In Stephen King’s novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Trisha McFarland follows baseball on the radio.
Trisha becomes lost in the woods during a family hike and uses a small radio for comfort and orientation. She listens to broadcasts involving baseball player Tom Gordon, whose imagined presence becomes an important source of courage while she tries to survive alone.
The baseball broadcasts give the story a strong emotional anchor. Trisha’s attachment to Gordon is not based on direct contact; instead, the radio and her imagination help her maintain a connection to the outside world. The novel blends wilderness survival with psychological and supernatural tension.
The book was published in 1999. Tom Gordon was a real Major League Baseball pitcher, best known for his time with the Boston Red Sox and other teams, but the novel’s events and supernatural elements are fictional.