Senior Bix Bixby, tall, popular sandy-haired pitcher for the San Sebastian Scorpions, seems to have it made. Or does he? No one knows he doesn't get along with his Pop, or that Pop has brought a trashy girlfriend, Gloria, home to live in their cramped apartment, or that, following a mega row between Bix and Gloria, they take off for parts unknown, leaving Bix homeless. Too proud to let anyone know, Bix tries to make it on his own, act normal, sleep outside, and eat next to nothing. However, one by one, his baseball teammates guess the guarded secret. What they do next creates a baseball legend for all time.