1970s 1973 1980s achievement 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 chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma college come-back comeback comebacks coming-of-age compassion compelling-storytelling competition conflict conformity courage destiny determination disappointment drama dream-fulfillment dreams education elite failure faith fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships family-secrets famous-athlete famous-athletes famous-players famous-rivalry fandom father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship fulfillment glory gripping gripping. grisham guilt happiness healing heartbreak heartwarming hero heroism hidden-past higher-education historical-fiction history hitter home-run hometown hometown-hero honesty hope hopes-and-dreams injury injustice innocence inspiration inspirational inspiring ivy-league 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 mlb moral-dilemma morality new-york-mets nostalgia novel overcoming passion passion-for-the-game perseverance personal-growth pitcher pitching prodigy professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports purpose reconciliation record-breaking recovery redemption redemption-arc regret regretful-past regrets resilience revenge rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal second-chance second-chances secrets self-discovery small-town small-town-america societal-expectations southern sports sports-fiction sportsmanship star-athlete storytelling student student-life success superstition suspense suspenseful talent talented-rookie talented-rookies teamwork tragedy trauma traumatic-events triumph truth truth-and-lies underdog underdog-story university young-prodigy youth