Steven Fechter is a playwright, screenwriter, and novelist. His theatrical works have been produced throughout North America and Europe. In his film work, he co-wrote the screenplay for the film The Woodsman (based on his play).
In February 2026 his debut novel, THE BIG BREEZE (Encyclopocalypse Publications), will be released.
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AFTER THE “IMACCULATE GAME,” a perfect twenty-seven up, twenty-seven down, all strikeouts, legendary pitcher Joseph “Big Breeze” Bye hides out on a small farm in Upstate New York. He paints the legends he followed, the heroes he once stood beside, and keeps to a quiet routine after a hit-and-run stole his career and left him in a wheelchair. Silence is the only game he plays now. One day, his routine is interrupted when the phone rings. A young reporter wants the real story of the night that made him a ghost in the world of professional baseball. Minutes later, he receives a second phone call, a voice from the past. The caller reveals to Joseph that the crash that killed his career wasn’t an accident, and the man who ordered the hit is still at large. As quickly as his career ended, Breeze is pulled off the sidelines and back into shadows he hoped to outrun. The trail winds through studio lofts and clubhouse tunnels, back rooms and midnight highways, into the dark underbelly of America’s pastime, where every secret comes high and inside. The Big Breeze is a lean noir thriller about obsession, guilt, loss, second chances—and a fallen ace stepping back on the mound for one more inning.
What Critics And Reviews Are Saying:
Fechter’s novel presents a complex portrait of an athlete whose life was upended after an accident. Joseph “Breeze” Bye, a wheelchair-bound former professional baseball player, is on the cusp of finding major success in his second, post-accident career: painting… As a major exhibition of his work in New York City approaches, he gets a call from a former associate who confesses to being the person who ran him down. This admission kicks off the protagonist’s examination of his own life, told from a close first-person perspective in a long series of free associations; the narrative manages to maintain a tight focus while touching on a surprising variety of recollections… Fechter paints his protagonist with deep sympathy and nuance, but also with unwavering honesty… A thoughtful, wandering novel of self-examination, intrigue, art, and America’s pastime.
—KIRKUS REVIEWS
Steven Fechter not only weaves a great baseball story but combines it with a thriller, mystery, and a tale of redemption. From start to finish you are held captive by the delicate balance of how he pulls at your heartstrings while waiting to see what happens next. The Big Breeze is a major hit, or to put it better, the perfect game! Enjoy this delightful tale like I did.
—BARRY KIBRICK, host of Between the Lines
For baseball fans and those who’ve never seen a dugout, Steven Fechter’s The Big Breeze is a hall of fame novel honoring America’s favorite pastimes–adultery, crime, revenge and uneven parenting. Joseph “Big Breeze” Bye, a once-brilliant pitcher turned portrait painter, can no longer walk, but he can still talk. Sleek and humorous, reflective and driving, Fechter’s stylish and sexy debut novel mixes cranky disillusionment with survivalist heroism. This changeup is close to fantasy, but even closer to the truth of what it means to win back a life.
—DON CUMMINGS, author of Bent But Not Broken
The Big Breeze is Fechter’s paean to baseball. It’s the story of a pitcher whose God-given, once-in-a-generation talent is violently robbed from him and then—in time—learns to play catch in ways deeper and more meaningful than his young self could accept or understand. This novel is an eerily insightful, full-throated, honest, uncompromising story of baseball and the emotional growth of a boy-man in a hardboiled country. I kept tearing up as I read Fechter’s story. I love a well-written baseball tale. But this writer is sincere, scarily brave, loving, and committed to the greatest American team sport.
—ALAN WINSON, host of Bar Crawl Radio Podcast
The Big Breeze is imaginative and magical. Fechter truly brings you into the game with thoughtful dialogue, interesting character development, and intersecting plot lines. Mix in some crime, baseball, history, and art… and you have one fast moving story that keeps you wanting more.
—DIANE LAPIS: coauthor of Cocktails Across America: A Postcard View of Cocktail Culture from the 1930s, 40s, and 50s
Upcoming Big Breeze Events In 2026
Jan 31, 12 pm, Interview at Bar Crawl Radio Podcast
Gebhard’s Beer Culture Bar, NYC
Bar Crawl Radio – Hosted by Alan Winson & Rebecca McKean
Feb 7, 7:00 pm: Book launch at Stanza Books
With novelist, journalist, professor, Julia Dahl in Beacon, NY.
Stanza Books
Feb 12, 6:30 pm: NYC book launch at Lofty Pigeon Books
With playwright, memoirist, performer, Alvin Eng in Brooklyn.
Lofty Pigeon Books
March 8, 4:00 pm: Book launch at Blue Heron Books
With musician, songwriter, author, Chris Whitaker in High Falls, NY.
Blue Heron Books | Discover Unique Books — Shop with Us
Purchasing The Big Breeze
The Big Breeze can be ordered at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, the bookstores mentioned at the events or any of your local bookstores. Let’s support independent bookstores!