47 pages • 1 hour read
Mike LupicaThe Big Field
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2008A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Hopes and Pressures of Young Athletes
The book’s title represents the theme of the hopes and pressures of young athletes. The prospect of playing on “the big field” compels the narrative, with Cody telling Hutch, “I just want to get to that big field at Roger Dean so bad” (32). Roger Dean Stadium is in Jupiter, Florida, and it’s where the St. Louis Cardinals and Marlins play spring training games. By playing on “the big field,” Hutch, Cody, and the other Cardinals can realize their dream of occupying the same place as professional baseball players. However, with the expectation of this possible future comes the burden of pressure. The Cardinals feel pressure to win and make it to the finals.
In the story, the pressure on young athletes isn’t toxic. Mike Lupica regularly presents it as a positive challenge and not an adverse element foisted on young athletes by adults. Carl would rather have Hutch not have the pressure of caring so much about baseball. While the media adds to the stress, it doesn’t corrupt the players. Hutch deftly handles the media pressure and gives a succinct interview after his home run against the Yankees. Later, he ignores media coverage of his error in game one and his Jeter-like “flip” play in game two.
In a sense, the pressure comes less from outside sources and more from within the players. In game three, Hutch thinks:
This is why you play. It was everything. The stakes, the setting, playing to keep playing […] In a game like this, you knew what all your sports heroes knew. You had the same nerves, the same concentration, the same… fierceness to find a way to win the game (203).
Hutch wants the pressure of big games and high-leverage situations. By confronting the pressure and excelling, Hutch proves he has the same “fierceness” as his “sports heroes”—Jeter and the other shortstops whose posters adorn the walls in his bedroom. If he wants to maintain hope, achieve his dreams, and become a great baseball player, he must face pressure. As Hutch seeks this out, he turns the stress of expectation into a form of self-empowerment.
By contrast, Carl views the pressure of baseball as potentially traumatic. Like Hutch, Carl cared “too much” about baseball. While he tackled the pressure of becoming a big leaguer, his hopes never materialized. He wasn’t “good enough,” and the undeniable fact “broke” him. Carl doesn’t want Hutch’s hopes and pressures to hurt him, too, but he must let Hutch pursue his dream. Hutch and Carl are father and son, but they’re not the same person. If Hutch doesn’t make it to the Major leagues, he may not get hurt like Carl did—or he might just make it to the Major Leagues and succeed in his father’s place.
The Necessity of Teamwork
To succeed, the Cardinals must work together, but the players have trouble acknowledging the necessity of teamwork. Hutch wants to be a “team guy” and “root for Darryl,” but he doesn’t realize how his idolization of the shortstop position thwarts his goal. In the game against the Dodgers, Hutch goes after the flare when he should have let Darryl catch it. Darryl is the shortstop, not Hutch, so the ball belonged to Darryl, and Darryl called for the ball, but Hutch, subverting his “team guy” persona, wanted to be the hero and catch the final out (93). The collision emphasizes the lack of team unity between the Cardinals’ two stars. Lupica reinforces the lack of cohesion when Darryl purposefully holds onto the ball, allowing the runner to topple Hutch. Their conflict continues to manifest in games and during practice when Hutch attacks Darryl after Darryl suggests Hutch’s dad favors him instead. Darryl and Hutch don’t get along, and the lack of teamwork between them hinders their ability to succeed.
The switch to teamwork occurs when Hutch apologizes to Darryl for attacking him even though Darryl provoked him. Hutch puts his “team guy” character into practice by attending the Pirates game and serving as the bench coach. Though he can’t pay, he helps the team. He repositions Cody at second, gets Cody to take a walk, and notifies Darryl about the pitch sequence of the Astros pitcher, putting Darryl in the position to hit a home run. The game dynamics illustrate the necessity of teamwork. Though Darryl hit the game-winning home run, he didn’t win the game by himself. He needed Cody to be on base, Hutch’s tip about the changeup, the pitchers to keep the game close, and the fielders to make plays. In other words, he needed his team.
The necessity of teamwork means that no one player can win or lose a game. Whatever happens, each active player bears a responsibility for the outcome. After Hutch’s error in game one, the narrator declares, “He had never lost a game all by himself like this” (184). Hutch distorts the reasons for the loss, but Cullen clarifies what occurred. Using Bill Buckner’s World Series error as an example, Cullen explains, “[M]any other things had to go wrong for the Red Sox before Mookie Wilson dribbed that ball down the line” (187). The Cardinals are a team, and a game consists of “many” plays, so all the players on a team and all the plays in the game decide the outcome.
Son Versus Father
The theme of son versus father is common in Western culture, with the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud arguing that all sons sense a rivalry with their dad. Freud called his theory “the Oedipus complex.” Though Hutch doesn’t get along with his dad, he doesn’t have an overt Oedipus complex. Lupica subverts Freud’s popular trope by making the son want to have a close relationship with the father. Hutch doesn’t want the dynamic to be “son versus father” but “father and son,” yet Carl won’t give Hutch the bond he craves.
Hutch wants to connect with Carl over baseball like they did when he was little. Indelibly scarred by his inability to make it to the Major Leagues, Carl has a traumatic relationship with the sport, telling Hutch, “It broke me when I found out I wasn’t good enough” (122). Carl doesn’t want baseball to crush Hutch. If he can’t stop Hutch from caring about baseball, Carl can limit the potential pain he might feel for his son by cultivating a detached attitude toward Hutch’s passion. About Carl’s choice to stay detached, Hutch snaps:
How about giving me a vote on that? How about asking me what I thought? All the times I wanted to play ball with you so much and I couldn’t, and it was like somebody punched me right in the gut (123).
Carl, however inadvertently, escalates the conflict by not giving Hutch a say in the matter. Carl’s attempt to protect Hutch makes his son feel neglected and abused. At the same time, Hutch perpetuates the conflict by not accepting his dad. Carl is not a bad parent, and he still attends Hutch’s games. Hutch must learn to appreciate that his father is in his life. As Darryl bluntly tells him, “You oughta stop actin’ like such a baby on account of what you don’t got. And be a lot happier, and more grateful, for what you do” (222). Hutch follows Darryl’s advice and bonds with his father by secretly watching him in the batting cage and remembering his brief words like “hey.” Carl drops his guard and bonds with Hutch when he signals for him to bunt. The concluding hug represents a mutual embrace. Hutch accepts his dad, and his dad accepts him. By the end, they are son and father, not son versus father.
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