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Topic: Wow! (03/11/10)
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TITLE: To Pitch or Not? | Previous Challenge Entry
By Marilyn Meiners
03/12/10 -
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“No,” DJ said firmly.
A dejected Doug walked away mumbling to himself, “Just wait till I play in the big-leagues. Then DJ will wish he had played with me.”
Doug was our youngest son. From the time he was two all he wanted to do was play baseball. Actually, all he wanted to do was “pitch” the baseball.
When he was finally old enough for Little League, I marched him down to the field office and signed him up. He began his Little League career at the age of eight. He played for a local team, the Blue Knights.
Because he was the newest member on the team, and the youngest, he became one of their position players. Doug was not happy about this. He wanted to pitch!
At the beginning of every game Doug went to his coach and said, “Coach, can I pitch today?” The answer was always the same.
“Not today kid.”
He took the field and played his position perfectly, but a field position was not where he wanted to be. He wanted to pitch, period. After each game his question was always the same, “Mom, what do I have to do to get the coach to let me pitch?”
I had no answer for him. All I could do was pray God might give this little boy the desire of his heart.
The Blue Knights were a great team. They had won all but one of their regular season games. They were in the middle of play-offs, having won their first two games. If they could win this third game, they would be the division champs. Each player would get a nice trophy. Their picture would be in the local newspaper. Mom reminded Doug how fortunate he was to be playing for such a great coach with teammates who took the game seriously.
“Yeah, but I want to pitch,” sighed Doug.
“Maybe next year,” Mom encouraged.
Thursday night came, the night of the championship game. The field was bursting with excitement. Players were ecstatic, parents were loud, coaches were a bundle of nerves, and umpires were anxious to get the game started. Red Rockets were the home team tonight.
The Blue Knight batter took his stance at the plate.
The Red Rocket pitcher took his wind-up then threw.
“Strike one,” yelled the umpire, and the game was underway.
Both teams were using their best stuff tonight. Both teams wanted that winner’s trophy. Every time the Blue Knights went ahead in the score, the Red Rockets came back to tie the game. This was going to be a loooooooong night, at this rate.
Finally, it was the bottom of the sixth inning. The Red Rockets were at bat, Blue Knights were up by one. The Blue Knights were also down to their last pitcher. Bobby struck the first batter out. The second batter got a line drive up the middle for a base hit. Batter number three hit a high fly to center, second out. The next two batters got on base for bases loaded. Bobby was in trouble.
“Come on Bobby, you can do it,” the crowd yelled.
But Doug knew Bobby couldn’t.
Doug watched this scenario playing out. “Hmmmm,” he thought. “Bottom of the sixth, bases loaded, two outs, and Bobby has reached his pitch count limit. Now’s my chance.”
Doug boldly walked to his coach and said, “Can I pitch today coach, please?”
The coach quietly stared at this eight-year old. The crowd anxiously watched to see what the coach would do, who he would pitch. I sat praying.
Looking Doug in the eye he said, “Okay kid, now’s your chance. Get in there and show me what you can do.”
Doug confidently picked up the ball then strolled to the mound. After taking his warm-up pitches, the batter came to the plate with a smirk on his face.
With eight-year old confidence he took his wind-up and threw.
“Strike one,” yelled the umpire.
Digging his feet in a little more, the batter took his stance again.
Doug eyed the batter then threw.
“Strike two.”
By this time the coach was beside himself. “WOW! Can you believe this kid? He’s never pitched before. But look at him. He can!”
Third batter.
Third strike.
Game over.
The team went wild. The coach gave high-fives to Doug. Doug smiled appreciatively.
Doug’s baseball dream came true. At age eighteen he was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays.
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There was a small error repeated throughout--when a character is addressed by name (or nickname) in dialog, a comma is needed before their name.
Great use of the topic word, and a very pleasant read.