The Art of Fielding

Guert visits Owen in the hospital and notices how beautiful he is. Owen asks him to go to his dorm room and collect his glasses.

Henry offers to loan Schwartz some money from his signing bonus. At practice, Coach Cox tells Henry that Aparicio will be in attendance at the next game in anticipation of Henry’s breaking his record.

Schwartz is anxious about his most recent rejection. He hasn’t been honest with Henry: He hasn’t told him about all the other rejections. They usually get pizza at Carapelli’s on Fridays, but today, Schwartz makes the excuse that he needs to work on his thesis. Henry wonders why Schwartz is acting weird.

Guert feels odd as he sneaks into Owen’s dorm. He examines Owen’s possessions, feeling extremely self-conscious when he finds that his desktop shows a gorgeous naked man. He tries to define his feelings for Owen, unsure of the extent to which his attraction is sexual.

Henry heads to the cafeteria, where he runs into Chef Spirodocus. When he returns to his room, he’s surprised to find Guert there, thinking it odd that he’s going through Owen’s possessions.

Henry calls Owen to tell him about Miranda. He receives a call from Dwight, a scout, who wants Henry to play for the Cardinals, his dream team.

Schwartz drinks while contemplating his law school rejections. He calls Guert, asks to speak to Pella, and invites her to dinner. At Carapelli’s, Pella starts to feel anxious. They discuss Schwartz’s mentorship of Henry and Pella’s relationship with David. Schwartz struggles to pay, and Pella realizes that she doesn’t have any money. They then head to Schwartz’s house. He takes her to his room, and she immediately falls asleep.

The Harpooners go to Illinois to play a double header. Schwartz tries not to think about his rejections and mounting debt. He knows that he doesn’t possess the same kind of talent as Henry and always found traction by being a good coach and mentor. Henry gives Schwartz the celebratory alcohol that he was saving for Schwartz’s law school acceptance. Schwartz finally tells him that he was rejected by every school he applied to.

Pella sleeps until 1:30 pm in Schwartz’s room. His kitchen is a mess, so she decides to wash all the dishes and finds it calming.

The Harpooners feel some trepidation as they check out the competition. Opentoe College always beats them. Schwartz’s knees are in considerable pain, so he raids his pockets for pills. He gives an inspiring pep talk.

Starblind pitches amazingly. Schwartz wishes that he were less dominant so that the scouts could focus on Henry’s defense. Henry fields a grounder, but the throw is wide, and the runner is called safe. Schwartz is so angry that he picks a fight with the umpire. Henry’s errorless streak has ended.

Guert brings a volume of Walt Whitman’s work to the hospital. He’s surprised to find Owen’s mother, Genevieve, in his room. He’s struck by her beauty and how much Owen resembles her. She invites him and Pella to dinner. Guert craves a cigarette. The three of them discuss Whitman as a gateway to gay poetry, and Guert is overwhelmed by the oddness of the situation.

Henry makes another error and feels discombobulated. A scout who’s in attendance tries to calm him down. He mentally reviews the errors he made, realizing that they’ve all been on routine, hard-hit balls that he never had issues with until now.

Pella admires her new purple dress. She wonders why her father is spending so much time on his appearance and assumes that he’s trying to impress Genevieve. Then, Owen and Genevieve arrive for drinks at Guert’s house. Genevieve announces that Owen has won the Trowell Fellowship and will spend the next year studying in Tokyo. They decide not to go to dinner because of Owen’s concussion. Pella heads to the dining hall to see if they have food available for dinner.

The cafeteria is closed, but Pella finds the chef. She explains that her father is now hosting an unexpected dinner party and needs appetizers or dishes. Chef Spirodocus is offended at the thought of appetizers “lying around” and quickly prepares some food that Pella finds impressive (180). She asks him if she can work as a dishwasher.

Guert finds himself jealous of Owen’s mother. He thinks that Owen is flirting with him and isn’t sure what to do. Genevieve is also flirting with him. David starts calling repeatedly, and Guert ignores his calls.

Pella returns with the food. She and Genevieve head to the kitchen, where Genevieve interrogates her about Guert and his romantic life. Pella tells Genevieve that he needs a girlfriend. They return to the living room and discuss Genevieve’s career. She’s a news anchor in San Jose, California.

The sound of pebbles hitting the window interrupts them. Schwartz is trying to get Pella’s attention, and Guert invites him up to join them. Schwartz is pleased to see Owen, and they discuss Henry’s game. Schwartz is happy to spend time with both Pella and Guert. Guert is happy to see how relaxed Pella is around Schwartz. Owen asks Guert if he intends to sleep with Genevieve, and Guert says no. Owen kisses Guert.

Henry and Schwartz continue their masochistic workout routines. Henry pushes himself in stadium runs, and Schwartz tries to keep up. Neither can sleep.

During Tuesday’s game, Henry makes a bad throw on his first play, clearly having the jitters. Schwartz tries to comfort him. He wonders why he hasn’t confided in Henry about Pella and considers deprioritizing Pella to focus on Henry and the season.

Henry is confused during Professor Eglantine’s poetry class. Starblind points out a new student in their class, and they theorize about who she could be. She looks a bit older than them. Rick identifies her as Pella and tells them that she eloped with David.

After class, Pella asks to speak to Henry. She tells him that Schwartz talks about him a lot. She’s sad that he hasn’t mentioned her to Henry. She asks Henry what it’s like to be the best at something.

In the locker room, the guys tease Henry about Pella talking to him, and he worries that Schwartz will get the wrong idea. Coach Cox tries to give Henry a pep talk, but then Henry throws up.

The scouts arrive. A journalist asks Henry about Steve Blass and Mickey Sasser, players who famously choked after making an error that ruined their careers.