Nobody in Macon took kindly to Sweet as a teacher, but rather as a drinking buddy in the town's three taverns. The parents of the students, and the school board disagreed with him, and they almost fired him because of his style of teaching. Even better, when the spring of 1970 rolled in and Lynn Sweet was new, first-year baseball coach, now the Ironmen had a liberal "hippy" to coach their baseball team.
Coach Sweet modeled his teaching ways in how he coached. He made a rule stating that practice was optional because he didn't was to force the boys into playing if they didn't want to. It was almost as if he was coaching a "pick-up" team, and really, he was. The team didn't have matching uniforms, or a good field to practice and play on, and worse, the harsh weather conditions of spring in central Illinois made it nearly impossible to get a season's play in. But the Ironmen did, and were surprisingly successful year under Coach Sweet, earning a very rewarding record during the season, and advancing all the way to regional finals, where they were set to play Decatur, but were disqualified, as one of their players was ineligible.
The second season under Lynn Sweet was even more shocking. Macon trampled over teams during the regular season, winning the conference title easily. By the time the Ironmen made it to the regional finals for a second consecutive year, they were starting to make a name for themselves to other small schools. They obviously played the role of the underdog in the tournaments, playing better-known schools with bigger boys with more "traditional" coaches (conservative men with short hair and short tempers). Macon was a team of small-town hippies; players with long hair and peace-signs on their hats, emulating their one and only coach. Still, they put up a fight against all teams in their spectacular run.
When the team made it to sectionals, they were still thought of as an team that could be beaten easily by their bigger, more well-rounded competitors. The Ironmen were bigger underdogs than ever after they advanced past sectionals and into the State Tournament. They were the second-smallest school in the tournament, and had by far the weirdest ball club. Their opponents looked like baseball players, and big ones at that. Most were averaging at six-feet tall and weighed close to 200 pounds, while Steve was the largest on the Ironmen, being 5'11" and weighing in at 165 pounds. Nobody thought that Macon had a slight shot at the big boys from Lane Tech or Waukegan, who were both nearly regulars in the dance. Winning one game would be impressive, two would be more of a miracle than their entire run to get to this point, and three, well that was as close to impossible as it got.
That brings me to my next point. Throughout the novel, Ballard is successful in communicating a central message through a story: one mustn't disregard a smaller, less-likely competitor from doing spectacular things and outdoing those who were expected to excel, for the better of society. In short, don't judge a book by its cover, or you may get burnt. A quote from the book that speaks this very well is when the author talks of the pre-tournament press meetings in Peoria: "If the Ironmen were supremely confident in their chances, they were the only ones. At the press reception the night before, the Peoria Journal Star had asked twenty-six writers, baseball luminaries, and radio and TV reporters who they thought would win the state tournament. Not one had picked the Ironmen. Judging by the votes, only a handful thought they'd even win one game," (Ballard 174). As I mentioned earlier, the Macon baseball team were underdogs and nobody projected them do perform as well as they did against the high-leveled competition of Illinois High School Baseball. Even Sweet prevented the team from getting involved in the traditional parties and gatherings of the tournament so the team would not be intimidated by seeing their opponents off of the baseball diamond. Residents of Macon didn't think they had much of a shot either, but were excited that their team had gone further than it ever had in the history of the Ironmen athletics. The team itself were the only ones who gave themselves the props they deserved, and believed in themselves that they could do something legendary.
All of this made their State Title run more of a miracle than anything else, and made for an amazing story to be told. Overall, the book was very well-composed and made for a fun experience for required summer project, which otherwise would have been a nuisance if I had chosen a book that didn't give me the quality read that this one did. Reading of a miracle, underdog story in a sport I love was exhilarating, and I enjoyed it very much.
There are many articles and reviews on the book, informing me that the book is based on an article he wrote for Sports Illustrated in 2010. The One Shot at Forever review basically sums up my summary in less words. It reminds us of the inspirational tale of the Ironmen and their unorthodox ways of practicing, warming up, and presenting themselves. This article concludes simply by telling us the importance of a "hometown hero" and how one game can change a life.
I found a video on the book and it is from YouTube. It may not be from a credible source, but it was, I think, the best one out there because it involves players, Coach Sweet and gives Ballard's thoughts.
