1970s 1973 1980s adversity ambition america american-culture american-dream american-south americana americas-favorite-pastime americas-pastime aspiration aspirations athlete athletes baseball baseball-legend baseball-player baseball-players baseball-prodigy baseball-rivalry batting batting-average bestseller betrayal 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 courage debut dedication deliberate-practice destiny determination disappointment drama dream dreams emotional expertise failure faith fame family family-drama family-dynamics family-relationships family-secrets famous-athlete famous-athletes famous-players famous-rivalry fan-obsession fandom father-and-son father-son father-son-relationship father-son-relationships fatherhood fathers-and-sons fiction fictional-biography forgiveness friendship glory gripping grisham guilt healing heartbreak heartwarming hero heroism hidden-past historical-fiction history hitter home-run hometown hometown-hero honesty hope hopes-and-dreams injury innocence inspiration inspirational inspiring john justice learning-strategies legacy legendary legendary-game legendary-player legends life literary literature loss love love-for-the-game love-of-the-game loyalty major-league major-league-baseball major-leagues mastery mentor mentorship minor-league mlb moral-dilemma morality new-york-mets nostalgia novel passion passion-for-the-game perseverance personal-growth pinstripe-dreams pitcher pitching popular-culture prodigy professional-athlete professional-athletes professional-baseball professional-baseball-player 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 self-discovery setback small-town small-town-america son southern sports sports-fiction sportsmanship storytelling success superstition suspense suspenseful talented talented-rookie teamwork tragedy training trauma traumatic-events triumph truth underdog underdog-story young-prodigy youth