The novel's protagonist, mild-mannered, middle-aged Joe Boyd, is depicted as a lifelong fan of the hapless Washington Senators.

As the novel begins, the Senators are losing ground in the American League to their longtime nemesis, the New York Yankees.

The discouraged Boyd runs into an unexpected offer from a fast-talking confidence man, who introduces himself as "Mr.

The musical starred Ray Walston as Applegate, Stephen Douglass as Joe Hardy and Gwen Verdon as Lola.

Anthony Boucher dismissed the novel as "just another Pact-with-the-Devil story, somewhat brightened by its Major League baseball setting.