1970s 1973 1980s a-wild-sheep-chase absurd absurdism absurdist absurdity adventure alternate-reality ambition america american-dream americas-pastime atmospheric baseball baseball-legend bestseller betrayal calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury chase chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma comeback coming-of-age compassion competition conflict consciousness conspiracy contemporary contemporary-fiction contemporary-literature cult-classic dark-comedy dark-humor destiny detective detective-fiction detective-story determination disappointment drama dream-like dreamlike dreams dystopia dystopian enigma enigmatic existential existentialism failure fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-secrets fantasy fate father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography folklore forgiveness friendship grisham haruki-murakami healing heartwarming hero historical-fiction home-run hometown-hero hope identity identity-crisis individuality injury innocence inspiration inspirational introspection introspective isolation japan japanese-culture japanese-literature john journey justice legacy legendary-player legends literary literary-fiction literature loneliness loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game love-story loyalty magic-realism magical-realism major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues mentorship metaphysical mind-bending modern-classic modern-fiction modern-literature murakami mystery mythology new-york-mets nostalgia novel obsession parallel-universe parallel-worlds passion perseverance personal-growth philosophical philosophy pitcher pop-culture postmodern postmodernism professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports psychological quest reconciliation record-breaking redemption regret regrets resilience revenge rivalries rivalry romance rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal second-chance second-chances secrets self-discovery sheep sheep-man small-town small-town-america solitude spirituality sports sports-fiction sportsmanship storytelling success supernatural surreal surrealism suspense symbolic symbolism talent teamwork thriller tokyo tragedy transformation trauma triumph unconventional underdog urban urban-fantasy youth