Japanese Baseball and Other Stories

Bob Forsey is the education officer at the Newfoundland Museum in St.
John’s.

The 11 stories in this collection examine the world of professional
baseball and in particular how players, owners, and umpires cope with
both the game’s and life’s challenges. In “The Kowloon Café,”
supernatural forces are unleashed when a purchaser breaks his agreement
to build a stadium according to Feng Shui principles. In “The Mansions
of Federico Juarez,” a superstar outfielder learns what is truly
valuable in life when his daughter nearly dies in a tragic accident.
“Japanese Baseball,” which concerns an American baseball player in
Japan and his marriage to the daughter of the team owner, shows what
people will do in the name of honor in different cultures. One of the
collection’s most humorous offerings is “The Indestructible Hadrian
Wilks,” which centres on the power of a “dybbuk” and the means by
which a “designated sufferer” can help a major leaguer break Cal
Ripken’s consecutive game record.