Blockade Billy by Stephen King

I have been a “constant reader” of Stephen King’s fiction since the original publication of Salem’s Lot in paperback. This was in 1976. I’m now several months shy of being sixty, and I still get excited whenever a new Stephen King book comes out. Though I’m still an avid read of fiction in several different genres, there are few authors I’ve stuck with over the long haul. Though I haven’t loved every single novel he’s written, I feel he’s scored somewhere in the 98% range with me. Some readers might argue with me, I think Stephen King is perhaps the greatest story teller of the Twentieth Century and that no one will ever be able to surpass his accomplishments as a writer.

Now, what about Blockade Billy?

First of all, it isn’t a novel, but rather 113-page novella. It’s actually a small, thin book with a dynamite cover on it by Glen Orbik and interior artwork by Alex McVey. I first heard about it at the beginning of April. At that time no other editions or printings were planned for the book. That quickly changed once word of mouth began to spread. In just a week, a second printing of 10,000 copies was necessary to meet the ever-growing demand from fans and libraries. Then, the demand for the novella became so overwhelming that Mr. King finally decided to let his main publisher, Scribner, go ahead with a printing of 500,000 copies of the book, which is due out on May 25th at a much lesser price, plus an added short story in it. In many ways, this was publishing history in the making.

The story of Blockade Billy is told as a narrative by ex-coach George “Granny” Grantham to Stephen King and deals with the New Jersey Titan’s last season as a baseball team in 1957. Though erased from the annals of baseball history, the Titan’s final season was spectacular in nature and gave the avid baseballs fans a true reason to see the game in person and to cheers their hearts out for one player in particular—William “Blockade Billy” Blakely.

The Titan’s two catchers are out for the season due to a DUI-caused death and physical injuries resulting from a collision with a huge running player trying to make it in to home plate. The team’s manager sends out word to their mid-west scouts to find them a temporary catcher until someone more permanent can be located. On the first day of the season William Blakely shows up in his pickup truck with Iowa license tags. And, though a bit slow to big-city life, coach Granny Grantham immediately senses a strong confidence in the young rookie, which is proven that very night during the first game. Billy Blakely plays baseball like a big-league catcher. He’s not afraid of the ball or the large players on the other team, sliding into home plate with their shoe spikes held high to hurt anyone standing in their way. Even better, he can hit the ball right out of the park! Billy is exactly the kind of magic needed by the team to pull itself together and to win some serious ball games.

Everything starts to click once Billy enters the arena, especially when he becomes friends with the Titan’s somewhat selfish and arrogant pitcher, Danny Dusen. It isn’t long before the fans fall in love with Billy and begin to chant slogans and to hold up signs, proclaiming his ability to stop any of the opposing players from stealing home plate. It also isn’t long before he’s nicknamed Blockade Billy by the cheering crowds. Something, however, isn’t quite right. Coach Grantham knows it and so do some of the players, but they can’t put their finger on the darn thing. Billy just seems a little off. He constantly talks to himself in the third person and parrots what is said to him by the other players. Still, Blockade Billy is one-hell-of-a-fabulous ball player, and no one on the team wants to upset the apple cart. That is until the day everything comes to a screeching halt and the truth of who Blockade Billy really is becomes known.

I haven’t had an interest in baseball since I was ten or eleven and Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris were trying to break Babe Ruth’s home-run record. Still, Stephen King’s special form of magic drew me right into the story on the first page. Within twenty pages, I was starting to get goose bumps. Few writers can do this today and Stephen King, after forty years, still has that unbelievable sense of creativity. He doesn’t just use words to build a story; he also brings them to life so the reader can visualize the narrative in their mind. Though I didn’t understand a lot of the baseball terms being used in Blockade Billy, that little fact certainly didn’t stop me from being caught up in this whirlwind of a tale. In many ways I was there in the stadiums watching the games and rooting my head off for Billy to stop the next player from stealing home. This story is definitely filled with pure, unadulterated magic. That’s the only way to put it. Magic! I wish I could say the ending is as uplifting as Rita Hayward and the Shawshank Redemption, but it isn’t. There’s a darkness that comes out as the story comes to a close, and this darkness is like a black hole in the universe. It sucks the breath right out of you, leaving you numb and shocked. Of course, that’s what the Maestro is famous for doing, so may the reader be warned.

Last, Blockade Billy is a relatively short story that can be read in an hour. That doesn’t take away from its impact, but rather enhances it. The narrative completes itself as you pray for it to continue and for Billy to save the day. This is powerful stuff, and nobody does it better than Stephen King.