Sam Simpson Character Analysis in The Natural

Sam is the scout who discovers Hobbs’ talent as a high school ballplayer and accompanies him on the train to Chicago. A former star player whose alcoholism has ostensibly cost him his career as a regular scout—he can only work freelance, without a team contract, and is extremely poor as a result—Sam is determined to find a brilliant young player whose success will encourage a team to provide him with regular scout work. Hobbs, then, is his prized possession, and Sam is the only figure in the novel to treat Hobbs with true tenderness and generosity. Sam dies early on in the novel after getting hit in the chest with a pitch during a contest between Hobbs and the Whammer, leaving Hobbs without guidance later on in his career, though he appears as a ghost at the end of the novel to warn Hobbs not to agree to Judge Banner’s crooked deal.

Sam Simpson Character Timeline in The Natural

The timeline below shows where the character Sam Simpson appears in The Natural. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Ambition, Failure, and the American Dream Theme Icon

...to “make his blunders of ordering and eating more or less in private”—it’s unlikely that Sam will be awake yet and thus he won’t be there “to tell [Roy] what to... (full context)

Mythology, Heroism, and Stardom Theme Icon

...hand. Roy is amused, but Eddie makes him a little nervous. He forgot to ask Sam the previous night about how and when he should tip the porter, so he has... (full context)

Later, Roy makes his way to the very last car, where sleeping people—including Sam—are strewn about in every direction. The night before, Roy had tried to get Sam to... (full context)

The story flashes back to a time when Sam was traveling as a talent scout in search of a great baseball player for the... (full context)

Sam wonders if he can “ketch the whole twelve of them” and staggers out onto the... (full context)

Sam’s mouth feels dry and his underclothes are dirty. Surprising those around him who see him... (full context)

Femininity, Stereotypes, and Destruction Theme Icon

Sam doesn’t find Roy in the club car and decides to head to the bar: he... (full context)

Sam listens to two men discussing the shootings, one “short, somewhat popeyed,” the other “husky, massive-shouldered,”... (full context)

Max, “a nervous man” in a pinstriped suit, can sense that Sam is an alcoholic and is put off; Sam tells him that he once played for... (full context)

Sam tells the men that he is traveling with Hobbs and remarks that Mercy might want... (full context)

Sam spots Hobbs, who is looking around for the girl with the black hatbox (whose name,... (full context)

...to a stop and a dozen passengers get off for a half-hour break, including Hobbs, Sam, Harriet, the Whammer, and Max Mercy; Hobbs takes the bassoon case with him. Sam spots... (full context)

Sam makes a wager with the Whammer, claiming that Hobbs can strike him out with three... (full context)

...by.” Max, who has agreed to call the pitches, moves back from the scene, and Sam laughingly calls out that his “knees are knockin’,” as if he is fearful of Hobbs’s... (full context)

...planet looming toward the earth:” the Whammer strikes at it “ferociously” but strikes out again. Sam taunts the Whammer, who asks if Roy is cheating by throwing “spitters.” Secretly, though, the... (full context)

...is “customary” to turn on lights for night games. The ball Roy pitched has hit Sam in the stomach, and despite the washboard, the ball’s velocity injures him. Sam is pulled... (full context)

Meanwhile, Max Mercy is asking Sam about Hobbs, his back turned to the Whammer, who is holding a newspaper “in front... (full context)

Eddie wakes up Hobbs in the midst of his own dreams and tells him that Sam has collapsed. They rush to the coach car, and before Sam succumbs to his injuries... (full context)

Later, Hobbs dreams that he is searching for Sam Simpson in a snowstorm. Sitting at a table playing solitaire, Sam tells him vaguely, “Don’t... (full context)