The narrator describes meeting Chick when she comes to the town of Pepperville Beach, to sell a family home. She notices him sitting on the bleachers of a Little League field, and a passerby tells her Chick’s story: after making it to the World Series, Chick tried to kill himself. The narrator explains that she intends to tell the story that Chick told her that morning. She asks the reader: “Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought you would be here forever? [...] What if you got it back?” (8).

Chick briefly narrates his life story up to his suicide attempt. His tone is weary and somewhat hostile: “Let me guess. You want to know why I tried to kill myself” (9). Chick believes that other people see him as a sort of cautionary tale, but that they don’t really understand; according to him, all anyone has is “life, how you mess it up, and who is there to save you. Or who isn’t” (9).

Chick explains that his mother has died ten years before. His mother’s love and support are the key to his self-esteem: “Mothers support certain illusions about their children, and one of my illusions was that I liked who I was, because she did.