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ACT ONE

Meg and Joe Boyd are sitting in front of their television set. Meg attempts to have a conversation with her husband, Joe, but he is too engrossed with the Washington Senators baseball game he is watching, (“Six Months Out of Every Year�). The game ends with the Senators losing to the Yankees, as Joe daydreams of being the baseball hero that would sell his soul to the devil to be a “long ball hitter.�

Mysteriously, he finds a stranger on his porch, Applegate, who engages him in a conversation about baseball. After being accused of speaking to “thin air� by his wife’s friends, he realizes that Applegate is the devil himself. Applegate offers him a chance to save the Senators by becoming Joe Hardy, a 22 year-old baseball star. Tempted by an opportunity to help his favorite team, but being a smart business man, he insists on an escape clause in case he decides he doesn't like being a baseball player. Reluctantly, Applegate agrees and tells Joe that has until the last day of the