1970s 1973 1980s admiration adversity ambition america american-dream american-south americana americas-favorite-pastime americas-pastime aspiration aspirations athlete athletes baseball baseball-legend baseball-player baseball-prodigy baseball-rivalry baseball-statistics batting batting-average batting-champion best-selling-author bestseller betrayal biography broken-dreams calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury catharsis celebrity character-development character-driven chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma come-back comeback comebacks coming-of-age coming-of-age-story compassion competition conflict courage destiny determination disappointment drama dreams dreams-and-aspirations failure faith faith. fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships family-secrets famous-athlete famous-athletes famous-players fan-obsession fandom father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons feel-good fiction fictional-biography fictional-memoir forgiveness friendship glory gripping gripping-storyline grisham guilt healing heartbreak heartwarming hero heroism historic historical historical-fiction history hitter home-run hometown hometown-hero honesty hope hopes-and-dreams iconic-moments injury innocence inspiration inspirational inspiring john justice legacy legendary legendary-game legendary-player legends literature loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game love. loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues mentorship minor-league mlb moral-dilemma morality new-york-mets new-york-yankees nostalgia novel passion passion-for-the-game past-vs.-present perseverance personal-growth pitcher pitching pressure prodigy professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports reconciliation record-breaking record-breaking-season recovery redemption redemption-arc redemption-story redemption-tale regret regrets renowned-hitter resilience revenge rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal second-chance second-chances secrets small-town small-town-america sports sports-entertainment sports-fiction sportsmanship storytelling success superstition suspense suspenseful talent talented talented-rookie teamwork tragedy trauma triumph troubled-past truth underdog underdog-story understanding wild-pitch young-prodigy youth