Both John’s and Owen’s lives are changed by the foul ball Owen hits that strikes and kills John’s mother, Tabby. The novel emphasizes how remarkable it is that this event occurred at all, given that the baseball coach never instructed Owen to swing at pitches due to his size. In the years that follow, John grows desperate to find the baseball, which disappeared after the game. As John is certain that Owen has hidden it, the baseball represents the unspoken secrets between them. The police chief’s reference to the baseball as “the instrument of death” (37) parallels the language Owen will later use for himself when he insists his voice is evidence he is “God’s instrument” (341). In this way, the baseball is a symbol of harm.

The baseball, however, takes on additional meaning when it reveals to John that Rev. Merrill is his father. That Merrill confesses to praying for Tabby’s death the moment before the baseball struck her posthumously relieves Owen of the responsibility for Tabby’s death and places it on Rev. Merrill. In this way, the baseball also symbolizes a revelation, as Owen had been adamant that God would reveal to John the identity of his father.