The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.: Analysis of Major Characters
"The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop." centers around J. Henry Waugh, a devoted accountant who has created an intricate dice-and-paper baseball league called the Universal Baseball Association (UBA). The narrative explores the blurred lines between Waugh's fantasy world and his mundane reality, particularly as he navigates relationships with various characters who embody different aspects of his life and the game. Key figures include Lou Engel, Waugh’s well-meaning but distracted coworker; Hettie Irden, Waugh’s romantic partner, whose interactions are playfully described using baseball metaphors; and Horace Zifferblatt, Waugh's demanding employer, whose tolerance wanes as Waugh becomes increasingly consumed by the UBA.
The story also features UBA players such as Damon Rutherford, a talented rookie whose perfect game leads to tragic consequences, and Jock Casey, a pitcher whose actions spark a cycle of violence within the league. As Waugh's obsession deepens, he faces the potential collapse of his creation and his ordinary life, raising questions about the nature of identity, loss, and the impact of fantasy on reality. Through its rich character dynamics and the interplay of personal and fictional narratives, the work examines themes of dedication, the passage of time, and the sometimes precarious balance between imagination and responsibility.
The Universal Baseball Association, Inc., J. Henry Waugh, Prop.: Analysis of Major Characters
Author: Robert Coover
First published: 1968
Genre: Novel
Locale: An American city
Plot: Psychological
Time: The 1950's and the “UBA Years LVI and CLVII”
J. Henry Waugh, a fifty-six-year-old accountant for the firm of Dunkelmann, Zauber Zifferblatt (German for “Obscurantist, Magic Clock-face”). He is the creator (“J. Henry Waugh” is a play on “Jehovah”) of a dice-and-paper game involving the Universal Baseball Association, Inc., a baseball league consisting of eight teams, with twenty-one players each. Play is controlled by the throws of three dice, with various combinations representing hits, errors, strikeouts, stolen bases, and other (fifty-six in all) standard activities and strategies of a baseball game. Waugh plays out full seasons of the league. He keeps complete records (earned-run averages, most valuable players, and so on) for each season. In what is now Year LVI of the UBA, he has some forty volumes of records dating from Year IX. Henry's ballplayers, managers, owners, and chancellors become real people to him, and his creation takes over his life. Year CLVII represents either Henry's complete departure from his ordinary existence or the UBA's survival of its creator.
Lou Engel, Henry's coworker. He is a devoted but inept friend whose corpulence attests his love of good food. He spends every Sunday evening at the cinema. He is the only person with whom Henry tries to share the UBA. During the single occasion on which they play, Lou is much more interested in recounting a film he has just seen than in playing Henry's intricate and highly detailed game. True to his name, which is a play on “Lucifer Angel,” he messes up Henry's creation by spilling beer on the score sheets and record charts.
Hettie Irden, an aging B-girl. She is Henry's earthy (German irden) hetaera. Her lovemaking with Henry is described in the vocabulary of baseball, for example, “pushing and pulling, they ran the bases, pounded into first, slid into second heels high, somersaulted over third, shot home standing up, then into the box once more, swing away, and run them all again.”
Horace Zifferblatt, the director and sole surviving member of the firm of Dunkelmann, Zauber Zifferblatt. As Henry's employer, he is exacting and intolerant of laxity but not without some patience and consideration. Well aware of Henry's valuable competence, he puts up with Henry's tardiness and absenteeism as long as he can; ultimately, however, as Henry's preoccupation with the UBA causes him to neglect his work completely, Zifferblatt fires him.
Pete, a bartender, whom Henry calls Jake in his imposition of the UBA world on the actual world. Jake Bradley is a UBA second baseman who retires to barkeeping.
Mitch Porter, a suave and stylishly competent restaurant owner who serves Lou and Henry a gourmet meal of duck.
Benny Diskin, the son of a delicatessen owner. He makes regular deliveries to Henry.
Damon Rutherford, a rookie UBA pitcher for the Pioneers team. He is cool, gracious, and superbly talented. After he pitches a perfect game against the Haymakers, his creator (Henry) assumes the Damon Rutherford identity in a night of lovemaking with Hettie. In a game against the Knickerbockers, Damon is fatally beaned by pitcher Jock Casey in accordance with Henry's having thrown three consecutive triple ones with the dice.
Jock Casey, a rookie UBA pitcher for the Knickerbockers. He is gaunt and emotionless. After fatally (and, to all appearances, deliberately) beaning Damon Rutherford, he is killed in a subsequent game by a line drive to the mound, as Henry manipulates the death by deliberately setting up a third consecutive dice throw of triple sixes.
Royce Ingram, a UBA catcher for the Pioneers. He hits the line drive that kills Jock Casey.
Brock Rutherford, all-time great UBA pitcher and father of Damon and Brock II. He is fifty-six years old in Year LVI and is in the stands on Brock Rutherford Day when his son Damon is killed by a pitched ball.
Sycamore Flynn, the UBA manager of the Knickerbockers and ancestor of Galen Flynn.
Barney Bancroft, the UBA manager of the Pioneers. He is murdered after he becomes the ninth chancellor of the UBA.
Raglan “Pappy” Rooney, the UBA manager of the Hay-makers, who lives to the age of 143.
Melbourne Trench, the UBA manager of the seventh-place Excelsiors and ancestor of Paul Trench.
Hardy Ingram, a descendant of Royce Ingram. In Year CLVII of the UBA, he plays the role of Damon Rutherford (equated with good) in the ritual Damonsday celebration.
Paul Trench, a descendant of Melbourne Trench. In Year CLVII of the UBA, he takes the part of Royce Ingram in the Damonsday rite.
Galen Flynn, a descendant of Sycamore Flynn. In Year CLVII of the UBA, he appears to have been assigned the role of Jock Casey (equated with evil) in the Damonsday rite.