In the rural town of Livingston, Montana, twelve-year-old Chuck Murdock has nightmares about nuclear war after his class visits a nearby underground missile silo. Chuck, who is the star pitcher on his Little League baseball team, the Livingston Mustangs, refuses to participate in a game because of his anti-nuclear stance. His teammates elect to forfeit the game rather than lose using a backup pitcher. Chuck’s schoolmates tease him about not playing, and accuse him of being angry and selfish, but his protest becomes national news. “Amazing Grace” Smith, a star player on the Boston Celtics, wants to join Chuck in his protest and resigns his $1 million-per-year job. At a press conference, he tells reporters that he is leaving basketball until there are no more nuclear weapons. Amazing’s resignation makes headlines worldwide and people question what could possibly make one of the most consistent players in professional basketball abandon his career. Amazing relocates to Livingston, and buys a dilapidated old barn, which he plans to turn into his temporary home. He and Chuck become fast friends. Chuck’s father, Russell Murdock, a former Air Force fighter pilot who owns the local lumberyard, tells his wife, Pamela, that he doubts Amazing’s sincerity. However, Pamela believes her husband is jealous of the athlete. Two of Amazing’s friends, George Maston and “Hot Dog” McNally, members of the Miami Dolphins football team, come to visit. Chuck and Amazing take them to view the missile launch site and military police threaten to arrest them. By day’s end, Hot Dog joins their cause. Following a moment of skepticism, George joins as well. George and Hot Dog return to Miami and announce their resignations. Soon other athletes come to Livingston to work for the movement, headquartered in Amazing’s barn. Russell Murdock berates his son, telling him to spend more time with the family. Meanwhile, the Murdock’s neighbors resent the constant presence of reporters on their block, and harass the family. Montana Senator Johnny B. Goode approaches Russell, asking him to call off his son’s protest, as it is creating unrest across the nation. Meanwhile, the President of the United States invites Chuck to the White House and informs the boy that he is in nuclear disarmament talks with the Soviet Union. The Soviets need to believe that the American people firmly support the President, and Chuck’s cause is undermining that support. Amazing’s financial advisor, Lynn Taylor, warns the athlete that a powerful industrialist named Alexander Jeffries is making threats against him. Their cause has inspired workers’ strikes and rioting all over the world, resulting in economic and political instability. Amazing confronts Jeffries, saying he is not intimidated. In retaliation, Jeffries blows up the athlete’s private airplane, killing him. The next morning, Chuck makes a brief statement to the news media. When reporters demand more, Chuck refuses to speak, and instead holds up three fingers. News of the incident travels quickly, and many other children refuse to speak in a show of solidarity. Soon, all professional sports teams, college teams and school teams stop playing, while more workers stage walkouts. The President and the Soviet premier meet to address the problem, and agree to disarm all nuclear weapons over the next seven years. The President asks Chuck to join him in telling the nation about the disarmament plan, but the boy refuses. Since Chuck is still not speaking, Russell Murdock explains that a lot can happen in seven years, including a change in government officials in both the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Because the anti-nuclear movement is at its peak, now is the time to push for total disarmament. Lynn Taylor and some of Amazing’s sports buddies plot to retaliate against Alexander Jeffries for Amazing’s murder. Although they cannot prove his guilt, they intimidate him by hiring the Goodyear blimp to circle his office building in Boston, Massachusetts. Emblazoned on the blimp is the message, “Mr. Jeffries, We Can See You,” signed “Friends of Amazing.” When the President learns that Jeffries was likely responsible for Amazing’s death, he orders the industrialist to divest himself of all stocks and resign from all boards immediately, or he will have the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) harassing him for the rest of his life. The President visits Chuck, showing him the nuclear disarmament agreement he has negotiated with the Soviet premier. Although Chuck is still not speaking, the President gives the boy his direct telephone number, telling him to call anytime. At the President’s urging, Chuck returns to baseball. Reporters from around the world are on hand to cover the Little League game, and the President is in the stands as well. Chuck goes to the pitcher’s mound and signals the catcher, who holds up his middle three fingers to honor Amazing. The people in the stands follow suit. Touched by this display, Chuck looks to the sky, saying, “Hello, Amazing,” and pitches the first ball of the season.