Andrew Jackson Fielder dreams about pitching in the major leagues. It is an unlikely dream for a kid growing up in Smackover, Arkansas, in 1939. But for Fielder, it comes true, partly due to the afternoons he and his brother spend practicing pitches in a pipe yard down in the south Arkansas oil patch. However, this humorous coming of age story is more about learning to live life and take responsibility for bad decisions than it is about playing baseball. During World War II, Jackson is shot down and ends up in a prisoner of war camp. Following months of abuse, he is "recruited" by a Japanese...