Robert Campbell, a businessman from St. Louis, heads to Chicago in 1867 and meets William Hulbert, a mysterious man who tells him he plans to build a baseball field. Hulbert claims that baseball in America will be a grand new pastime and a grand new business opportunity.

In 2006, Scott Banks is a devoted Cubs fan even though he's moved to St. Louis and is married to his well-meaning, Cardinal-loving wife. Life for Banks is on cruise control until he gets the chance to fulfill a dream of a lifetime-but it comes with a curveball. Suddenly, he's forced to face the gut-wrenching realities that have him swinging and missing life's off-speed pitches. Modern time is intertwined with a nineteenth-century depiction of the birth of a storied rivalry in Curveballs and Changeups.