Heart of a Champion

One literary element that applies to the story of Heart Of A Champion is the conflict. Seth Barham was 7 years old when he lost his dad. His dad died due to a stroke. One day Seth meets Jimmy who was a really good baseball player. Jimmy’s father played triple AAA baseball which is very good and tough to get to. This really changed Seth’s life because it turns out he wants to be just like Jimmy. Seth and Jimmy start to practice week after week to get better. Seth notices how Jimmy’s father is very hard on Jimmy. But when Seth made a mistake Jimmy’s father was nice about it and gave him confidence. Jimmy said to Seth that his father pushed him to work hard because it was the only way he could get better. The author shows the conflict throughout the book. “ He died ten years ago, when I was seven.”

Another literary element that applies to the story of Heart Of A Champion is plot of the story. The story took place in San Francisco, California in Redwood city. Seth and Jimmy always played baseball down the street at Henry Ford. They would practice for hours with Jimmy’s father to get better and better. They both eventually tried out for the little league team. Jimmy didn’t have to try out because he was so good. Seth had to try out and didn’t make the top team which really upset him. Seth was upset because he was going to be separated with Jimmy. Things started to fall apart. Jimmy’s father got divorced and started to drink. Jimmy was moving to Belmont due to his father causing to much problems for them. It turns out that Seth’s team was playing against Jimmy’s team. Seth arrived to the game 2 hours early and it turns out Jimmy was there hitting balls in the cages.

They decided to have a catch together even though they were on opposite teams. Seth’s team had a loosing streak and it turns out Jimmy’s team beats them easily. Jimmy moves back to Redwood city because his father stopped causing problems for them. Jimmy tries out for Seth’s baseball team and obviously makes it with no problem. Jimmy plays great and gets amazing scouts by major league coaches. All Jimmy ever wanted was to play in the major leagues. It was finally time for high school try outs and Jimmy made Varsity but Seth made Jv. This disappointed him even more. Jimmy and this other kid Todd were the best players on Varsity. Seth starts to play lousy and starts to loose his confidence. Jimmy and Todd started to drink and got suspended for the championship game! Without Jimmy and Todd they lost! Season was over and so was school. Jimmy told Seth how he was going to play for the allstar team during the summer. This means they were separated. Finally school started again and baseball did to.

This time both Jimmy and Seth made the varsity baseball team. They started off the season 3-0 and then after the 3rd game Jimmy asked Seth to take a ride. It turns out that they drank champagne together at an area where nobody can see them. Seth’s mom noticed that he was drunk when he got home and told him to never get in the car with Jimmy again. The next couple games they kept on winning and winning. Then one day Jimmy got suspended! He got suspended for cutting class because he hated school. Seth sort of cheered him up and changed his mind. The state champs were coming and everybody was preparing. All of the sudden in the middle of the night the phone started to ring. Jimmy died in a car accident. Everybody was so sad and down by this tragedy. The team decided to play in state champs because that’s what Jimmy would have wanted. They won the state champs for Jimmy. They all cheered and were happy but then thought about Jimmy.

The last literary element is the tone of the story. The state championship game was a day away. The tragedy of Jimmy was a huge shock to everybody. Jimmy died in a car accident. The author’s attitude was tense and tragic. Everybody was silent and thinking about Jimmy. Whether if they were going to win or loose the big game without there best player. “Sharront drew even with me. He put his hands on my shoulders Jimmy is dead, he whispered.”

The story Heart Of A Champion was one powerful book. It really touches your emotions. Jimmy was known to be a drinker and he was an addict. He was the greatest baseball player. The tragedy of Jimmy dying in a car accident was so touching. As readers we will never now if drinking caused him to die in the car accident.