Jim Morris never made it out of the minor leagues before a shoulder injury ended his pitching career twelve years ago. Now a married-with-children high-school chemistry teacher and baseball coach in Texas, Jim's team makes a deal with him: if they win the district championship, Jim will try out with a major-league organization. The bet proves incentive enough for the team, and they go from worst to first, making it to state for the first time in the history of the school. Jim, forced to live up to his end of the deal, is nearly laughed off the try-out field--until he gets onto the mound, where he confounds the scouts (and himself) by clocking successive 98 mph fastballs, good enough for a minor-league contract with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. Jim's still got a lot of pitches to throw before he makes it to The Show, but with his big-league dreams revived, there's no telling where he could go.

The close-knit Walker family deals with struggles and triumphs.

A manager hires Ray, off the books, to paint all the power towers in a 15-mile stretch of high-tension wires outside Sheffield. Ray's crew of men are friends, especially Ray with Steve, a young Romeo. Into the mix comes Gerry, an Australian with a spirit of adventure and mountain climbing skills. She wants a job, and against the others' advice, who don't want a woman on the job, Ray hires her. Then she and Ray fall in love. He asks her to marry him, gives her a ring. Steve's jealous; Ray's ex-wife complains that he spends on Gerry, not his own kids, and she predicts that Gerry won't stay around. Plus, there's pressure to finish the job fast. Economics, romance, and wanderlust spark the end.