It's 1949 and eighteen-year-old pitching phenomMickey Tussler is back with the rejuvenated minorleague Brewers in the sequel to <em>The Legend of MickeyTussler</em> (the basis for the television movie<em> A Milein His Shoes</em>). Despite Mickey's proclamation thathe will never play baseball again after last season'sviolent conclusion, his manager—and now surrogatefather—Arthur Murphy cajoles the emotionallyfragile, socially awkward boy with autism into givingit another shot. Mickey reluctantly returns to thefield and must once again cope with the violenceand hatred around him. When a young AfricanAmerican player joins the team, the entire team issubjected to racial threats and episodes of violence,one of which Mickey witnesses firsthand. Strugglingto understand such ugliness and hatred, and fearfulof reprisal should he tell anyone about what he hasseen, the boy's performance on the field suffers.Mickey now must deal with a side of human naturehe scarcely comprehends.