Finding Buck McHenry

Baseball card fanatic Jason Ross, 12, is a lousy player but nobody loves the game more. Jason's passion for the game makes it even more painful when he is cut from his Little League team. There's hope for Jason, however, when local sportscaster Chuck Axelrod invites him to join an 'expansion team' he's putting together so his daughter Kim can play.

Jason also begins getting some stellar coaching from his school's custodian, Mack Henry, an elderly African American man. Jason asks Mack if he'll be the coach of the new team and Mack agrees on one condition - his grandson Aaron, a gifted pitcher, can join the team.

One day, Jason discovers a baseball card that leads him to believe Mr. Henry is legendary Negro League pitcher, Buck McHenry, who won 90 games in three years then disappeared after a scrape with the law.

Jason uses the rumor to entice Axelrod into doing a story on Mr. Henry. At first, Mr. Henry is furious and vehemently denies the accusation. Soon, however, it becomes clear he was indeed the legendary pitcher. Mr. Henry confesses that due to a race riot on the last night he played ball, he nearly killed a man. Fearing the law, he chose another identity.

But now, a half century later, he's ready to reclaim his name and teach a new generation how to play this great American pastime.