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Wonderboy flashed in the sun. It caught the sphere it was biggest. A noise like a twenty-one gun salute cracked the sky. There was a straining, ripping sound and a few drops of rain spattered to the ground somebody then shouted it was raining cats and dogs. By the time of Roy got in from second he was wading in water ankle deep.

This quote is from Chapter II of "Batter Up!" It represents Roy's first hit, and again, there are several levels of symbolism and metaphor packed into a few sentences. When Roy hits the ball, he enters his role as Sir Perceval in the story of the Fisher King and the Waste Land. The Waste Land is symbolized (at the most superficial level) by the dry and parched playing field. Not only has the team been suffering a "drought" in terms of having no wins, but the field itself has suffered an actual dry spell. Roy ends both with his amazing hit, literally "ripping" the clouds open and bringing on an enormous downpour of rain that last for three full days, at the end of which the playing field is once again green.

But there is also a sexual element to the scene. The story of Perceval is based on much earlier legends, which in turn are tied up in very ancient myths of fertility gods and goddesses. Wonderboy is nothing if not a phallic symbol, and terms like "ripping" and "straining," as well as the spattered drops, are a kind of ejaculation. This itself is a metaphor for the life-giving force that Roy has within himself, capable of healing the Waste Land.

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