George Clero just wants to be a hero; to be voted Something of the Year or Most Valuable Something. But after nine years in baseball, he's still stuck in the low minor leagues. Thinking it would help his career, he's even changed his name from Jorge Escalero to hide his Cuban heritage. Then, in the summer of 1960, his secret is revealed, and he's suddenly advanced to the Triple-A level because he's Cuban
Irony brings George no success. He soon finds himself "drafted" into the force invading Cuba at the Bay of Pigs. When captured, he is accused of being a mercenary at best, or at worst a CIA spy.
Only Fidel Castro believes George's claim that he's just a ballplayer. The dictator turns George into a privileged prisoner, taking him out of captivity to watch the 1961 World series (Reds vs the Yankees) and to ballfields where he humiliates the former catcher with his wicked curveball.
Fidel tries to entice George to defect by setting him up with the very beautiful and very committed revolutionary, Naty Cristobal. Spurred on by lust, George tries unsuccessfully to prove to Naty that he can become a revolutionary too.
When the Missile Crisis unfolds, and Cuban fears of a yanqui invasion grow, George is briefly returned to prison, where his suffering comrades now believe he has betrayed and abandoned them.
With danger lurking both within and without prison, George realizes he must devise a plan to save himself and his fellow captives. Using Castro's ego against him, along with the only thing he knows-baseball, George challenges the dictator to a baseball contest. The stakes: survival and freedom.
But what chance does a mere baseball man have against the iron-handed ruler?
