By: Chris Lynch
Rate: good
Richard Riley Moncrief is obsessed with baseball. He doesn’t understand how anyone can not like baseball, and he thinks all boys are destined to at least know how to play baseball, if not be a pro at it. But Richard is going to be a pro. Fred Lynn and Jim Rice, the Gold Dust Twins, are the best team of rookies ever together. Richard is determined to follow their footsteps, and he is going to become Fred Lynn. All he needs is a partner…
When Napoleon Charlie Ellis arrives in Boston from Dominica, Richard immediately decides that he’s going to be his lifelong baseball partner. Napoleon is the kind of guy that plays cricket and belongs in the Symphony Hall instead of the baseball field. But Richard sees his talent, and goes to work training and persuading Napoleon to play and love baseball. No problem. It’s all black and white.
But Napoleon doesn’t seem to share Richard’s dream. He is set out for the choir. Richard is astonished. He never even heard that there was a choir school before. Napoleon explains to him that he can have his own passions, but Napoleon doesn’t have to have the same. Richard slowly realizes that Napoleon is right, and he decides to let him accomplish his own dream. I think Richard learns a nice lesson in this story: not everyone has to love what he loves.
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