Chapter 10: Baseball Tryouts

Monday March 3, 2014 – Freshman Year

First thing, I went looking for Tracy. She didn't see me come up behind her. I figured a little payback was in order so I gave her a hip check. Her head snapped around, and when she saw it was me, she got a big grin.

"Hey, sexy boy," she purred.

That got everyone's attention, and I actually blushed. She winked at me as she turned to go to her locker. It was nice to see her smiling.

After school, I went to baseball tryouts. There were a lot of guys and even a few girls trying out. I was glad to see several of my friends. Eve was one of the girls. Dad had gone with me over the weekend to get new equipment. I had outgrown everything. I had spent most of Sunday breaking in my glove. It had a long ways to go, but I was enjoying getting it ready for the season. I was excited to play ball this year since I had missed playing last summer.

Moose Douglas was our coach. He had to be in his late 50's or early 60's. This was his twenty-fifth year as the head baseball coach at Lincoln High. He was tough as nails and you did not want to get on his bad side. Coach Diamond, who was also our JV Football Coach, was Moose's assistant. Mike's dad, Rob Herndon, was a volunteer assistant. Coach Herndon had played minor league baseball as a pitcher.

Everyone gathered around to get their assignments.

"Evening gentlemen, I'm Moose. Just so we're clear, I answer to Coach or Moose. Either one is fine. Coach Diamond is going to work with the outfielders. Coach Herndon will work with the pitchers and catchers. The rest of the infield will be with me.

"I also want to clear something up for you freshmen and first year players. You will not be playing varsity ball. I don't believe in throwing anyone onto the varsity squad, before they have at least a year of high school ball under their belt. This is non-negotiable. The first one of you that has his momma or daddy call me about it will be running until they either drop or quit. I don't really care which.

"There will be two teams this year, varsity and JV. Normally, I try to put only first year players on JV. If you are cut from varsity I will consider ... did you hear that ... I will consider letting you try out for JV. I use the JV team to give first year players a chance to learn. If I feel that you could develop I'll let you play JV ball. I know that sounds harsh, but it has worked for twenty-five years. Are there any questions before we get started?"

The hell he said. I was not a happy camper knowing I had no shot of playing varsity ball. Moose had been looking at me when he asked the question. They had the pitchers sign up to tryout. They wanted to have each of us to throw fifteen balls. Coach Herndon only had four catchers so we had to take turns. Of course freshmen went last.

I went with Moose to try out at shortstop. Moose basically worked out with the varsity for the first half of practice, while the rest of us played catch. We finally got bored and one of the guys went and got a bat. We were shagging grounders and goofing off when Moose finally let the varsity go for the day.

They put us into groups of four. He would hit twenty balls and we were to throw it to first. Nothing fancy was expected. He just wanted to see if you could field a grounder and throw it to first base. We had nine freshmen so we were put into the last groups.

I about screamed when I was called over to pitch, right before my group got our turn at the infield tryouts. The odd guy out was Alan. We had begged him to try out, but his heart wasn't in it. He actually gave me a dirty look when he had to take my place.

Of course there were five remaining pitchers and I was told to wait some more. I got one of the guys to play long toss so I could loosen up. He then helped me stretch. By now the infield tryouts were done and it was finally my turn to pitch. The other catchers wanted to leave, so Mike volunteered. He had to wait for his dad anyways.

Coach Herndon had me take the mound.

"David, I don't want to see how hard you can pitch. The easiest way to mess up your arm is to throw hard, and wrong. I want you to learn to throw it right, before we throw it hard."

"Yes, sir."

My first pitch got away from me, and I put onto the backstop. My ribs were still not healed yet, so I was not going to go crazy. Several of the guys were messing around and I scared the crap out of them. They figured a little payback was in order and started to heckle me. So I made sure my second pitch was head level with the peanut gallery. I don't care how brave you are. When a fast ball is coming at your head, you duck. They gave me the finger.

Moose came over to see what was going on.

That cleared out my fan club, and got me serious.

I did as Coach said, and threw easy. I was concentrating on what I had learned at Wesleyan.

On my seventh pitch, I got my footwork right. The difference in the pop of the glove caught the Coaches' attention. They quit talking to each other. Coach Herndon gave me a look like he was wondering where that came from.

The next pitch was the same. Moose put me on the gun, and showed it to the other two coaches. None of them were letting on as to what they thought.

"I want you to throw five more pitches. Each one a little harder," Moose told me.

I concentrated on not overthrowing. I just tried to keep my technique good. I didn't try to throw any harder for the five pitches, because my side was aching. The thing I was proudest about was that all five would have been strikes.

The coaches told me I was done. Rob offered to give me a ride home. When we got into the car, Mike couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Dad, how fast was he?"

He caught my eye in the rear view mirror.

"The last five pitches were seventy-four miles per hour."

That didn't sound good. I thought major league pitchers threw fastballs at least ninety miles per hour. Mike thought differently.

"Are you kidding me?"

Mr. Herndon had a smile on his face. He could see I was confused.

We pulled up to my house and he put the car into park.

"Most high school varsity pitchers throw between seventy-five and eighty-five miles per hour. For JV ball, you will look like Nolan Ryan. With a little practice you will be right there. Most freshman pitchers are throwing in the high sixties or low seventies. Plus you could throw that all day. I could tell you weren't ripping it. I'll teach you a change-up, and Moose will regret not letting freshmen play varsity ball."

I was feeling better when I went in the house. Mom had put a plate in the fridge for me. It was chicken so I just ate it cold while I put together a salad. I had missed my after school workout, so I changed and went running. When I came back, I took a shower. We had a standing Algebra study group video chat. There were five others on. I was surprised to see Suzanne. She was helping them with a sticky concept. I thought I knew it, but after she was done I realized I still only half-understood it.

I logged off and headed to bed.

Tuesday March 4, 2014 – Freshman Year

I was having a pleasant lunch and just zoning out letting the group's conversation just roll off of me. I suddenly felt the tip of a tongue lick the edge of my ear. That sent shivers all through my body and I let out a grunt of surprise. I turned to see who see who had molested me. It was Lisa Felton who was grinning at me. She hopped onto my lap and wrapped her hands around my neck.

She leaned forward and whispered into my ear.

"Before Christmas, you made a promise to me. I have been very patient. Now you no longer have a girlfriend. Is there a reason you are ignoring your commitments?" Lisa asked me.

Mr. Happy stiffened to let her know he was willing. He just needed to convince the big brain to get his priorities straight. Well, this 'stupid boy' could not come up with a good reason not to. I smiled at her.

"What are you doing Saturday night?" I asked her.

"Are you asking me out?" she asked back.

Jim was about to have a fit. Cassidy was planning ways to kill me. Tracy cleared her throat. I looked at Tracy, and arched one eyebrow.

"Better check your calendar," she offered.

I grabbed my iPad. Tracy was still getting my calendar updates. I had not dealt with the business side of our breakup yet. I needed to put that on my to-do list. I made a mental note to let Kendal know.

Crud, I was going to Miami to do a photo shoot with Adrienne this weekend. I had to mentally slap the shit out of myself. I had to go to Miami to do a photo shoot with Adrienne! She had promised that there would be little itsy bitsy bikinis involved.

Let's see ... stay here, freeze my ass off, and deflower Lisa ... or go to sunny Miami and hang out with Adrienne and do a photo shoot with her and whomever ... all half-naked. No contest. Adrienne won, every time. Plus the twins were, in fact, single. They were going to be in the shoot, also. Talk about piling it on.

I gave Lisa my best disappointed face.

"I'm sorry. I have to be out of town this weekend. Can we get together next weekend?" I asked.

"I'll have to check my calendar and get back to you," she said in a snarky response.

"You do that," I said as I pushed her up off my lap.

She stared at me open mouthed because I had dismissed her like that. She turned and marched off.

"Dude, are you nuts?" Mike asked me.

"No, he just took control. She will be back soon, and begging his forgiveness," Gina shared.

"No way. She will never talk to him again," Ed announced.

"Want to bet?" Tracy asked.

"Ed, don't throw your money away. Two smart girls have just told you that she will be back. I would listen to them," I advised Ed.

He cupped his head in his two hands and rubbed his forehead as if he was having a migraine.

"I'm never going to get laid," Ed moaned.

The whole place erupted in laughter. Poor Ed could be the author of the soon-to-be best seller, Fifty Shades of Red, if his face was any indication.

"Why didn't you say something? You may actually have to go on a date first but..." Cassidy asked as she got up and grabbed his hand and led him off.

We all watched in amazement as she introduced him to a freshman at another table who was sitting alone. Cassidy came back with a smile on her face. Ed and the freshman seemed to be hitting it off.

When she came back Jeff, Mike and Wolf all had their hands raised. She gave them each a look that said they were idiots.

"Jeff, turn to your right," she told him.

Sitting next to him was one of the freshman girls that had been coming to lunch. The light bulb went off in his head as he smiled. Wolf and Mike still looked confused.

"Hey, dummies, who is sitting next to you?" I asked them.

They both turned and there was a smiling freshman girl for each of them. They hadn't realized that the girls always sat next to the same guy. My 'stupid boy' friends had just not caught on. I was feeling pretty good about myself for figuring it out. Then Gina laughed at me.

"What?" I asked defensively.

She pointed to my right. Tracy was sitting there. Even Tracy burst out laughing. I stuck my tongue out at Gina who just gave me a knowing look.

Before the second day of tryouts, Moose had posted a list of who had been cut. Alan looked relieved when his name was on the list. I saw my name on the list, but it had been crossed out. I wanted to just go home. If that was what Moose thought of me, to hell with him! I decided to make him regret not playing me.

I went into the locker room mad at the world. Everyone seemed to sense my mood and left me alone. As soon as practice started, I was focused and gave it everything I could. In the fielding drills I was going after everything. Even if it was out of reach, I dove for it. I was able to snag a handful of them. By the end of that drill, my jersey was covered in dirt.

Next up was batting practice. Moose was pitching. The first ball I hit a screamer right back at him. Luckily he got out of the way. He called for Coach Herndon to take over and took me aside.

"Son, what is your problem? You have been copping an attitude since yesterday."

Dad had told me about guys like this. Old and set in their ways. There was no changing their minds, so why bother.

"I don't understand. I have just been hustling ... sir," I said almost forgetting the sir.

Sir is reserved for someone you respect. I was taught to respect my elders. But you just did not embarrass someone like that. To single me out as being almost cut was bullshit.

"I don't have time for your attitude. You have had a scowl on your face for two days. If you have a problems spit it out."

"I think I'm good enough to play varsity ball."

"Did I not say there were no exceptions? I have a system in place. It has worked for twenty-five years. I have a team to get ready for their first game in a week and a half. I don't need to hand hold a freshman when he isn't going to be playing varsity anyways. Hell I don't even know why I'm wasting my breath on you," he said as he threw his hands in the air. "I know you're a gifted athlete. I watched what you did on the football field. But if you asked me you shouldn't have been in that position. There was too much chance of you getting hurt. Just because you can play varsity doesn't mean you will."

"May I ask why you cut me and then changed your mind?"

I may have overstepped my bounds here. He shook his head at me before answering.

"I could tell that I upset you when I announced that freshman would not be playing varsity. Like I said before, I have been doing this a lot of years. I only have so much time to work with the freshmen. If I have a guy that is potentially going to be a problem, it is better to cut him now regardless of talent. This conversation is a good example of that. Do you think I have time to do this with every freshman that is upset?"

"I don't know, sir."

"I can tell you the answer is no."

With that our conversation was over. It was clear he was not going to change his mind. If I thought about it, why would he? He had been doing things a certain way for a number of years, with success.

"Varsity, gather around. Everyone else can take off for the day," Moose announced.

Shit. I may have just blown it for everyone. The rest of headed to the locker room. Before we went in, Eve stopped us.

"Hang on, guys. Let's talk about this," she said.

Everyone was grumbling.

"What's the point? We won't get a chance to play varsity ball. It looks like we are not going to get much coaching, either. At least I can still go out for track," Mike said.

"I agree. I could be kicking back relaxing the rest of the school year," Jim offered.

"What do you think, David?" Eve asked.

"I'm pissed. I want to play baseball. I just talked to Moose. His focus is on getting the varsity ready for their first game. You know, guys, I can see where that needs to take priority. That doesn't mean we shouldn't play ball. We just need to figure out how to do it. You guys have any ideas?" I asked.

"Dad says they are short coaches. Last year they had another volunteer coach that worked with the JV. He retired from the school district last year," Mike said giving us some insight.

"So what you are saying is that we need a coach. Do they have to work for the school district?" Tim asked.

"I don't know. Do you guys have any ideas?" Mike asked

"How about your Dad?" Eve asked me.

"No, he's taking care of my Mom, right now. Does anyone know of someone that would have the time?" I asked.

Jeff raised his hand. Eve smacked him in the back of the head. We weren't in class.

"Oh, sorry. How about my neighbor, Mr. Haskins? He was a minor league coach for like thirty years. He is always bitching about being retired."

"Jeff, Mike, Eve and Jim, come with me. We need to talk to Coach Hope."

We needed to talk to someone that knew the rules and would listen to us.

We went and talked to Coach Hope. He first wanted to make sure we weren't just causing trouble. No coach wants to interfere with another's program. Mike explained about the change and lack of help. Eve laid out Jeff's suggestion. Coach reluctantly agreed to talk to Moose. He didn't want us to do it because it wouldn't look right. His plan was to present it as a way to free up Moose's time. Until Mr. Haskins was approved, he offered to be our interim coach. They had to make sure Mr. Haskins wasn't a felon or sexual predator. I guess the school board was only worried about adult deviates. None of the kids would pass that test!

Wednesday March 5, 2014 – Freshman Year

Whose bright idea was it to have Coach Hope appointed our interim baseball coach? For the first half of practice, he had us head to the track. He had us do ladder interval training. That is where you sprint for a hundred yards, and then walk a hundred yards. Then you step up the ladder and sprint two hundred yards and walk two hundred. The final ladder is to run four hundred, and then walk two hundred. Then you do it again.

When Cassidy was done abusing the after school fitness group, she came to work with us. Coach had her do a thirty minutes of hell routine. It was obvious who had been showing up to workouts and who hadn't. But even those who had been going, were dead at the end of practice.

Moose stopped by and saw us all lying in the grass trying to figure out if we were going to live or not. He just looked at Coach Hope and shook his head.

Today five guys quit. It didn't seem to faze Coach Hope. He had us gather around.

"Good workout today. Coach Haskins will be starting on Monday. We talked and we want to carry about fifteen players. We are at twenty-five; no wait, five quit today. We are at twenty. We will need four outfielders, five infielders, two catchers, three pitchers and a closer. Of course if Mike pitches and plays second base, then we have room for one more player. My goal is to get five of you to quit in the next two days.

"If all of you survive the next two days, we will play with all twenty. So the only players that will be cut are the ones that quit. I expect to see all of you tomorrow morning lifting. If you have not been a part of the program, come early and the training staff will help you get started.

"Any questions?"

"If I'm having cramps ... for, you know ... can I pass on all the running?" Eve asked coach.

The look on Coach Hope's face was priceless. Girls were something he wasn't used to having to deal with. Cassidy had been staying with relatives until they moved here. I thought Cassidy was going to pee her pants watching her dad squirm.

"Yeah, what about that coach? Can I get a pass?" Mike asked.

Coach Hope threw his hat at Mike and stomped off the field mumbling something about not being paid enough for this shit. I lifted Eve onto my shoulders.

"Our champion, Eve Holiday!" I yelled as I ran her in a circle around the guys.

She gave them high gives.

"Fuck, Dawson, where do you get all that energy?" Jeff complained.

"Me next!" Cassidy yelled.

I threw her over my shoulder and ran her into the boy's locker room. The varsity team was in the shower. I don't know who sounded more like a screaming little girl, Magic or Cassidy when she saw him naked. I turned around and ran out with her.

"I'm scarred for life," she wailed.

All the guys mooned her as we left. Eve and Cassidy were rolling on the ground. Moose came out of the locker room and glared at us. We all just started laughing harder.

"Come on, Eve, be a team player and show us your moon," Jeff teased her.

She started to and we all acted like we had gone blind.

"Fuck you, you bunch of ass-hats," Eve groused.

Cassidy was feeling frisky, and she mooned us. We all got real interested, which caused Jim to threaten to kick all our asses. I suggested that turnabout was fair play and she should go track down Magic. I thought the dog pile was uncalled for.

Baseball was going to be fun this year.

Thursday March 6, 2014 – Freshman Year

I woke this morning to find an email from Lincoln High. I opened it up and it was my progress report. Alan had been working on the database and this was the first weekly report. It showed your grades for the year and when you joined. It also showed how the group was doing.

The group was up a little over a half letter grade on average with the study groups. No one was doing worse. The next thing it showed was your stats. Height, weight, bench press, etc ... I could see progress in my personal results. The group as a whole was doing great.

The only people that could see all the results were the coaches and of course Alan. The report was also sent to parents. So of course when I went down for breakfast, Angie was reading mine. I just shook my head. There was also a link showing a shell for your recruiting page. Lily had filled mine out. She had for hobbies 'Making out with super models' and then she attached links to different things like the video of me and Adrienne in Chicago.

"Why didn't she use one of your sexy pictures?" Mom asked.

"David, how come you're not improving in your grades? Are you not applying yourself?" Angie said loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Angie, don't make fun of David," Greg scolded her.

"Thank you," I said.

"He can't help it, he's stupid," Greg added.

"You leave my baby alone. He is making straight A's," Mom chimed in.

I heard them coughing Momma's Boy and Brown Nose. I chose to take the high road.

Mom acted like she didn't hear it.

I found Tracy before school again. She was looking a little down. I went up and hugged her.

"Thanks, I needed that."

"What's up?"

"I have my interview with the detectives, today."

"It'll be okay. Just remember we all love you. If you start to feel stressed, just stop for a minute and collect yourself. Remember, you have a lawyer with you. Let him earn his fee."

Tom had hired a criminal lawyer to represent her. He was supposedly the best around and had assured them that she would be fine. He had worked out a deal that she would testify against Bill. The only catch was that her statement needed to match what had been told to them via her attorney. If it didn't, the district attorney might reconsider.

She gave me a weak smile.

"I love you, David," she told me and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

I promised to come over for dinner tonight, after baseball practice.

Baseball practice was about the same tonight. Coach and Cassidy tried to kill us, and two more quit. When we were done, we started a giant tag game. The only rule was that you had to have the ball in your glove. If you could whack the guy in the nuts, you got extra style points. Coach Hope was shaking his head at us when Jeff whacked him in the nuts.

To everyone's surprise he took off after me and whacked me. I was rolling on the ground when the varsity came by. I staggered up and whacked Magic. Then it devolved into whack anyone you could in the nuts. Cassidy was looking all prim and proper when Jim whacked her.

Talk about a big mistake. She hadn't kicked anyone's ass in like three weeks. Jim was crying like a little girl before I could drag her off. I saw he was just goofing, so when he rolled over on his back I dropped her on him. Coach Hope poured a water bottle over them, and told us to hit the showers.

As soon as Tom answered the door, Tracy was hugging and kissing me. I was pretty sure that was good news. She told me bunches of stuff in excited girl speak. Then she ran off to talk to her Mom.

"Did you get any of that?" Tom asked.

"Not really," I confessed.

"She pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident. They are waiving all other charges and she will have it on her record until she is 18. If she stays clean, that charge will be wiped off the books. In exchange, she has to testify against Bill.

"She talked to Tiny. He was a little pissed, but is now glad he is in the army. He might even make a career out of it. We tracked down the business owner and agreed to a settlement. Tracy agreed to sell her car to pay for it."

"Could I buy it?"

"No, I already sold it. Sorry, I forgot that you turn 16 this summer. What are you planning on buying?"

"I was thinking a used Jeep. Nothing fancy."

"Not much back seat room in the jeep."

"You know, you're right. Maybe I should get one of those conversion vans and put a waterbed in the back."

"The Dad's Network would have you on their top 10 list."

"What's that?" I asked.

"The top ten guys you won't let in the door of your house. For example, Bill would qualify for the top spot; abusive, drug dealer, and rapist. You would slide into the second slot; football star, and model with a van. Dads would take one look at you and your van and send their daughters to their room."

"I can see where that could come in handy. Do you have playing cards with our pictures on them?"

"Great idea, I'll present that at our next meeting. Maybe I could bring you to the meeting as a possible example of what to look out for."

It was obvious a tremendous weight had been lifted from the whole family. Mary even gave me her version of the mind eraser. Well except there was no tongue. Tom was squawking by the time she was done. She just winked at him and I think he got the hint that they may have to take a nap after dinner.

Mary made a Mexican inspired pork stew with corn bread that had Ro*Tel tomatoes mixed in, to give it some zing. She had made up the recipe. The trick was to drain the tomatoes or the mix became too wet. Of course, I stole the recipe.

After dinner, we talked about how the sports stuff was coming along. Tom and my Dad were scheduled to talk at the next school board meeting about improving the facilities. I showed them the recruiting websites and the reports. Tracy said she was going to talk to the cheerleaders and see if they wanted to join the workout sessions. She also thought the study groups would be helpful.

I was glad to see her focused on the cheer squad, again. It really showed she was getting better.

Then I was told that Angel would be coming with me to Miami. Clare would be there from Ford. I would miss Kendal.

Friday March 7, 2014 – Freshman Year

Tami woke me up wanting to chat. I logged on and she looked like shit.

"You sick?" I asked her.

"I'm sick of you keeping secrets. It is driving me nuts. No one is talking. I'm starting to worry about you. Is there something seriously wrong?"

It was all I could do to keep a smile from creeping onto my face. Tami Glade's talents were going to be wasted with her becoming a doctor. She needed to be a private detective! She could get the scoop on anything! Especially, anything that involved David. I think in the past ten years I had only kept one thing secret that she had not found out on her own. That was when I spent some quality time with Ms. Lowden, the cheerleading coach.

The only reason she didn't know about that was because her little spy-network was none the wiser. Of course, she wasn't around me every day. If she had been, she would have picked up on me getting lucky. Everyone gives off clues with body language. Tami can take one look at me and know what is going on. That's why I always refused to play cards with her.

So, you combine a mystery that involves me, and a complete lack of gossip, and her head was going to explode. This was simply something that did not happen in Tami Glade's world! She had obviously been up all night trying to figure it out. Calling me for information was tantamount to admitting defeat, which would never happen. I had never successfully hidden something of substance from her.

"Yes, there is something seriously wrong, but it's not my story to tell."

"Not my story to tell?" she shot back in a snarky mimicking way. "You need to learn the facts of life, buster. You are going to marry me some day. You are not going to start keeping secrets from me. This Dawson code of conduct of not telling other people's stories is bullshit and you know it. You are just teasing me, and right now that is not a good idea."

I raised my eyebrows. This must really be driving her insane. That sounded like a real threat. She was close to having a meltdown. I had seen this only two times in my life. Once, when she found out her father didn't want anything to do with her. The second was when my drug and alcohol abuse got to the point she dumped me as a friend.

I had two choices. Tell her enough to get her to back off or keep quiet and watch my friend freak out. I really had no reason for not telling her other than it was Tracy's life I would be exposing. I chose option one because I knew she wouldn't quit until I told her.