Fifteen minutes to game time. Schwartz, still dizzy hauled himself to his feet. He would need two quarts of Gatorade to get through the final game, then a coffee and a can of dip for the long midnight drive. But first he headed for the far dugout, where the kid was packing up his gear. He'd figure out what to say on the way over. All his life Schwartz had yearned to possess some single transcendent talent, some unique brilliance that the world would consent to call genius. Now that he's seen that kind of talent up close, he couldn't let it walk away.
-- Narration (Mike) (chapter 1)

Importance: Positioned early in the narrative, this quote efficiently defines some of the major aspects of Mike's character: his determination, his ability to think on his feet, and his drive to exert himself physically, even in the face of pain or fatigue. The relationship between Mike and...