Review of "Schoolboy Johnson," by John R. Tunis

 Review of

Schoolboy Johnson, by John R. Tunis, ISBN 068810150x

Four out of five stars

Young hotshot learns reality

The setting is the Brooklyn Dodgers team created by Tunis where Spike Russell is the manager. The years have passed where Jocko Conlon is gone, and Roy Tucker is an aging ballplayer trying to rejoin the Dodgers. Speedy Mason is a pitcher that is also trying to make it back to the big leagues and he is put in charge of the young hotshot pitcher named Schoolboy Johnson. 

 Johnson is very talented, but he has an unsettled nature, blaming everyone but himself when things don’t go well. In his mind, his fielders should snag every ball that is hit, and he makes no bad pitches. Once his temper arises, he is almost useless on the mound. Meanwhile, Speedy is given Johnson as a roommate with the hope that Speedy will be able to tame the wild streak in Johnson. 

 At first it does not go well but using a plot device that is rarely used in sports fiction, Tunis manages to find a way to tame the wild Johnson. That device is the introduction of a female character that sees through Johnson’s antics and speaks to him in ways that makes Johnson rethink his negative attitude towards others. To make the plot more interesting, the woman has a close link with the Dodgers. 

 While there is the backdrop of baseball, this story is just as much about the young and rising star discovering the reality of the concept of a team and playing within their abilities. It is a sound lesson that encapsulates the up-and-coming with sound veterans that work to hold the club together through the challenges of a pennant race.