The Prospect, Eliot Parker [free ebooks for android .TXT] 📗

in the blazing August summer was worse than miserable.
Walter Mann had tried everything to change the fortunes of his team. Changing the lineup seemed to be the only successful remedy to stop the losing. By shifting the roster, the team batting average had improved almost twenty points. Even though Walter’s team was built around pitching and defense, lineup changes needed to be made. Essentially, the changes were simple. First baseman Harry Deitzler was placed at the top of the lineup, since he was one of the fastest players on the team and a legitimate threat to steal bases. Pat Sutton and Ryan Head were placed second and third respectively behind Harry. Pat and Ryan were essentially the same type of hitter: smart, aggressive, and they forced opposing pitchers to work all areas of the strike zone, resulting in deep pitching counts. Chaz Martinez batted fourth, appropriately named the “cleanup spot,” because the Dominican was one of the best hitters in the league and led all hitters in runs batted in for the season. Therefore, a pitcher could not “pitch around” or intentionally walk Pat and Ryan because Chaz was likely to bring those runners home with his clutch hitting.
The manager was also careful not to chastise his players. Years of experience as a manager and player taught the skipper that the psyches of eighteen to twenty-three year olds could not handle being continuously berated like a toddler who had mistakenly soiled the bed sheets. Instead, subtle changes and motivational techniques along with traditional tactile practices emphasizing the fundamentals of the game normally was very successful pulling a team from a perilous valley of losing.
The third game of the series between the Loggers and the Augusta Greenjackets finally saw some of the Walter’s implementations come to fruition. For the second consecutive game in the series, the Loggers were in the midst of an impressive pitching performance. Left-hander Michael McBride, the fourth pitcher in the starting rotation, scattered six hits over five shutout innings to help Sheaville build a 4-0 lead over Augusta.
During the first five frames, McBride registered six strikeouts and recorded only two fly ball outs. The lefthander also coaxed the Greenjackets into 12 ground ball outs, leading to three double plays.
Walter stood rigidly in the dugout, charting the pitching and hitting performances of his players. As he glanced down the checker-boxed page, the manager was amazed at the productivity generated from the first four hitters in the Loggers’ lineup.
Harry Detizler had singled once, struck out once, and walked twice. During his two appearances on first, Harry stole two bases, one on a passed ball and the other on a close throw from home plate to second base. Once Harry was on second, Pat, Ryan and Chaz did the rest. Chaz was the main offensive catalyst for the Loggers. The shortstop had three singles and three RBI’s, which comprised three of the Sheaville’s seven hits. Pat Sutton and Ryan Head crossed the plate twice as a result.
During the seventh inning stretch, with Sheaville still leading 4-0, Walter asked his players to squeeze together tightly on the bench, and to listen.
“Men, we gotten us a lead here, and in the past few weeks we have lost leads, so tonight, let’s not continue it.”
The team nodded in agreement, having experienced enough close losses throughout the season to know the feeling without having to say one word.
On one hand, Chaz Martinez was pounding his fist into the glove, loosening the tight leather and prepping it for the fury of soft and fast ground balls and potential fly balls that would occur over the next several innings. Ryan and Pat listened to Walter intently, while Shane was sitting on the left end of the bench, dressed in the visiting gray uniform with the blue embroidered “Loggers” logo, starting off into the darkening sky in center field.
Walter focused on McBride, and the sandy-hair, fair skinned pitcher with freckles and a stout nose blinked eagerly at his manager.
“Mike, you are out. I am going to put Chris in and see how he does.” Walter’s eyes narrowed on closer Chris Taylor. “I need you to throw some good stuff out there, lad. I need Martinez and Head to play smart, stay in front of the ball, and Pat, you need to make sure the outfielders talk to each other. This can be the series that we get this thing here turned around boys. So let’s do it.”
Emotionally refreshed from the reminders, the team scurried out of the dugout and took their positions in between the chalk. Shane looked up, watching them leave one by one but maintained an expressionless face.
Over the next three innings, the Loggers followed the instructions of Walter’s prescription for success. With Biggie leaning on the handrail next to the steps, arms folded, gnawing on a toothpick and Shane occasionally watching the action, the Loggers overcame a solo Greenjackets home run to win the game 4-1.
Chris Taylor was in total control. By using a variety of off-speed pitches, particularly a cutting slider and sinking changeup, Chris was able to keep the Augusta hitters from anticipating the pitch sequence. Except for Augusta left-fielder Curtis Johnson, who managed to jump ahead of the slider before it sliced to the inside of home plate and crush it to right field, Taylor forced several ground ball outs and only to balls left the infield.
Two walks and a slow rolling ground ball to second base could have been trouble in the ninth inning, but Chaz dove to his left, barehanded the baseball and flung it to Ryan who was able to spin sideways to his left and make a perfect throw into the out-stretched right arm of first baseman Harry Deitzler for the final two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning. Walter said after the game that it was the best double play in a clutch situation he has witnessed in a long time.
Walter’s demands were met and the Sheaville Loggers had a 4-1 win and, more importantly, a four game sweep of Augusta. The four victories put Sheaville at 62-47 heading into the final three weeks of the season.
The wins and turnaround was going to make news in Sheaville; most of the players were sure of that. But the team was committed to earning a chance to play Charleston in the championship game, even though nobody made that assertion public knowledge.
As most of the players were heading towards the motor coach bus for the long ride back to Sheaville, Harry lagged behind and skipped along side Shane, who was walking with his bats and glove in tote with his head down.
Shane told Harry, Ryan, and Chaz about the situation with Olivia. However, each teammate heard the news separately. As expected, Shane received a variety of responses and reactions. Harry believed the news was fantastic and that a baby would be a great way to give Shane and Joann a reason to become closer, since the distance between them resembled the deep, cavernous valley between two rolling Appalachian mountains. The flippant Chaz laughed and praised Shane for finally ending his tenuous years of virginity and shrugged off the baby as an unimportant consequence. But Ryan had said nothing, and that worried Shane. Usually, when Ryan was silent on any issue, it normally indicated dissatisfaction. Ryan Head was the only person Shane knew who utilized analytical thought to its fullest extreme. Contrary to what Ryan might believe, Shane always valued his opinion.
Ryan spoke up, interrupting the crackling sound of sneakers grinding against the loose gravel and asphalt of the parking lot.
“B…b…buddy, I know that y…you wished you could h…h…help us win, but your p…p…presence in the clubhouse has a t…tremendous impact.”
“Huh, that’s the least of my concerns right now,” Shane scoffed, seeing the outline of the bus in the distance.
“I s…saw you look…look…looking into the s…sky and all. Y…you should know t…t…that the season is not over and you ap…appeal still has to be r…r…reviewed. W..w…we all appreciate what you have done to h…h…help the team.”
Shane faced his friend, who was intently looking ahead matching Shane’s walking pace step for step. Shane looked away from Ryan but knew the comments had the best intentions.
“Sometimes Harry, I think that I cannot help myself. I mean, mama and now Olivia and this baby.” Looking upwards into the milky, moonlit summer sky, Shane asked, “My God, what have I done to deserve this.”
“Y…you have d…done nothing. M…m…made some mistakes, but that is okay. W…we all do. B…but the important thing i…i…is not to let them ov…overtake your life. S…Shane, you are going to be a star, a g…g…great baseball player. Not t…to mention, a f…f…fantastic father. Th…things are opening up for you p…pal.
The thought made Shane grin with disbelief. “I guess that depends on who you talk to.” The pitcher inhaled and exhaled a deep breath, and was frantically looking in his shorts pockets for a pack of cigarettes, but they were empty.
“It just seems like everything was going so well for me, for us, for Sheaville. Then, after that fight, it was like a snowball that just got bigger and bigger. Now Mama is out of a job, I am not pitching, Olivia is knocked up, her father hates me…and for that matter, I hate him. Ryan, let me ask you something.
“S…sure buddy.” Both players stopped walking, now residing inches from the buses’ flat boarding platform.
“When those kids made fun of you a few years ago, for your stuttering, I know that you weren’t playing good baseball then. How in Christ’s name did you manage to keep going out there, playing hard, practicing, and standing side by side with those assholes?”
Ryan’s eyes started intently at Shane. His dim pupils were pulsating and his nose twitched, indicating to Shane that the infielder was recollecting and trying to remember a painful part of his past.
“I…I…I received a…a lot of support from my parents, f…from my t…t…teachers and f…from my coach. I depended on them t…t…to help me get through the t…tough times.”
Shane looked over his shoulder, startled by a noise. It was Biggie Rowan, tossing a bag of bats onto one of the loading cabins under the bus. When Biggie saw Shane, he pressed his lips tightly against his face, although Shane could still make out the silver metal wiring glistening in the moonlight, holding the catcher’s repaired jaw in place.
Ryan had shifted weight onto his back leg and was now leaning away from Shane. Pausing thoughtfully, he spoke melodically.
“Y…y…you do not have to do th…this alone. I…I…am here for you. S…s…so is Chaz and H…Harry. I th…think you need to tell W…Walter about this. Olivia w…would be cr…cr…crushed to see you like this. S…she needs you to be st…strong and c…capable. Y…you can be. A…And you will.”
Exhaust from the bus’s parking brake hissed into the increasingly damp night air. Lake Olmstead Stadium fell silent now, with most of the fans and Greenjackets players having vacated the area.
Shane patted Ryan on the shoulder and thanked him for the advice. Even though it resembled a pep talk, Ryan showed concern and interest, real interest in what was going to happen to Shane.
For this firs time in a while, heading back to Sheaville did not seem quite so strenuous for Shane or the Loggers. Winning and sound advice are the perfect cure for an ailing team, complete with an emotionally bruised starting pitcher.

XXX
Sitting in the back room of Phil Rodney’s Department Store was the only place in town where Shane could simply escape from the rigors of small town life. Thanks in part to The Charleston Gazette and some town gossip, news of the Logggers’ appeal to league commissioner