1970s academia academic academic-freedom ambition america american-christianity american-dream american-evangelicalism american-history american-religion american-religious-history americas-pastime anti-intellectualism apologetics baseball baseball-legend belief bestseller betrayal bible biblical-interpretation biblical-studies book calico-joe career career-ending career-ending-injury chicago-cubs childhood childhood-dreams childhood-hero childhood-heroes childhood-idol childhood-trauma christian-culture christian-education christian-faith christian-history christian-intellectuals christian-philosophy christian-scholarship christian-theology christian-thought christian-worldview christianity christianity-and-culture christianity-and-society church church-history coming-of-age compassion competition conflict conservative critical-thinking critique cultural-criticism cultural-critique cultural-engagement culture determination disappointment drama dreams education enlightenment evangelical evangelical-christianity evangelical-church evangelical-culture evangelical-identity evangelical-intellectuals evangelical-mind evangelical-movement evangelical-theology evangelical-thought evangelicalism evangelicals failure faith faith-and-reason fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-secrets father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship fundamentalism grisham healing heartwarming hero higher-education historical-fiction history home-run hometown-hero hope injury innocence inspiration inspirational intellect intellectual intellectual-development intellectual-history intellectual-life intellectualism john justice knowledge legacy legendary-player legends loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues mark-a.-noll mentorship mind modernism modernity new-york-mets nostalgia passion perseverance personal-growth philosophy pitcher professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-sports protestantism reason reconciliation record-breaking redemption reformation regret regrets religion religious-belief religious-beliefs religious-education religious-faith religious-history religious-identity religious-intellectuals religious-knowledge religious-scholarship religious-studies religious-thought resilience revenge rivalries rivalry rookie rookie-sensation sacrifice scholarship science science-and-religion second-chance second-chances secrets secularism small-town small-town-america spirituality sports sports-fiction sportsmanship storytelling success suspense talent teamwork the-scandal-of-the-evangelical-mind theological-education theology thinking thought tragedy triumph underdog youth