1970s 1973 1980s 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 batting batting-average bestseller betrayal boston-red-sox broken-dreams calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury character-development character-driven cheating chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma come-back comeback comebacks coming-of-age compassion compelling-storytelling competition conflict courage destiny determination disappointment drama dream dream-fulfillment dreams emotional failure faith fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships family-secrets famous-athlete famous-athletes famous-players famous-rivalry 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. grisham guilt healing heartbreak heartbreaking heartwarming hero heroism hidden-past historical-fiction history hitter home-run home-run-race hometown hometown-hero honesty hope hopes-and-dreams injured injury injustice innocence inspiration inspirational inspiring john justice legacy legendary legendary-game legendary-player legends literature loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues memorable-characters mentor mentorship minor-league mlb moral-dilemma morality nostalgia novel overcoming passion passion-for-the-game past-and-present paul-tracey perseverance personal-growth pitcher pitching pressure-in-sports prodigy professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball 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 small-town small-town-america son southern sports sports-fiction sportsmanship star-athlete storytelling success success-and-failure superstition suspense suspenseful talent talented-rookie talented-rookies teamwork tragedy tragic-accident trauma traumatic-events triumph truth truth-and-lies underdog underdog-story young-prodigy youth youth-baseball