Field Work: On Baseball and Making A Living by Andrew Forbes

Reviewed by Shawna Butler

With the Major League Baseball Season in full swing, Andrew Forbes hits a home run with his new book Field Work: On Baseball And Making A Living. A collection of essays about the relationship between baseball and work. Forbes writes that Baseball is a sport, a pastime, an obsession, a dream ― and for some, it's also a day job.

This book looks at baseball from a different perspective other than your typical stories about pro players. Forbes writes about how the early players in the MLB record of employment were the first statistic cards. Or on how a coach would arrive a few hours early to roll out the line chalker to get the field ready for that evening game. A sportswriter living in Chicago during the 1950s reporting on the Cubs and on how day and night games remained the norm till 1985 and why this changed and was it for the better?

One of the standout chapters was called Shucks and the Babe, the pitching battle between Hubert Shelby “Shucks” Pruett and legendary hitter Babe Ruth, no spoilers here! Forbes also addresses his favourite baseball movie and a few others. Again, no spoilers here but I’ll leave you with what Forbes says about his favourite baseball movie, and on how it’s just not only “about winning the big game or eulogizing a lost hero. It’s about the process of discovering the difference between a vocation and an avocation, between a career and a calling.” Wow, these are powerful words and gave me chills as a baseball fan.

Want to know more baseball stories, check out Canada’s own Andrew Forbes new baseball book: Field Work. You won’t be batting zero on this one.

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About the Author

Andrew Forbes is the author of two previous collections of baseball writing - The Utility of Boredom (2016) and The Only Way Is the Steady Way (2021) - as well as two collections of short fiction, the novella McCurdle's Arm, and a novel, The Diapause. He is an active member of the Society for American Baseball Research, having participated in several investigative projects. He has written for publications including the Toronto Star, Canadian Notes and Queries, and Maisonneuve Magazine, and his work has been nominated for the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Trillium Book Award. Originally from Ottawa, Forbes has lived in Atlantic Canada and rural Eastern Ontario, and now resides in Peterborough, Ontario. For more information, visit andrewgforbes.com.

About the Reviewer

Shawna Butler is a mother, a retired athlete and a fitness professional. She currently works in the Skincare industry with Drunk Elephant. She enjoys watching baseball and reading anything about sports, fashion, poetry, and biographies in her spare time. Furthermore, she likes to travel anywhere warm and sunny. Shawna has a BBA from Mount Saint Vincent University and lives in Paradise, Newfoundland.

Book Details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Assembly Press (April 15 2025)

• Language ‏ : ‎ English

• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 222 pages

• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1998336158

• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1998336159