This story was originally published on Aug. 25, 2022. It was included in a year-end list of SI’s best stories of 2022.
In 1956, Sports Illustrated surveyed players at the Little League World Series. The question was, “What is the height of your ambition?” And the answer, for almost everyone, was, “I want to play baseball.” In other words: Exactly what one might expect.
But not for Robert Woolery of Colton, Calif. The 12-year-old pitcher knew just where his ambitions lay: He wanted to be a dentist. Well, sure, a ballplayer, too. But a dentist first.
