The Natural - Synopsis

Synopsis

The novel opens with 19-year-old Roy Hobbs on a train to Chicago with his manager Sam. He is traveling to Chicago for a tryout for the Chicago Cubs. Other passengers on the train include sportswriter Max Mercy, Walter "The Whammer" Whambold, the leading hitter in the American League and three-time American League Most Valuable Player (based on Babe Ruth), and Harriet Bird, a beautiful but mysterious woman.

The train makes a quick stop at a carnival along the rail where The Whammer challenges Hobbs to strike him out. Hobbs does just that, much to everyone's surprise and The Whammer's humiliation. Back on the train Harriet Bird strikes up a conversation with Hobbs, who does not suspect that Bird has any sort of ulterior motive. In fact, she is a lunatic obsessed with shooting the best baseball player. Her intent was to target Whammer but after Hobbs struck him out, her attention turns to him.

Once off the train, Hobbs checks into his hotel room in Chicago and promptly receives a call from Bird, who is staying in the same hotel. When he goes down to her room, she shoots him.

The novel picks up 16 years later in the dugout of the New York Knights, a fictional National League baseball team. The team has been on an extended losing streak and the careers of manager Pop Fisher and assistant manager Red Blow seem to be winding to an ignominious end. During one of these sad games Roy Hobbs emerges from the clubhouse tunnel to meet Pop and to announce that he is the team's new right fielder, having just been signed by Knights co-owner Judge Banner. Both Pop and Red take Hobbs under their wing and he learns from Red about Fisher's plight as manager of the Knights. The judge wishes to push Pop out of the team's payroll completely but cannot do so until the end of the current season, provided the Knights do not win the National League pennant.

Being the newest player, Roy has a number of practical jokes played upon him, including the theft of his "Wonderboy" bat. Once Roy gets his first chance at bat, however, he proves he is truly a "natural" at the game. During one game, Pop substitutes Hobbs as a pinch hitter for team star Bump Baily. Pop is disappointed with Baily, who has not been hustling and decides to teach him a lesson by pinch-hitting for him. Pop tells Roy to "knock the cover off of the ball" and Roy does exactly that—literally—hitting a triple to right field. A few days later, a newly-hustling Bump attempts to play a hard hit fly ball. He runs into the outfield wall and later dies from the impact. Roy then takes over for Bump on a permanent basis.

Max Mercy reappears, searching for details of Hobbs' past. Hobbs remains quiet even after Mercy offers five thousand dollars, saying that "all the public is entitled to is my best game of baseball". At the same time, Hobbs has been attempting unsuccessfully to negotiate a higher salary with the judge, arguing that his success should be rewarded. Mercy introduces Hobbs to bookie Gus Sands, who is keeping company with Memo Paris, Pop's niece. Hobbs has been infatuated with Memo since he came to the Knights. Hobbs' magic tricks appear to impress her.

Max Mercy writes a column in the paper about the judge's refusal to grant Hobbs a raise, and a fan uprising ensues. Hobbs, however, is more occupied with Memo and attempts to further their relationship. Pop warns Hobbs about Memo's tendency to impart bad luck to the people with whom she associates. Hobbs dismisses the warning, but soon after, he falls into a hitting slump. He tries to solve it in a number of ways, but all of them fail. He finally breaks out of it when he hits a home run in a game in which a mysterious woman rises from her seat a number of times. Before Hobbs can see who the woman is, she has left the game. Roy eventually meets the woman, Iris Lemon, and proceeds to court her. Upon finding out she is a grandmother, however, his desire for her drops and he turns his attention back to Memo Paris.

Memo rebuffs Roy's advances; Hobbs continues to play brilliantly and leads the Knights to a 17-game winning streak. With the Knights one game away from winning the National League pennant, Roy goes to a party hosted by Memo, and eats a large amount of food. He collapses and wakes up in a hospital bed. The doctor tells him he can play in the final game of the season, but after that he must retire if he wants to live. Hobbs wants to start a family with Memo and realizes he will have to have some source of money.

The judge offers Hobbs increasing amounts of money to lose the final game for the Knights. Hobbs makes a counter-offer of $35,000, which is accepted. That night, unable to sleep, he reads a letter from Iris. After seeing the word 'grandmother' in the letter, he discards it. The next day, he does play. During an at-bat, he fouls a pitch into the stands that strikes Iris, injuring her. The Wonderboy bat also splits in two lengthwise. Iris tells Roy that she is pregnant with his child. Now he's determined to do his best for their future. At the end of the game, with a chance to win it, Hobbs comes to bat against Herman Youngberry, a brilliant young pitcher very similar to Hobbs' at the same age. Youngberry strikes out Hobbs, ending the game and the season for the Knights.