Art Voellinger

One Home Run Art Voellinger

Injuries prematurely ended Charlie Becker's big league dreams, but in his new job as a scout for the Cleveland Indians, he looks for the proverbial diamonds in the rough-amateur ballplayers with the talent and the determination to play major league baseball. When he hears about Randy Wilson, a centerfielder described as "another Mickey Mantle", he makes the trek to tiny St. John's College to see him play. Wilson, a junior at St. John's, displays both power and speed during the game against rival Valparaiso College, and he caps off his impressive performance by slugging a massive 400-foot home run. Becker realizes he might have a future star on his hands, and he offers Wilson a summer job and a spot on a men's team located in southern Illinois. Wilson jumps at the opportunity to hone his athletic skills and experience life outside of Crown Point, Indiana. He hops in his 1949 Ford and heads down Route 66 toward an uncertain future in Ashville, Illinois. From colorful teammates to prison-yard baseball to the Georgia Ann Championship, it would be a summer he would never forget.