In 1932 New York City during the Great Depression, Yankee Irving (Jake T. Austin) is a 10-year-old baseball fan whose father Stanley (Mandy Patinkin) works as a custodian at the Yankee Stadium. While the two are on the premises, a thief (disguised as a security guard) steals Babe Ruth's famous bat Darlin' (Whoopi Goldberg), for which Stanley is falsely blamed and is temporarily dismissed until Darlin' can be found. An irate Stanley foolishly accuses Yankee of stealing it and setting him up, and Stanley grounds Yankee by sending him to his room which Stanley would regret later on. The real thief is Lefty Maginnis (William H. Macy), a cheating pitcher for the Chicago Cubs who works for the Cubs' general manager Napoleon Cross (Robin Williams), who desires to see the Cubs defeat the New York Yankees during the 1932 World Series.