1970s 1973 1980s advanced-technology adventure alien-invasion aliens ambition america american-dream american-south americana americas-pastime artificial-intelligence aspiration baseball baseball-legend baseball-player baseball-prodigy batting-average battle-school bestseller betrayal brotherhood bullying calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury chicago-cubs child-prodigy childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma children colonization comeback comebacks coming-of-age compassion competition conflict courage deception destiny determination disappointment drama dreams dystopia dystopian dystopian-future dystopian-society empathy ender-wiggin ethical-dilemmas ethics failure fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-secrets famous-athlete father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship future futuristic gaming genius genocide government government-conspiracy government-control government-manipulation grisham guilt healing heartwarming hero heroism historical-fiction history hitter home-run hometown hometown-hero hope hopes-and-dreams identity injury innocence inspiration inspirational intelligence interstellar-war isolation john justice leadership legacy legendary legendary-player legends loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues manipulation mentorship military military-strategy mind-games moral-dilemma moral-dilemmas morality new-york-mets nostalgia outer-space passion perseverance personal-growth pitcher professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports psychological psychological-manipulation psychological-warfare psychology reconciliation record-breaking redemption redemption-arc regret regrets resilience revenge rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scandal science-fiction second-chance second-chances secrets sibling-rivalry small-town small-town-america space space-battles space-exploration space-travel space-warfare sports sports-fiction sportsmanship storytelling strategic-thinking strategy success survival suspense talent teamwork technology telepathy tragedy training trauma triumph trust underdog underdog-story video-games virtual-reality war war-games xenocide xenophobia young-adult youth