Tough Guy, Gentle Heart

Embarrassed because he has no shoes, Felix is an extremely shy kid-except when he's playing baseball. The son of a poor sugarcane worker, he is a dependable youngster who cares for his uncle's roosters and delivers fruit to market for a neighbor. In the Army he corresponds with a girl he's never met. Two years later they marry and together pursue his dream of a baseball career. Overcoming language and racial barriers, he becomes one of the game's toughest batters to strike out in the 1970s. Moving to Japan in the '80s, he makes a life-changing leap of faith.