The Cactus League

A Novel

By: Emily Nemens

Narrated by: Vivienne Leheny, Malcolm Hillgartner, Will Ropp, James Patrick Cronin, Julie McKay, Stephen Dexter, Stephen Graybill, Nicol Zanzarella, Thom Rivera

One of The Wall Street Journal's 10 New Books You Should Be Picking Up First In 2020 and one of The Millions' Most Anticipated Books of 2020

An explosive, character-driven odyssey through the world of baseball from Emily Nemens, the editor of The Paris Review

Jason Goodyear is the star outfielder for the Los Angeles Lions, stationed with the rest of his team in the punishingly hot Arizona desert for their annual spring training. Handsome, famous, and talented, Goodyear is nonetheless coming apart at the seams. And the coaches, writers, wives, girlfriends, petty criminals, and diehard fans following his every move are eager to find out why—as they hide secrets of their own.

Humming with the energy of a ballpark before the first pitch, Emily Nemens' The Cactus League unravels the tightly connected web of people behind a seemingly linear game. Narrated by a sportscaster, Goodyear’s story is interspersed with tales of Michael Taylor, a batting coach trying to stay relevant; Tamara Rowland, a resourceful spring-training paramour, looking for one last catch; Herb Allison, a legendary sports agent grappling with his decline; and a plethora of other richly drawn characters, all striving to be seen as the season approaches. It’s a journey that, like the Arizona desert, brims with both possibility and destruction.

Anchored by an expert knowledge of baseball’s inner workings, Emily Nemens's The Cactus League is a propulsive and deeply human debut that captures a strange desert world that is both exciting and unforgiving, where the most crucial games are the ones played off the field.

© 2020 by Emily Nemens. ℗ 2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

Critic reviews

"[A] quirky first novel…[The Cactus League] showcases a fascinating gallimaufry of characters who swirl around the edges of the springtime ritual.… Nemens finds a kind of attenuated hope along with melancholy in these sharply etched character studies that “end not with ‘out three’ but ‘out maybe.’'"
—Booklist (starred review)

"[An] insightful debut…each character is brought to life in convincing detail…this debut entertainingly illuminates people and problems usually overlooked in the sports pages."
—Publishers Weekly

"Narrated by a full cast, this audiobook follows a group of troubled souls who gather in Arizona for spring training with the Los Angeles Lions baseball team…. [T]he individual narrators' performances are strong. Each of them offers a fully realized character that has relatable flaws and ambitions on and off the field."
—AudioFile Magazine

A great spring read

This is an interesting story told by many voices. I am waiting for the rest of the tale.

Thoroughly captivating!

I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of the Cactus League. Whether or not you’re a baseball fan, you’ll love this book. It’s not told from the perspective of an insider, but rather the perspective of multiple insiders. The agents, the owners, the coaches, the players, the groupies, the wives, etc, they all get their moment in the spotlight to talk about their lives lived alongside a favorite baseball team. A must read/listen!

Multi stories of life during spring training

I wish the author had connected the multiple vignettes and given those stories more of a conclusion. I became invested in these characters, and most their stories were left incomplete. Very frustrating, and the reason I rated it (3) stars instead of (4).
The multiple narrators were good.

Spell Binding Characters Tell a Story

... but I was disappointed that the ending came up so fast. Surprised that an author with such charm in personality studies didn’t want to give us more.
Still, worth the four star rating for the time before the book dropped off a cliff.

The Silent Season of a Hero

Just finished listening and I’m reminded of why I love sports and stories about sports. A good game reminds you that it’s not about the final score, but how the game was played.

I’m left reminded of Gay Talese’s essay on Joe DiMaggio and WWJDD: what would Joe DiMaggio do? Grateful.