Chapter 79

While the Dodgers were taking the two games in Washington from the Nationals, the Indians and Rays were locked in a struggle in the ALCS. With the additional two days needed for the Wild Card Showdown, the league had eliminated two travel days during the playoffs – one during the divisional series and one during the championship series. That meant the teams played Friday afternoon in Washington and flew back across the continent for a Saturday night game in Los Angeles.

Cleveland was a lot closer to Tampa, so it wasn't an big of a problem in that series, which Cleveland led, 3-2, when the games shifted back to Progressive Field for the last two contests.

The bigger problem for all the teams in the league championship series was how to position their pitching staffs. In previous years, the Game 1 starter would be able to pitch three times if his manager was willing to cut out one of his rest days. That mean a team with three good starters wouldn't need to dip down for its No. 4 pitcher.

Now it was necessary. Udo had returned to pitch Game 5 in Washington but it would be up to Wilkie Sarver and Javier Jimenez to get the team to the World Series. Neither had fared well in the postseason. Sarver had been battered by St. Louis in his only start during the Divisional Series and then had been hit hard by the Nationals during Game 2 in Los Angeles.

Jimenez had pitched well in his two starts but had left trailing both times. The Dodgers came back to win against the Cardinals but couldn't make up the ground against the Nationals in Game 3.

The Nationals were in worse shape. They would have to use their sixth starter if Game 7 rolled around – thanks to losing two of their pitchers in a clubhouse brawl during Game 3 (which the team finally acknowledged before the teams headed back to Los Angeles) and being forced to use their mop-up pitcher (the No. 5 during the regular season in Game 5).

Brock was surprised to find a great many fans already in their seats when he came out for infield practice before Game 6. It was Saturday morning in Los Angeles. That usually meant the pretty people were still recovering from their excess the night before.

The game would start at 1 p.m. in Los Angeles or four p.m. on the East Coast. Game 7 of the American League Championship Series would be in prime time back East. The Rays had taken Game 6 on Friday afternoon to tie the series at 3-3 – something the folks in Los Angeles hoped the Nationals couldn't accomplish.

The Nationals were starting their No. 3 pitcher, who had been knocked around pretty well in Game 2. The Dodgers countered with Wilkie Sarver, who hadn't had a decent game since early September.

Brock still was looking for his first hit against a National pitcher. The rest of the team had performed well during the last two contests in Washington, but Brock had gone 0-for-10 with a walk. That left him hitting 1-for-32 in the playoffs – and it led him to approach Jim LaCross before Game 6.

"Maybe I should take a seat today," he said without preamble.

LaCross looked up from his lineup to see Brock standing in the doorway.

"Something bothering you?" LaCross asked, wondering if perhaps Brock's ankle was giving him trouble.

"Just my paltry batting average," Brock admitted.

"I'm not worried about that," LaCross replied, gesturing dismissively. "You'll get your hits. You're not doing anything you didn't do all season. You're still playing solid defense. You'll break out."

"OK," Brock said. "I mean, I wasn't really worried about the numbers. I was more worried that was I was hurting the team."

"I know that," LaCross said instantly. "If it wasn't an afternoon game, I'd think about it. But Fred is brutal in the afternoon. The doctor says it's not his eyes but I can't see any other reason for it. It doesn't matter. I plan to start you at second unless you don't want me to."

"No, I'll play," Brock said. "I just, well, I wanted to let you know my ego won't be bruised if you plant me on the bench."

"Like I give a shit about your ego," LaCross said with a laugh as he gestured Brock to get the hell out of his office.

Sarver managed to get through the first inning without giving up a hit. In fact, he went three-up, three-down for the first time in 31 innings.

Milton led off the bottom of the first for Los Angeles with a solo homer than just curled inside the left-field foul pole. Driesbach followed with a double to right and Wade added a single to bring the count to 2-0.

Al worked the count to 3-2 before grounding into a double play but Josh took a fastball to the opposite field for the team's second solo homer of the inning. Brock couldn't sustain the momentum, though, grounding out sharply to third to end the frame.

Sarver had a rare lead to work with and seemed content to make it stand up. He kept his pitches down in the strike zone and didn't allow any bases-on-balls. That had been his undoing in his most recent starts.

He made it to the fifth without allowing a run by which time the Dodgers held a five-run lead. Los Angeles tacked on single runs in the sixth and seventh to lead 7-1 when LaCross went to his bullpen. Brock had made the final out of the seventh (to go 0-for-4 during the game) so LaCross made a double switch, putting Fred in to play second and bat ninth and letting the pitcher hit in Brock's spot in the lineup.

He pulled up a seat on the bench beside Sarver, who was taking in the game.

"Nice outing," Brock said conversationally.

"I felt good today," Wilkie replied. "I was relaxed for some reason when I woke up today. Maybe it was sleeping in my own bed."

"Whatever it was, don't change it," Brock said with a laugh.

"Oh, I don't plan to," Wilkie replied earnestly. "I've been thinking about everything I did today. I plan to do the same exact thing next time I pitch. I'm even going to mark which underwear I put on this morning to make sure I wear them again."

Brock couldn't decide if the pitcher was serious or joking but he realized why he rarely sat down to have a conversation with anyone on the staff. He turned to see Raphael Mendoza trying to hide a smile.

Brock stood, mostly to get away from the pitcher, and headed into the clubhouse, figuring he would relieve his bladder and get a bottle of water. The sight he found brought him up short.

There was a TV crew already set up and all the lockers were covered with plastic. There were a couple dozen bottles of champagne sitting out and the clubhouse attendant was bustling around to make sure nothing valuable was left uncovered.

Brock shook his head and decided he really didn't need to piss badly enough to wander through the crowd. Instead he came back to the dugout and sat down beside Broderick Williams.

"I saw you talking to the Space Cowboy," Williams laughed. "I bet that went well."

"I didn't realize he was that weird," Brock admitted ruefully. Brock had been on the DL when Sarver was called up and he hadn't had much time to visit with the pitcher. He was thankful for his lack of time now.

"He's superstitious," Williams said. "If he has a good game, he won't change anything for the next month. I'm not even sure he bathes."

"Bet his wife loves that," Brock joked.

"He's not married," Williams replied. "Can you imagine that? I mean, I'll make sure I use the same bat if I have a good game and I'm still using the same glove I used in the minors. But he takes things a little too far."

"He said he'll mark his underwear to make sure he wears them next game," Brock told him. "He made no mention of washing them first."

"That's why they make the pitchers dress on the other side of the locker room," Williams rejoined with a chuckle. "He probably won't. You're buddies with Zack. Is he nuts, too?"

"Doesn't seem to be but you never know," Brock said. "Did you see how they got the locker room set up?"

"They're thinking we'll throw a big party after we win," Williams answered. "Anything like that planned?"

"I don't think so," Brock said. "I figured it would be just like when we bounced St. Louis. We'd go in, play nice with the newsies for a minute, get dressed and go the hell home. That's what I planned to do."

"Like you planned to play nice with the newsies," Williams said with a grin. "The rest I can see. That one, well, I want to be there when it happens."

"I don't mind when they stick to the game," Brock pointed out. "It's when they get into other shit that it pisses me off. That whole thing in Washington, I don't think they asked me one question that pertained to baseball. It was all about that Congresswoman or the idiot getting drunk in the locker room. You know, I haven't had a hit in this series. I mean not a fucking one. No one had asked me about it."

"You haven't had a hit in the series?" Williams asked, turning to Brock.

"Not a one," Brock replied. "I haven't had a hit since Game 2 in St. Louis. I'm something like 1-for-36 in the postseason. I figured the stats guys would be up my ass with a microscope when we got back to L.A. Instead, all I was asked today was if I talked to my agent about what I would ask for in arbitration. I'm not sure anyone even noticed that I suck."

"It's probably because you do so many other things for the team," Williams replied, returning his attention to the game. The Nationals had put two runners on base and LaCross was bringing in a better reliever before Washington scratched back into the game.

"I don't really do much," Brock replied with a frown.

"You hold us together," Williams answered. "It might be harder to see from where you're sitting. I was here before you got here. Your personality is what this team was lacking. Al is a great player. Don't get me wrong. But he doesn't have that fire. He is so talented that he never looks like he's trying. I mean, I know he's trying but he never looks like it. You busted your ass from Day 1. I mean, shit, I don't think I've ever seen you after a game where you weren't dirty. Hell, most of the time, you're bleeding from somewhere or bruised somewhere. You went full-bore from the moment you stepped on the field.

"We got criticized two years ago for being lazy. It wasn't laziness. It was nonchalance. Al is the leader but he makes the game look easy. You know he works as hard on his skills as anyone. So do I. Josh is the same way. He's looked at by almost everyone as this goofball. He's always joking or making a silly comment. But he's a worker. He put forth the time and energy to become a good catcher. Now he's doing the same thing at third. But it never looked that way. With you, no one will ever think we don't care. All they have to do is see you on the field and that perception changes.

"It's sort of ironic when you think about it. It took getting a guy from one of baseball's historically bad franchises to teach these guys how to win."

The final out in the top of the ninth didn't set off a wild celebration. The players didn't charge from the dugout and pile on their teammates. In fact, it looked remarkably like most of the other games they'd won during the season. The ones on the field were congratulated by the ones in the dugout.

The biggest difference was with the fans. First off, very few had left. They were on their feet throughout the ninth inning, cheering every strike and every out. When Cesar Davis settled under a routine fly ball to close out the game, Rich Jeffcoat accepted congratulations from Danys Sanchez and that was it.

The National League President would present the Warren C. Giles trophy in the locker room. Brock had seen it on a stand while he was inside.

"Let's do it out here," Al suggested, as the players shook hands with their teammates.

"They already got shit set up in the locker room," Brock pointed out.

Al shrugged.

"I'm good with out here," Josh put in. Wade agreed and Brock hustled down to alert Jim LaCross of the change of plans. He found the manager standing in the middle of the locker room with his hands on his hips, taking in what once had been the team's dressing facilities.

"We're going to do the trophy in front of the fans," Brock told him. "We didn't plan to celebrate the fact we've gotten to where we should have been."

"Don't tell me," LaCross said. "Tell them. I had no idea this shit was going on."

Brock found the team's president and owner standing off to the side. He approached Victor Turturro and Millicent Swanson.

"Uh, if no one minds, we're not going to celebrate with champagne and stuff," Brock said cautiously. "We'd prefer to do the trophy thing outside where the fans can watch."

The pair of experienced listeners exchanged glances.

"I think that's a good idea but TV is already set up in here," the owner pointed out.

"They can move their stuff," Turturro announced. "It's not like they don't have cameras on the field. This way we won't have to spend $20,000 renovating this room in the next two days."