How does Troy use baseball to explain his life?

For Troy, baseball is a game he loved for the identity that it once gave him. He was looked up to, had an amazing future, and then poof..... one day it was over. On the other hand, he also despises the game of baseball for what it took away from him..... its segregation and the fact that it robbed him of his chance at greatness. Troy is caught in the changing culture and represents a generation lost in their understanding of the world around them.