Emily Nemens has a strong belief in baseball. In her debut novel, The Cactus League, she paints a picture of various characters from coaches to players, their wives, and front office staff who see baseball as a safe haven, a level playing field, and a uniquely American platform that can offer insights into themselves. Despite baseball losing some cultural significance in recent years, the book presents a hopeful perspective on the sport. While baseball and the country have evolved over the past decades, with changes like declining stadium attendance and shifting TV ratings, baseball in The Cactus League remains a powerful tool to explore American culture and a wide range of human relationships.
The book is structured around characters connected to the fictional pro baseball team, the Los Angeles Lions. Each chapter delves into the life of a different individual, such as Michael Taylor, a hitting coach who seeks guidance from Joe DiMaggio’s moral compass, or Tamara Rowland, a divorced woman who gets involved with new players each spring. Through characters like William Goslin, a promising draft pick facing pressure to meet expectations, and Melissa Moyers, a baseball wife intertwining her well-being with her husband’s career, the novel explores moments of realization and depth within their lives.
The common thread tying these tales together is an unnamed sportswriter who investigates the star player, Jason Goodyear. As the sportswriter uncovers various aspects of Goodyear’s life, the chapters progress the storyline. Despite Goodyear’s outward success, with accolades, lucrative deals, and charm, he remains a mystery even to his teammates. The sportswriter aims to uncover the truth behind the rumors surrounding Goodyear’s personal struggles during the 2011 spring training season in Scottsdale, Arizona.
While the narrative structure involving the sportswriter helps unify the story, at times, it detracts from the overall flow of the novel. The sportswriter’s abstract musings and tangents may feel disconnected from the core stories, making his sections less engaging. Nonetheless, The Cactus League truly shines in its interconnected stories, reminiscent of acclaimed works like Louise Erdrich’s Love Medicine and Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad. Through vivid prose, Nemens brings baseball to life in moments like a pitcher’s throw evoking a sense of release and disappearance.
Despite some narrative challenges, The Cactus League emerges as a compelling debut novel that revives the notion that baseball serves as a window into American life and culture, echoing the sentiments of philosopher Jacques Barzun.
