By his junior year, Henry is excelling as a player (especially on defense) and is drawing significant attention from Major League Baseball scouts.

After publishing a well-received book and spending many years as a professor at Harvard, Affenlight returns to his alma mater as president of the college.

His estranged daughter Pella comes to live with him during Henry's junior year, after leaving her architect husband and life in San Francisco.

As Henry approaches the NCAA record for most consecutive errorless games by a shortstop (held by his baseball hero, Aparicio Rodriguez), a throw of his goes awry and hits his roommate, right fielder Owen Dunne, who is sitting in the dugout at the time.

The mentor-student relationship between Schwartz and Henry also comes to the forefront, as each examines their hopes for the future and the extent to which it rests on their baseball ability.

"The Art of Fielding belongs in the upper echelon of anybody’s league, in this case alongside Bernard Malamud’s The Natural, Scott Lasser’s Battle Creek and W.P.

The suit noted a very strong plot and style resemblance between The Art of Fielding and Green's previously completed screenplay, Bucky's 9th.