Alive on opening day, p.16
Alive on Opening Day,
p.16
This would undoubtedly be the biggest moment of the senior’s baseball career.
“Hemp,” as his teammates called him, was more than up to the challenge, as he struck out the side on 12 pitches. When the Wildcats jogged past him to take their spots on the field for the bottom half of the ninth, they shook their heads and smiled ruefully. Dan heard a couple of them say, “Good pitch!” to their foe as they passed each other.
Dan looked to his left where his mother and father stood cheering, and to his right, where Gabbie stood holding baby Troy, and tears welled in his eyes. He realized in that moment that the game, the season, and likely his entire year, had come down to one half-inning of baseball. He leaned into Gabbie and plucked Troy from her hip, holding his son high above him, smiling as the child shrieked in delight.
Would Dan ever have the chance to take his own son to a Reds game, the way David had done for him so many times over the years?
He hadn’t taken a greenie since early that morning, and when he cuddled Troy into his cheek, the baby’s warmth and sweet smell made Dan sleepy. He yawned and rubbed his eyes before turning his attention to the field.
Dan’s future was a blurry unknown, but this moment was his and Troy’s and Gabbie’s, and the Hodges’. The only thing to do was enjoy this half-inning of baseball and root for the Eagles.
On the mound for Evansville was Mike Smithers, a typical fireballing reliever who had allowed only two runs all year long, and that’s exactly how many the Eagles needed to tie the game.
Carl Dishman, the catcher, led off the bottom of the ninth for South Pickens and he took some mighty hacks against Smithers but struck out on six pitches. Next up was the pitcher’s slot, and Croft sent in a pinch hitter, opting for sophomore second baseman Greg Ramsey. Ramsey had unusual power for a middle infielder and was known to swing for the fences. Smithers was having none of it, however, and threw his first pitch right at Ramsey, who was slow to react. At the last instant, Ramsey turned toward the backstop and took the blazing heat right in the middle of his back. While the Eagles crowd booed, Ramsey shimmied his shoulders to shake off the pain, then took his base.
Next up was leadoff man Jasmine. He worked the count to 3-2 against Smithers before fouling off a succession of fastballs and change-ups that had the big righty huffing on the mound. Finally, on the 12th pitch of the at-bat, Jasmine kept the bat on his shoulder and watched a close pitch just miss the outside corner of the plate.
“Looks like …" --yawn-- “… we might …” --yawn-- “… make this a game …” --yawn-- “… after all,” Dan said to David. The young man wore a dreamy expression, and his body looked rubbery.
Clara moved close to her son and put her arm around him. “Isn’t this exciting?” she asked, motioning with her eyes to Gabbie.
Gabbie took Troy from Dan, who didn’t seem to notice. “We love you, Dan.”
“I love you guys, too,” he grinned. He cleared his throat and managed a vigorous, “Come on, Eagles!”.
David squeezed his son’s hand and echoed the boy’s sentiments. “Yeah, let’s get ‘em South Pick!”.
The women yelled, too, and Troy shrieked in delight.
Back on the field, shortstop Jim Franklin hit a hard grounder down the third-base line, but St. Lydia’s hot-corner man made a kneeling stop and stepped on the bag for the second out. He fired the ball to second, but Ramsey was too quick and beat the throw back to the bag by two steps.
Dan yawned and leaned into his mother. “This is a really great game, Mom,” he said.
“Yes, it is, Dan,” she told him, tears streaking down her cheeks. She nudged him with her elbow and said, “Now sit up and watch Ted bat, dear.”
At the name of his strapping friend, Dan did perk up, and he zeroed in on Waterman, just stepping into the batter’s box.
“Go get ‘em, Ted!” Dan called out.
Waterman waved his left hand in Dan’s direction, but he didn’t look back. Instead, he pumped his bat toward the mound, sizing up Smithers and trying to get his timing right.
Smithers reared back and unleashed a monstrous fastball that popped into the catcher’s mitt seemingly before it even left the pitcher’s hand. Waterman swung hard, but be was embarrassingly late, and the Evansville crowd chided him.
“Nice breeze tonight!” one of them shouted out.
Dan rubbed his eyes again. “He’s leaning forward, Dad.” Then, in a louder voice, “You’re leaning too far forward, Ted! Stay on your back foot!”
Waterman held his hand up to the plate umpire, asking for time. He stepped out of the box and looked toward Dan, who gave him a “thumbs-up” gesture and smiled through red, puffy eyes.
Dan yawned and yelled again: “You can do it, Ted! Hit a home run and get this thing over with.”
Ted gave a slight smile and a quick nod, but stepped back to the plate with renewed confidence.
In the stands, David locked hands with Dan and Clara, and Gabbie gathered in as close as she could.
Smithers looked at the runners on first and second more out of habit than necessity, because if he could get Waterman, nothing else would matter.
The right-hander went into his windup and uncorked a blazing fastball that was a blur as it screamed toward Waterman, who rocked back on his left foot before exploding forward to make contact with the ball, dead-center over the plate.
The ball rocketed off the sweet spot of Ted’s bat and arced high into deep center field. Waterman ran toward first base while Smithers spun to watch the flight of the ball. Jeff Huber, St. Lydia’s center fielder, back-pedaled quickly, keeping his eye on the ball, and then turned to run toward the outfield fence.
David threw his hands in the air and stood, excited to watch the play unfold. He sensed Gabbie had stood, too, holding Troy just a few feet away. As the ball got smaller and smaller against the darkening sky, David realized that something wasn’t quite right, that something was missing.
He snapped his eyes toward his wife, still seated beside him, and crying full-on now. There in her lap, she cradled Dan’s head, and she bent to kiss her unconscious son.
“We’ll see you on Opening Day, honey,” Clara whispered.
To Be Continued(?)
Did the Eagles win the title? When will Dan Hodges wake up again? And when he does, what will his life — and his family’s lives — be like?
Dan’s story continues in the next installment of the “Alive on Opening Day” series, available soon. If you want to be the first to read the continuing saga, sign up on my website (http://adamhugheswriter.com/get-free-short-stories/) to receive notification when the next book goes live … AND a series of free short stories.
In the meantime, you can also check out my other work at Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/hoosierpen.
Thanks for reading!
Adam Hughes
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About the Author
I am a chemist and mathematician by training, an IT professional by trade, and an author at heart. I live in central Indiana and frequently work Hoosier climes into my stories.
My writing tastes run from sports to horror and are meant for a mixture of audiences. You can find free short stories and other goodies on my website at:
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Adam Hughes, Alive on Opening Day
