 Raised in a local home for orphaned boys, Hobie Shanks couldn t wait to leave the county as soon as he was old enough. But he had pleasant memories of the times he spent with the Waltons. Hobie returns for a visit, and his boasts of being scouted by a major league baseball team thrill almost all the Waltons (and the rest of the community.) Hobie resists the Waltons  pushing him to visit the orphanage where some of the young boys there would see a hopeful future in him, so John Boy suggests organizing a baseball game with the boys.