Aging baseball fan Joe Boyd (Robert Schafer) is given an opportunity to lead his beloved Washington Senators to victory by a devilish gent named Applegate (Ray Walston). Boyd is transformed into handsome young "Shoeless" Joe Hardy (Tab Hunter) from Hannibal, MO. Joe becomes the Senators' star player, but at the price of his immortal soul; he isn't terribly worried, however, since he's built an escape clause into his contract with Applegate. To see that Joe doesn't get a chance to exercise that clause, Applegate sends his luscious assistant Lola (Gwen Verdon) to seduce the ballplayer. This effort doesn't work, but Applegate still manages to cause Joe to lose his chance at salvation. But there is still a ray of hope: if Hardy can win the deciding pennant game, he'll be able to foil Applegate's master plan of causing the Senators to lose. With Lola's aid, Joe gives the devil more than his due.