The Brooklyn Nine

The baseball that Felix makes—stitched with an “S” for Schneider—out of the remnants of the shoes his father made him demonstrates the way that baseball ties together generations throughout American history. The shoes were originally made in Germany by Felix’s cobbler father. This ties the shoes back in Schneider history to the time before they were Americans and when they had a lifestyle and a trade that was not valued once they moved to America. Felix, himself, crafts a baseball out of the shoes when he has his epiphany and decides that he will play baseball again. This is an important moment in his life, because even though he is never able to play professionally, it is at this moment that he changes the trajectory of his life. The ball later becomes a symbol of fatherly love when Felix gives it to Louis as Louis leaves for the war. Felix gives him the ball as a symbol of Louis himself, telling his son that he must bring the ball back. This act ties the ball in with further generations of the family. 

Felix’s ball also represents the humanity that Louis shows Jeremiah as he rescues the opposing Confederate soldier.