Little Sunset

Summary

A copper-haired sparkplug named Little Sunset—offspring of a second-string catcher—lives for the thunderous applause that greets Apache slugger Gus Bergstrom, whose swing arcs like a comet across the drought-parched ballparks of 1910s America. When the boy’s widowed father, Jones, is drafted by the very squad that houses his idol, Sunset vaults from bleacher brat to dugout talisman, red curls bobbing beside pine-tarred bats and spit-shined cleats. Illness strikes the child like a brushback pitch; Bergstrom’s reflexes dull, his timing fractures, and a single misjudged fly ball detonates a manager’s tirade that ricochets through grandstand and heart alike. Disillusioned, Bergstrom abandons the diamond for the ledger books of a half-forgotten hometown, only to be lured back by telegraphed pleas and the memory of a boy who once stitched his dreams into every seam of a baseball. In a final blaze of splintered ash and crowd-thunder, Gus hoists the pennant, and Little Sunset—now convalescent but spiritually colossal—extends forgiveness as casually as tossing a ball back to the mound, sealing a covenant between innocence and the bruised gods of summer sport.

Synopsis

"Little Sunset" is the red-haired, fiery-tempered son of a minor league baseball player named Jones. The boy worships Gus Bergstrom, the star outfielder for the Apaches, and is overjoyed to learn one day that his father has been signed to the "Terrible Swede's" team. Following the death of Little Sunset's mother, the boy accompanies his father on the road as the team's mascot. He and Gus become great friends, and when Little Sunset falls ill, the "Terrible Swede" plays miserably. At an important game, Gus makes a serious mistake, and the manager angrily upbraids him. Weary of baseball after fifteen years as a player, Gus takes the opportunity to quit the team and return home to tend to his business affairs. Hearing that the team is in trouble, however, he rejoins the Apaches and leads them to a pennant victory. Little Sunset, who had been outraged when Gus deserted the team, finally decides to forgive his pal.