At the end of his rookie year, already a World Series pitching hero, Matthew Brady (Matty) Johnson is defended by his ballclub's lawyer at a disciplinary hearing before the Commissioner of Baseball. Oddly, the lawyer asks for pity because he sees the end of that career: "One day we will surely find buy develop and send to each king of the hill like Matty a young assassin who will topple him from that hill and send him -- swiftly or slowly as his pride dictates -- down the runway to oblivion." Nineteen years later, the day and the "assassin" seem to have arrived. A figure unexpectedly emerging out of Matty's past to challenge him on and off the ballfield unnerves him to the point where his skills swiftly crumble and, at season's end, he is given his unconditional release. Matty, a 300 game winner and sure-fire Hall of Famer, does not accept the abrupt dismissal. Although he has become a star player just before the era of free agency and astronomical salaries, he is secure enough to lead the highstyle life of an in-demand, twice-divorced jock. He is a witty, perceptive, authoritative professional with a sportscasting career waiting for him... but he sees himself as ageless, completely capable of regaining control of his game. He keeps his athletically "old" body in better shape than most younger players. And he knows more, and can apply more, about the physical and psychological elements of pitching than anyone else in baseball. He's far from ready to step down from that hill. After his release he takes his case public, in the three off-season appearances -- before boosters, young athletes and a hometown crowd -- that provide the frame for ONE OF THE BOYS. In searing, confessional tones -- lashing out with lingering love, bitterness and broad bawdy humor at the game that has compelled, fulfilled and eluded him -- he reveals the total story of his inner and outer life in baseball: the search for an illusional perfection; the unfulfillments of sex and celebrity; camaraderie and antagonism in locker rooms and dugouts; competition on the playing field turned dangerous and deadly; the power and the glory, and the humiliations, of being king of the hill. What secret did his all-time great manager fail to share with him? Who is that dim figure out of the past who brought him down so low? And will he stay down? Read on...