Francis Phelan is a washed-up baseball player who deserted his family back in the 1920s when he accidentally dropped his son while drunk and killed him. Since then, Phelan has been a shabby barfly, living from drink to drink.
Wandering into Albany, New York, Phelan seeks out his girlfriend and drinking companion Helen Archer. Phelan takes a few minor jobs to support his habit, while he thinks about the past and present.
A chance for a reconciliation with his wife Annie Phelan is abandoned when a group of local reformers, who have baseball bats, take it upon themselves to drive the homeless out of Albany.