Chapter 7

Shiggie started the second game against Detroit, and went eight innings, shutting them out, 5-zip, on only four hits. He could have pitched a complete game, but Paul Warren jerked him for the final inning because Shiggie had thrown 125 pitches.

The Japanese pitchers don't worry as much about pitch counts as Americans, but our manager shared the view of most American baseball men that Japanese pitcher-handling philosophy, and their training methods in general, were overzealous and potentially harmful to a pitcher's health. So Shiggie came out, even though he looked fresh and ready to continue. Our closer, Freddie Gonzalez, preserved the shutout.

We were now 16-11 in May, not too far behind the Fucking Yankees, and getting a little excited.

Amy and I wanted to take Shiggie out after the game to celebrate, but where do you go at 11 p.m. in Baltimore, on a Wednesday?

You go home and go to bed, that's where.

The next night we swept the series, winning 8-5, and I had a big part in it. I was called upon in the second inning after another big-banger uprising by the Tigers, and I stayed in until the seventh. My guys caught and passed the Tigers during that stretch and, hey, I got my first Major League win. Freddie Gonzalez brought the end-of-game ball back to me in the dugout and congratulated me.

When Amy met us outside the locker room for the ride home, she gave me a surprise kiss -- with a little tongue, even -- that made my knees wobble! "Congratulations!" she said.

There hadn't been as much fuss made, over Shiggie's four-hit shutout the night before, as was being made over my 5+ innings of adequate-but-shaky relief.

I realized it was just that more was expected of Shiggie than of me. I was just "the Kid." Twelfth man.

That's OK. Amy had given me such a smack! I'd had whole nights of kinky sex that I hadn't enjoyed nearly as much!

It was still only a week night in Baltimore, but Amy called Ford and insisted the four of us go out and celebrate the Shiggie shutout and my first win. It was a good time, really. Shiggie's next start wouldn't come up until the day after our Monday off-day, and my long stint that night would guarantee me at least the next day off, as well.

Ford took us to a Cowboy Bar southwest of the city, on a two-lane highway to God knows where. Just about everybody except us was dressed in colorful cowboy costume, and the music was country-western and corny as all get-out.

Shiggie seemed to love it.

I declared myself the designated driver, but Ford wouldn't hear of it, and took on that responsibility for himself. "I'm the only one who knows his way back home, anyway" he explained.

It was probably a wise decision.

We drank Pabst Blue Ribbon beer -- a brand I hadn't been aware was still being brewed -- and all three of us attempted (after a few beers) to dance with Amy. Line dancing, like every other kind of dancing, didn't come natural to me, and if I'd have been sober, nobody could have gotten me out on the floor to try it.

But it only took three beers to relieve me of my inhibitions. The Pabst tasted kinda thin and watery, compared to the stuff I usually drank, but it was apparently just as potent.

I was kinda hoping that somebody in the crowd would recognize us as ball players -- especially with Shiggie along -- and maybe come by our table and pat us on the back for our exploits.

Nope. Didn't happen.

Ford and Amy were the only ones of us who could handle the line dancing, and despite being siblings, they seemed to be having a good time out there together. While they were dancing, I spotted a Truly Incredible young woman -- a kind of Dolly Parton-type wearing a decidedly non-Western top that helped to emphasize her two most interesting attributes. Just as a kind of test, I did a couple of elaborate head-motions, trying to get Shiggie to take a gander at Dolly II. (Or should I say, Dolly's Two?)

As usual, he got the gist of my gestures and looked at the shapely young woman. He smiled at me and gave me a positive shake of his head to indicate his appreciation.

But his heart didn't seem to be in it. Maybe Amy was right. Maybe there was a Ford in Shiggie's future.