Chapter 10

The morning air felt good, and it being the beginning of May, it was fresh and begging me to get out and run. Andrew's Mercedes pulled up and he stepped out as soon as I walked out of the house to stretch. He began doing his stretches and when I approached him, he asked, "Can I run with you again this morning? I enjoyed our run yesterday."

"When you're ready," was all I said as I did a couple of more stretches.

The man did one final stretch then began walking fast toward the way we had gone yesterday. I followed along and moved up next to him to begin jogging, but that would change to a run in a few hundred yards.

When we were running and able to control our breathing, Andrew asked, "So now that it is May 4^th, do you still want to play baseball?"

"Of course; I love baseball but I really have a tough time with people who want to try to direct every facet of my life. I asked nicely, and was told in a not very nice way to forget it, because he owned me and that I could just suck it up. He made the comment that my women didn't need me to babysit them at graduation. Maybe he hasn't had anyone in his family graduate from college or receive their masters. When I tried to explain my need to him, he told me to shut up or he would send me down to a Single A club with a confrontational report. I figured the only way to resolve the issue was to leave the team and forfeit whatever monies may have been owed at that point."

Andy asked, "Why didn't you tell him that you already had permission to miss Saturday's game from me and Joe?"

"We shouldn't go into that. I'll leave that to your imagination. I fulfilled my obligation to what my significant others felt was an important event in their lives, and was ready to fulfill what I had promised to you and Joe. That was to be back for today's game. We even found an air charter company that was going to bring me home and take me back up today. I figured that was what the signing bonus was for."

"You should tell me about what was said about our permission to be off, but you know best. I know the managers at the farm clubs can get a little heavy-handed, but they usually work with players. You may make him nervous because he knows you have a future and we want you to succeed. You're pitching great from your stats down there, but you haven't had much opportunity to play the infield or bat. You're batting a 1000 right now, but you've only been up a total of five times. I'm disappointed that you haven't had much opportunity to bat or play in the field."

We kept running while I really didn't want to comment on the way I was being used. I made a suggestion, "How about letting me play for one of the lower clubs. I would be happy if I was playing every day, and you would know I'm getting coaching from a development manager and coaches."

"You'd go down to an Single A or Double A team?"

"Sure, I'd be in hog heaven if I could play every day. I'm sure they wouldn't just want me to pitch in a rotation down there and I could work with the others on the field and with the pitchers. I've been taught by the best, and I enjoy teaching other's how I do stuff. I learn from them and they learn from me."

"I'll talk to Joe about this, but you should be at Durham. You may have a personality conflict up there, so I'll let Joe decide what to do. You do know that you do need some kind of disciplinary action for just taking off like that."

"No sweat. I'll gladly do some form of penance for that impropriety. How about I clean stadium johns for a month or something like that."

Andy laughed, "I wasn't thinking of anything that radical. How about you get up in front of the team members and apologize for leaving unannounced."

"Nope, I would rather clean johns. I won't apologize for attending to my family when I asked to confirm the off day in a nice way. I will apologize to them that I didn't have time to tell them why I was leaving at the time. I won't tell them it was for something frivolous like a college master's graduation; I'll just say it was for an important family event. I'll do that at any of the teams I go to, including Durham."

"You're a hard ass sometimes, you know that? I know I took off from my work to be there when my kid sister graduated from college. I understand, but you'll have to figure out how to pacify the Manager in North Carolina. I'll talk to Joe this morning and get back to you. How about turning your cell phone back on so I can call you?"

I smiled at Andrew as we walked up the block to my house to cool down. I asked him, "Want to come in, shower, and have breakfast with us? I'm in the mood for something crazy like biscuits and gravy."

"That'll mess up your diet, Matt;"

I haven't been off the diet for almost a year, so this shouldn't hurt. Want to eat with us?"

"No, I need to get back to St. Pete and talk to Joe. I'm glad you have been so candid with me, and I'm happy that you didn't make a bunch of excuses and accusations against the Manager up there. I know the man's brother is who you had a run in with at Jupiter, so I suppose our man had an opinion before you arrived. Be ready to go to North Carolina, St. Pete, or one of our other cities. I'll give you a call as soon as we make our mind up."

We shook hands and I watched him drive away. It was special for the man to spend so much time with me. He didn't have to convince me to come back as I want to play ball, but a deal is a deal and I made a deal to be off. Oh well, I might deserve to get blacklisted, but I'll work hard and play anywhere, at any position they ask, as long as I get to play.

The women were up and Mom was feeling pretty good. I made sure that I made oatmeal for her breakfast as that would be good on her stomach. She told me that she was much more relaxed since I had been home. She wished that I could stay a while longer, but knew I probably would be leaving soon.

The girls and I had bacon and eggs, but I augmented it with some biscuits and gravy. Mom even had some and enjoyed the tasty treat.

It was almost noon when my phone began ringing. "This is Matt."

"Joe Maddon here, Matt. I'm glad you were able to attend the graduation as you planned. It's too bad there had to be a confrontation. You just don't strike me as being that way, and I've never heard you get upset with any job we've given you. Andy told me not to ask about you leaving up there, so I won't. We still want you to have some minor league seasoning. Triple A is where you should be. Can you go back there without having a problem with the Manager?"

To Joe I said, "I told Andrew I would apologize to the team for taking off without telling them. I won't apologize for going to the graduation. I'm sure the Manager will make my life miserable for a while, but that's his prerogative. I want to play baseball everyday, and I can if I'm with the farm clubs. They often have more than one game a day, so I can sneak into some extra games. I can workout with the teams when they're doing infield practice, and I can pitch when I'm supposed to. Is Durham where you want me to go?"

"Yes it is, Matt, but I'll call up there to see if it will work. I'll call you right back. Knowing the man and his brother, I'm sure he'll come up with something diabolical for you. I suppose we'll see what you're made of."

Joe called back within fifteen minutes and told me to go to Durham. I told him I should be there for practice in the morning.

I told the family what was happening and said that I would leave right away. I made a suggestion to mom and the girls. "You guys know that we have a gorgeous condo on the beach down in St. Pete. How about going down there and giving it a test drive? Have any problem you find fixed, and enjoy the beach. I should be down there before too long if all goes well."

Everyone was happy thinking about staying on the beach, and I was happy going to play baseball.

It isn't a terrible drive, but long enough that I rented a hotel room near the stadium that night. I would probably move back into the bunkroom, but I needed some food and a long night's sleep.

It was Tuesday morning, but it felt like Monday morning, a new beginning. I was at the stadium at seven and that was after a big breakfast and a workout. The gate guard let me in as he recognized me. He told me, "Go into the cafeteria, and have some coffee. The Manager should be in by eight to eight thirty. I think the pitching coach is already in, so you might see him."

A table full of coaches went silent as soon as I walked into the cafeteria. They all looked at me to see if I had any pimples on me or if I was freshly washed. I went to them and said, "Good morning, Gentlemen. I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to tell you I was leaving when I left last week, but it was a family situation."

The bullpen coach said, "You mean like your significant other graduating?"

"Yep, that's the deal. She finished her masters and that was an important event. I had promised her, and the Rays had promised to let me off for Saturday. It worked out, but like I said, I'm sorry I didn't get to explain it to you or the other players."

The pitching coach asked, "Have you been practicing?"

"Nope, haven't touched a baseball. I've worked out and ran, but haven't played. I'm ready though."

The bench coach asked, "Do you think you might play some infield now? I was told you didn't want to play infield."

"Well, what you heard isn't true. I would prefer to play the infield, or even the outfield, instead of pitching every fifth day or coming out of the bullpen. I'm ready to play wherever you guys want me to play."

The four men looked at each other and didn't want to say anything they shouldn't. I told them, "I'm going to have a coffee then go run on the field for a while. I'll be ready for infield or pitching practice when you are."

They huddled together as soon as I left the table and there almost was a buzz coming from the conversation.

I now knew that the Manager wasn't telling them the truth about what I wanted. He was determined to make me a pitcher only, and to forget about playing the infield or hitting. I suppose I could command a lot of money in five years if I became a free agent pitcher with a good record.

I was trotting around the field when the Manager came out and whistled at me. I went over to him and he said to me, "I don't know what you told Friedman or Maddon, but they still want you to have some Triple A experience. Do you have any more graduations coming up that I need to know about?"

"That's the only one. Where do you want me to work or rather play when the other players come in?"

"I still want you to pitch, but Maddon told me to have you work the infield more. He also wants you to bat regularly. I'm not sure how to do this but I want you to pitch in rotation and occasionally do a relief inning. I'll play you in the infield where I need you on your off days and we'll see how you work out."

"I would tell you to go dress, but you're already dressed. Go see the batting coach and see if he can loosen you up to bat the way Joe thinks you can."

The batting coach was setting the machine up for me when I walked in. He said, "The man doesn't think you can hit, so you're going to have to prove it to him. Loosen up by hitting some off this contraption and then I'll get you some live pitching later. How fast do you want it?"

"Let's start at 80 to 85 and we can turn it up later. I need to practice bunting as well as hitting."

After about fifty balls the coach turned the speed up to about 95, the max. That was a challenge, but fun. Since the ball wasn't dipping and diving, I was hitting every ball thrown from either side of the plate. The batting coach told me to cool off and take a breather after I had been batting for over an hour.

"You know that you've always had a good bat. None of us could figure out why the man doesn't want you to play the infield and bat in the lineup. He has this thing in his head that you're only a pitcher. You pitch well, but you have a good glove. Go out and show the man what you can do."

We began with some infield practice when the rest of the players came out. There had been some trading going on, and the shortstop that had been playing was gone and a young guy had taken his place. He seemed pretty good, but he didn't anticipate the ball off the bat very well. He needed instruction on that. He also needed to learn that lefties and righties hit differently and you needed to adjust a step or two between them.

The infield practice was spirited, and I was moved from short, to second, then over to third. I think it was fun that I was sent to first and I functioned okay there, but I needed a different glove than what I was using.

We were about to call a break for lunch when the Manager told me to put catcher's gear on. Shit, I hadn't caught since high school.

I put everything on and was instructed on the signals by the pitching coach. The pitcher who was up for the scrimmage at that time was pretty good and I called for a fastball low and outside. The batter swung, but missed it by a long shot. I called for another fastball, but inside and low this time. The batter tried to pull his hands in to hit the ball, but only managed to foul it back to the screen. I called for the guy's curve and he threw something that resembled more of changeup, but it was swung at way too early.

I went to the pitching coach and asked why he wasn't signaling what he wanted to see. He said, "I didn't think you'd know to do that. Let's get some sliders working and try that curve again. That last one sucked."

The coach wanted a first pitch slider. I wouldn't have asked for that, since that can often be a ball to someone who takes the first pitch. The batter took it, and the ball went way outside. The coach signaled for another slider and the same thing happened. This guy had a decent slider, but it was always outside. It was a hitter's count and I was determined to not let this guy walk. The coach signaled for a slider again, and I waved two fingers at my side to wave him off and he gave me the sign again. Okay, I'll give him the call, and set up way inside and hope the ball slides across the plate.

The hitter was looking for a fastball and swung, but topped the ball for a come backer to the mound. At least I found out that the pitcher used me as a reference and the ball would have been a strike.

Before the next batter came up, the Manager called an end of practice for lunch.

The pitching coach asked how I knew to wave him off. "'I caught several times in high school, but everyone had to learn how to do it and did it in a few games. I think that wave off is universal. I didn't want to walk the guy, and the pitcher's slider is consistently outside. I set up way inside and he used me as a reference and the slider was crossing the plate when it was topped back to the mound."

"So you like to catch?"

"Nope, dislike it worse than pitching, but I'll do it if that's the only way I can play. I'm sure that's not what Joe and Mr. Friedman want me to practice."

"Probably not, but the man here wants to put you in your place. This is his way of getting back at you. It didn't work because you caught some nasty balls and were going to call your own game. I think we need you at short or second right now."

We stretched out and dressed for our game after lunch. I was riding the pine when the lineup was called. That didn't bother me, because I was in the dugout and not sitting in the bullpen with the social club.

The shortstop made three errors in three innings before the manager subbed me to the position. The other team must have been in cahoots with our manager, because I was sent every kind of kinky grounder you could describe. I almost had to stand on my head to grab one ball that took a crazy bounce. I was able to glove it and tossed it to the second baseman, who then relayed it to first for a double play. Another ball was a liner over my head, but I jumped as high as I could and came down with the ball snow-coned in the webbing of my glove, and ran to second to step on the bag before the runner could get back. I played short the rest of the game and gave what I thought was a good performance.

Now you may be curious about my batting. Well, I was nothing for nothing. The pitchers walked me four times. I didn't see anything remotely resembling a strike. It wasn't on purpose. It was poor pitching.

The coaches in the minors usually evaluate your work while everyone is sitting in the clubhouse after a game. The Manager told the shortstop who I replaced that he would be working with him a lot to get him up to speed. He complimented me and said, "I really didn't think you had that kind of glove. I suppose Maddon has seen you work. Do you think they have any film of you when you were up with the Marlins?"