On Nov. 11, 2006, at a banquet hall in the Atlanta suburbs, Chuck James and his bride, Julie, danced for the first time as husband and wife to a song relatively few have ever heard. Titled “Foothills of Forever,” it was written and performed by a minor league roommate of James who had become a close friend.



As opposed to hiring a professional, a professional ballplayer could have been viewed as a risky choice. But the James’s wouldn’t have even really cared if the performance was botched. This was Charlie Morton after all, the affable, goofy pitcher beloved in every clubhouse in which he’s stepped foot.



“I remember being really nervous,” Morton recently recalled. “They’re in front of me and everybody else is standing around them. It seemed like there were 30,000 people there. There were probably only like 100.”



This is the same Charlie Morton who 11 years later became a two-time Game 7 hero for the...