Joey first appears as an extremely bright, verbal, urbane, witty 12-year-old Jewish boy. He has recently been relocated to a primarily Gentile section of Brooklyn after his parents’ divorce, to which his father abandons him. He is being raised by his mother, Ida Margolis, and his aunt, Carrie Gettinger, both of whom are opinionated, spirited women. Joey is a temporary resident of a Juvenile Detention Center in Brooklyn when initially introduced, and officials there surmise that bigoted neighborhood bullies have been beating Joey regularly. In an effort to provide himself with gravitas that may prevent further bullying, Joey starts to write the third baseman for the New York Giants Baseball team, requesting that he hit a home run in his honor. This is the beginning of an adventurous, humorous, poignant, and unlikely relationship between the boy and his baseball hero, Charlie Banks.

Joey is a prolific letter writer and an excellent essayist. When his teacher requires him to participate in an essay contest predicting how his father would govern as President of the United States, Joey tweaks the criteria a bit and fantasizes about what Charlie Banks would do in this position. His selection as a winner results in an invitation to the Roosevelt White House for himself and his very Republican soul mate, Charlie Banks.