life and it is a really great way of showing that money isn't everything. The Farm Team really changes the way that you look at people and what they are capable of doing.
I would reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in sports, farming, personal ability or just a quick fun read.

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

No the best book to read if you're in 11th grade but still a genuine story about a "bad-ass" who wants to find an outlet. Billy Baggs and his mother show parallel to the movie "Field of Dreams" with the "If you build it, they will come" theory. Billy and his mother build a baseball field on the families farm property and round up a team and a coach. Surprisingly, Billy is the best player on the team, and has amazing potential. His rival King Kenwood is concocting a team of his own on the other side of town, and the book sets up a final showdown and what not, kinda cliche. I recommend this book to baseball fans who are into sports books.

[Tony]

Oh man,i read this book a long time ago, but i still remember it like it was yesterday. This book is about how a farm team plays base ball. At first they really aren't good. That couldn't play at all! No one can play, but Billy. They had to go up against city team. City vs. farm, it would always be a little awkward, but they go from the worst to the best team! See how this normal farm team goes big!
I really liked this book. it was a nice read. Ups and down, conflicts with each other and outsiders. I could even see this happening in real life! Why not pick up a copy at your local library now!

[Houston Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

12-7-11
i just started reading this book, started off good i like all of Will Weaver's books the two that i have read are very good. it seems like Billy is going to have a hard time in this book, because the baseball coach wants him to be the pitcher yet Billy has to keep up the family farm while his dad sits in jail.
12-14-11
I am now over half way done with this book now. Billy and his mom start to play base ball together while Abner is in jail. And they get the idea to make a baseball feild in the pasture, and they do end up making a pretty good feild and they put flyers out to invite people every friday night after chores are done. so far many people have showed up to play.

[Josh Vaubel · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main Charicters are Billy, Raul, Jes'us, and Shawn and they had other players but was not liike that wright away.
At first they could not get a team (it took them along time to get a team).They could not get a team but hey never gave up. Also the setting took place on the farm.


I would recomended to all Baseball players and Baseball fans. In my opinoin I would give it between a 1-10 a 10

[Jonathan S · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a young man whose father gets in trouble with the law. Unfortunately for him that means he cant play baseball and must run the farm all by himself. His mom one day had the great idea to turn one of the fields into a baseball diamond. They recruited people of all ages from many farms around to join the team and play against the school baseball team.

[Jeff M · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a farm boy named Billy and his love for the game of baseball and how he wants tot keep it in his life. I found this book very fun and entertaining. I also enjoyed the story very much but it also might just be my similar love to billy for the game of baseball.

[Joant · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice baseball story, and a great underdog story. But I really liked the characters drawn in this book.

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about Family, Farming, Baseball and Life in Minnesota.
Will has done a great job reminding me of what life was like in the 70's growing up on a farm in Minnesota.
WOw.
Great work.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank Heavens my farm life is easier than theirs. I liked the beginning where the father runs all over the crooked used-car-guy's cars and lot buildings with a front-end loader. Sounds like fun.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

pretty good book like it

[Greg Gladfelter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've only read a few chapters, but it's good so far. It's about a team of "rag tag" kids who face a trained town baseball team.

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Started out as a pretty good book, but ended up being a wonderfully funny one.

[Chase Covert · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending was too abrupt. I feel like the author could've made the book more exciting if the ending was longer.

[Holly Ristau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm entering the books I read in 1996 and the comments I made in a book diary at that time: 2nd book after Striking Out. Can't wait for # 3 in the series.

[Mya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really good book