A retired coach recounts the story of "Blockade Billy" Blakely, known for his skills as a catcher and also as a formidable batter, the only player to have his record erased from baseball history, and his time with the New Jersey Titans.
"If you build it, he will com.e" The mysterious words of an Iowa baseball announcer lead Ray Kinsella to carve a baseball diamond in his cornfield in honor of his hero, the baseball legend Shoeless Joe Jackson.
Although adoption has taken them out of the institution where they grew up, eleven-year-old T.J. and his younger brother Moondance remain involved with their friend Mop's relentless attempts to become adopted herself and to wreak revenge on their baseball rivals, the obnoxious Eagles.
Billy, the former champion slugger for his third grade baseball team, is bothered by his very young stepsister's presence at games and feels that she is jinxing him into a batting slump.
Danny has been the star catcher on his baseball team for three years, but this year his feelings about his parents' divorce seem to be effecting even routine plays.
Seventh-grade baseball player Eddie Ventura listens to the sports announcer's voice in his head and gets into trouble when he writes a series of articles for the school paper.
