1970s 1973 1980s adversity ambition america american-culture american-dream american-south americana americas-favorite-pastime americas-pastime aspiration aspirations athlete athletes athletic-talent atlanta-braves baseball baseball-legend baseball-player baseball-players baseball-prodigy baseball-rivalry batting batting-average bestseller betrayal broken-dreams calico-joe career career-cut-short career-ending career-ending-injury character-development character-driven chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma come-back comeback comebacks coming-of-age compassion competition conflict courage cultural-icon debut destiny determination disappointment drama dream dreams emotional emotions failure faith fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships family-secrets famous-athlete famous-athletes famous-players fandom father father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship glory gripping gripping-narrative grisham guilt healing heartbreak heartwarming hero heroism historical-fiction history hitter home-run home-run-race hometown hometown-hero honesty hope hopes-and-dreams injured injury innocence inspiration inspirational inspiring john justice legacy legendary legendary-player legends literature loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues mentorship minor-league mlb moral-dilemma morality new-york-mets nostalgia novel passion passion-for-the-game paul-tracey perseverance personal-growth pinstripe-dreams pitcher pitching pressure-in-sports prodigy professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-athletics professional-baseball professional-rivalry professional-sports reconciliation record-breaking recovery redemption redemption-arc regret regretful-past regrets resilience revenge rise-and-fall rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal second-chance second-chances secrets setback small-town small-town-america small-town-hero son southern sports sports-fiction sports-legends sports-rivalry sportsmanship storytelling success superstar superstition suspense suspenseful talent talented-rookie teamwork tragedy tragic-accident trauma traumatic-events triumph truth underdog underdog-story young-prodigy youth youth-baseball