1970s 1973 1980s abnormalpsychology activities adolescentdevelopment adultchild ambition america american-dream american-south americana americas-pastime aspiration athlete autismspectrumdisorders autobiography baseball baseball-legend baseball-player baseball-prodigy batting-average bereavement bestseller betrayal biography biologicalsciences body calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury chicago-cubs child childbirth childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma children'shealth christianity collegesuccess comeback comebacks coming-of-age community compassion competition conflict consumersciences courage death determination disappointment drama dreams dying education english essays failure faith fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-secrets familyrelationships famous-athlete father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherandchild fathers fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship general generalinterests grief grisham guilt healing health healthcare healthcareissues heartwarming hero historical-fiction history hitter hobbies home-run hometown hometown-hero hope hopes-and-dreams humandisease humor infantdevelopment infants injury innocence inspiration inspirational john justice legacy legendary legendary-player legends literary literature loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues marriage mentorship moral-dilemma motherhood motivational new-york-mets nostalgia nutrition parenting passion passion-for-the-game perseverance personal-growth personalmemoirs pitcher policy pregnancy professional professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports psychology quotations reconciliation record-breaking redemption redemption-arc reference regret regrets relationships religion resilience revenge rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal school schoolage second-chance second-chances secrets self-discovery self-help self-helpgeneral singleparent small-town small-town-america socialsciences sociology spirit sports sports-fiction sportsmanship stepparenting storytelling success suspense talent teamwork toddlers trade tragedy trauma triumph underdog underdog-story unitedstates women'shealth youth