The baseball hit during Bobby Thomson’s famous home run becomes one of the threads that ties together the disparate characters’ lives. When Cotter first retrieves the ball, he has no desire to sell it. To him, the ball is a reminder of his presence at a moment in history. The ball is a token of his attendance, a way for him to celebrate bearing witness to something that actually matters. To his father, Manx, the ball’s emotional value is irrelevant. Rather, it represents an opportunity to make money and provide for his family. In a broader sense, the ball symbolizes the disconnect between father and son: Manx does not care about his son’s feelings, only about satisfying his own insecurities about not being able to provide. When Manx sells the ball to Charlie, he sees a father wanting to do something for his son, a man giving up money to create a memory for his child. This example of paternal love confounds Manx and fills him with regret as his symbolic understanding of the baseball evolves.

Once the ball passes from Charles to Chuckie, it becomes lost in the mire of history. Marvin finds new symbolic meaning in the ball: For him, it is an elusive dream, something that is both historic and mythical.