The Art of Fielding

The Art of Fielding (2011), a contemporary sports novel by Chad Harbach, explores what happens when one shortstop’s disastrous throw changes the lives of four people. Harbach’s debut novel, The Art of Fielding received nominations for awards including the 2012 Guardian First Book Award and the 2012 Andrew Carnegie Medal. Critics praise the book for its coming of age themes. Harbach, a novelist and editor, writes about everything from sports to environmentalism. He graduated from Harvard University and received an MFA from the University of Virginia.

The Art of Fielding takes place at the fictional college, Westish College, in Wisconsin. Although there are five significant characters, the protagonist is Henry Skrimshander, a quiet but talented athlete from South Dakota attending Westish College in the fall. A fellow student, Mike, sees Henry playing baseball one day and knows he’s perfect for the school team, the Harpooners. He vows to recruit Henry once school starts.

When Henry arrives on campus, he finds the whole college experience overwhelming. Struggling with shyness, he wonders how to make friends. However, he soon makes friends with his roommate, Owen. Owen is a fellow freshman who doesn’t know much about baseball, but he’s a genius with a promising academic future.



Although Owen is new to baseball, he somehow makes the team after Henry encourages him to attend tryouts. Owen is an average player, but Henry excels. He trains with Mike and impresses everyone on the team. By the time Henry reaches his junior year, he is a school icon, although he finds the pressure hard to handle.

Owen, meanwhile, has his own problems. The college President, Guert, loves him. Owen doesn’t know what to do about it. He doesn’t talk about his problems to Henry, because he knows that Henry won’t understand. He simply tries to avoid Guert and find a boyfriend of his own.

One day, Henry makes a poor throw and the ball hits Owen. Owen suffers a minor concussion and Henry feels awful. He decides that he won’t play baseball anymore. Mike assumes that it is a phase and he’ll get over his anxiety, but Henry only gets worse. His anxiety takes over his daily life, and he struggles with his college work.



In the meantime, Owen feels helpless. He can’t find a boyfriend, and he feels bad for Henry. He decides to pursue Guert, and they sleep together. Owen knows that it’s wrong, but he can’t help himself. Meanwhile, Mike sleeps with Guert’s daughter, Pella. He applied to law school and he is upset that he was rejected. Pella recently left her husband, and she’s looking for a distraction.

Everything gets worse when Mike dumps Pella and she sleeps with Henry as payback. Owen and Guert feel caught in the middle of everything. Mike tells Henry that he never wants to speak to him again. He wonders if recruiting Henry for the Harpooners was the biggest mistake of his life because Henry is succeeding and he’s failing.

Guert reaches a new low point when the college administration discovers his affair with Owen. Owen is heartbroken because he loves Guert. The whole town finds out and everyone is horrified. Guert feels that his life is over, and he thinks that Pella will never forgive him. Guert sinks into a terrible depression, becoming suicidal.



The Harpooners win their next run of games, and Henry re-joins the team. Guert tells Henry that he’s proud of him for overcoming his anxieties. When Henry leaves for a championship game in South Carolina, Guert kills himself. He doesn’t want anyone to feel responsible for his death, but he simply can’t imagine starting over anywhere else.

In South Carolina, the Harpooners take the field for their all-important game. No one knows about Guert’s death yet. Before the game begins, the tragic news arrives. Henry is stunned, but he is ready to play the game and win it in Guert’s honor. Owen, on the other hand, can’t cope with his emotions. He feels somehow responsible for Guert’s death because he encouraged his affections. Owen leaves the field before Henry can stop him.

Henry has no choice but to take Owen’s position. He makes a pact with Owen that surprises the whole team. When someone makes a throw, Henry lets the ball hit his head before he runs home. He does this to cheer Owen up. Once the team wins the game, Henry admits that he is concussed and feeling sick. He is rushed to hospital before he passes out.



By summer, everyone’s lives change. Pella gets back together with Mike. Owen accepts an academic scholarship in Tokyo. Henry rejects an offer from a professional baseball scout because he wants to finish his degree at college first. Pella scatters Guert’s ashes in the lake beside Westish College because it is where he was always happiest.