The Baseball Field (Introduction)

In the Introduction, a baseball field is the setting for the scene that sets the stage for the action of the novel to come. At first glance, the action here (the meeting between Chick and the narrator introducing his story) is an encounter between strangers, and in a way, it is: at the conclusion of the novel, it's revealed that the narrator is Chick's daughter Maria, from whom he has been estranged for years. It's important to note that baseball fields are important settings throughout the novel. First, for other encounters between estranged parents and children, in particular between Chick and his father. Second, baseball fields are also the setting for encounters between Chick and the truth about himself. Such fields are the places where he both achieves his dreams and fails in maintaining them, and also when he discovers the truth about his...