Chapter 12

My morning run on the beach was wonderful. I loved to see the sky lighting up, but I couldn't see the sunrise as the beach faced the west. I wanted to make sure I was home to watch the sunset soon. I'll bet that's beautiful.

The girls wanted me to go with them to a shopping center after breakfast so they could get some clothes, but also so I could begin filling out my wardrobe. We enjoyed going through the stores to find just the right tops, shorts, and shirts for the girls. We went to "The Men's Warehouse" when it was time for me to shop, where they had a buy one, get two free deal, going on. The girls had me get six pair of slacks, three sport coats, and three suits. They loaded me up with dress shirts in white and colors, and dressy knit pullover shirts. Accessories were next, with ties and belts. I picked up a dozen pair of socks and then said to the girls, "I need to find some dress shoes now. Let's stop by Sears to see if they have any good stuff."

Sherry turned me around and pointed to a corner of the store that had shoes on display. I ended up with a 'buy one and get two free' on shoes too.

I had to try everything on to have it marked for alterations. The clothes would be done in two days, so the girls said they would come for them.

We drove around getting familiar with the area before going back to the beach. We had what was a big lunch to them, and a light one for me. I told the girls that we should lie down for an hour, and then I would go in early for some extra batting practice. They loved the idea and we actually napped after just one round of gentle lovemaking.

The trainer came to me when I was putting workout clothes on at my locker, and asked, "Have you had that bruise x-rayed lately? Your medical record says you are to have it x-rayed or have an MRI once a month."

"I haven't had it done in a couple of months, so make me an appointment with a clinic and I'll stop by to get it done."

"No need, Matt, come down the hall and we'll get you checked out. This is a first class facility, complete with me, a nurse, and a tech for the equipment."

We went to a room with the big MRI and x-ray equipment. A tech walked in and said, "What specific areas are you looking at, Dr. Morgan?"

Wow, a real doctor for a trainer.

"All of his left side. He was hit by a fastball and we want to make sure nothing decides to grow in the damaged tissue."

The procedure was fast and, of course, painless. They poured over the big computer screen looking for any problems and told me, "All clear. Go play ball and stay healthy."

The doc said, "Let's get Jenny to draw some blood and have Ken watch you pee in a cup. We have a couple of new tests to confirm you're not taking anything. You're going to have a lot of tests with the way you're pitching and hitting. The Commissioner's office is even requesting updates on your testing status."

The tech watched me pee in a cup, and the sweet very black nurse, Jenny, drew three vials of blood. I told her that next time she wanted blood to tell me and I would fast until I gave it. She told me, "Honey, you would have time to take something else to hide what you were taking in the first place if we did that. This way we get to surprise you and catch you before the league does."

My goal today was to get some time in with the pitching machine. I looked into the indoor batting cages to find no one there. I made the adjustment to the speed I wanted, filled the hopper, and selected a bat. They had a great ball return that funneled the balls to a conveyor that kept filling the hopper. The only balls it didn't get were ones that bounced back at me from the backstop.

I picked the balls up after an hour, and wandered out to the field. I decided to run the field for a couple of laps then go to the weight room. It was in the weight room when the other trainer came in and asked me about my weight training and what regimen I used. I explained my routine, he made a few suggestions, and then questioned me about my diet. He said what I was eating was about the only way for a guy like me to gain muscle weight without taking anything.

I had a protein shake and was drinking it while I worked out, and he told me that was good, too.

The staff was very friendly and helpful. The equipment manager offered me more workout clothes if I needed them. He said their laundry room and personnel were good about getting our uniforms and workout clothes washed. He also said that all of my personal items such as jocks and socks were marked with my initials and locker number. I asked for a couple of extra pair of socks for running on the beach. He brought me a half dozen pair of socks and two more pair of shoes. He said, "Change shoes every day and make sure you're using good shoes. Throw your old ones away unless they are fairly new. It's one way to keep your feet in good condition. Just throw your shoes in the washer if you get them soaked in salt water. We do that with your workout shoes here. You can't do that with your spikes though."

He handed me some foot and ankle elastic supports and told me, "Use these for running, especially on the beach. Wear them for games too if you feel a little tender in the ankle."

I went upstairs to the cafeteria and was surprised to receive a very large piece of meat, some broccoli, and some chic peas. All high protein stuff. I ate that and washed it down with some iced tea and another protein shake. There were three flavors of the shakes, so I didn't get tired of just one kind. I knew there were more flavors, but three would work here.

I put my uniform on after my meal, and walked the field. I became excited to know we would be playing ball very soon when I went back in and saw the other players dressing and doing their pre-game stuff. Joe hadn't posted the line up yet so I didn't know where I might play if at all.

'Loney told me, "Joe constantly changes the line up to flex the guys around to see who hits best in what position. He gives guys time off a lot, too. If he sees someone getting tired, he'll give the guy a night off about every week. The most popular is to get a Sunday off with Monday an off day. Most days off are Monday, an occasional Wednesday, and some Thursdays, so the day before and after are popular off days. You can bet you'll be on the field if you don't pitch on those days.

Joe came in and pinned the lineup card on the wall. There was a crowd that reminded you of being back in college waiting for the finals grades to be posted.

There was my name at DH. That would work although I would love to play a position. I had to convince the batting coach to let me throw some batting practice balls after I had had my practice swings and fielded grounders for a while.

I only threw about fifty balls and they were all cherries that were hit way out to the outfield or into the stands. Everyone but the pitchers and catchers went back into the clubhouse while the Orioles did their batting practice. I actually wanted to field some of the grounders they were hitting, but I knew better.

The game was sort of boring, as neither team wanted to hit the ball. I had a single and died on base. I had a double my second time up and advanced to third on a wild pitch, but died on base again. My third time up was with the score still nothing to nothing, with Longoria on first and Meyers following me, I was batting left and put the ball into the right field corner. Longoria made it to third and I was on second. Meyers came up and belted one over the head of the centerfielder to the wall. Another couple more inches and it would have been a home run. Longoria scored, I scored, and Meyers was on second. Loney drove him in with a long single to right center, so we had broken the stalemate.

We cycled through our relievers and finished the game four to one. I was four for five with a walk.

The girls said they were going straight home this time, and I would meet them there. I pigged out on the buffet they had in the clubhouse, but didn't drink any beer. I had a small glass of wine with some shrimp scampi and a little more with a chunk of prime rib that was delicious. These guys ate well.

The girls took me out to our patio when I got home, and showed me their additions. Our entire back of the patio was covered with bushes and palm trees in huge planters. It made our patio a private area that people couldn't see in. We couldn't see out either, of course, but the girls showed how the two groups of planters could be easily pushed to swing out from the middle on big wheels to give us a clear view of the gulf. They told me they had a landscape company build it for them and even had the permission from the condo association to pour the extra concrete for the planters to sit and roll on.

Mom was coming the next evening and was planning to stay until Monday, the day I would be leaving for the west coast. The girls were excited that she was coming, and they told me we had an appointment with the condo people in the morning.

I didn't know what we were doing when the condo office people showed up at our door. The girls said, "Come look. You don't have to immediately do anything, but come and look anyway. We went to the condo next door that was still unsold. It didn't make any sense to me, but some people don't want to be on the bottom floor. We would be flooded if there was a hurricane, but the building would still be there. The condo people had shown me all of the seals that were present so the place was close to being watertight, and water shouldn't get in. I knew that it was probably inevitable for the place to be flooded, but the builders knew how to do it right.

Anyway, the unit had not been built out like mine had. The idea was to let the buyer design what he wanted. This was a good chance to see the door and window seals that were built in. It all was impressive. Jeannie said, "If we were to rebuild the two places we could have a giant living room with a pool table and a piano for Sherry, and three more bedrooms with bathrooms. We could expand our kitchen with space for a breakfast bar, so that we don't always have to use the big table. Just think, we could have all our moms here at one time, and even invite some of our girlfriends down. You know some are still single. Maybe we could interest them in helping you train."

I laughed at that as my girls were a randy couple. "Okay, okay, how much would this cost? And won't this drive you crazy with all of the construction and dust?"

Sherry suggested, "Now is the time to do it. Jeannie and I could stay in the master bedroom and on the beach while you're gone half the time, or we could even go up north to visit. How about letting us get with an architect, and then you decide."

I knew this was going to be a done deal, so I sent the girls home and I talked to the condo people. The conversation was one-sided as I told them, "Get me the numbers and see what you can do for me, because I do not have unlimited funds as some may think. This probably is a good deal for us, but we're going to have a unit that no one would possibly look at to buy. Get the numbers together for my attorney, and I'll let him figure it out. Please help the girls find a quality construction company to make the place the showpiece they want."

The girls had some plans stretched out on the table when I went into our unit. They showed me several designs that all looked good to me. I liked the design that had both of the living rooms together, but reduced in size a little. The kitchen took up the bulk of the front area, with a bar separating it from the rest of the open living area.

Sherry put a cutout of a pool table on the plan, then Jeannie put a spinet piano on the wall in the same room. The girls began putting couches and chairs in various places, and then said to me, "And the entire place will be where you make love to us every minute of the off-season and every minute you can when you're playing.

We kissed until it degenerated into some heavy duty loving. The two girls loved on each other as much as I was able to love on them. They soaked their surroundings and I added to the fluid content with my huge injections.

I had to leave for the ballpark and the ladies were going to wait for Mom. They figured on getting there during the second or third inning.

I was going to play third today so Longoria could have a night off. Family guys enjoyed the extra time with their families, especially before a long road trip.

Most of the opposition batters were right-handed so I had a lot of action at third. I'm always in shock when I first see the distance it is across the diamond to first. It shouldn't shock me, because I often played third in high school. I saw the girls arrive during the second inning, but it seemed as if there was a crowd.

My first at bat was a disaster. I was thrown a ball so far outside I couldn't have touched it with the end of the bat, but it was called a strike. I didn't say anything, but the catcher even gave me the look. The look of 'we got away with something there'.

The next pitch bounced across the plate and I looked back at the ump to challenge him to call it a strike too. The third pitch was a change, but it carried and stayed up. I hit the ball so hard it hurt my hands. It also broke the bat that damn near impaled the pitcher. The ball was in the stands and fair as I finished trotting around the bases. At least we were ahead one nothing.

We stayed with them and didn't give up a run. I was hit on the shoulder by a high inside pitch during the third inning. The catcher complained that I was crowding the strike zone, but I had been way off the plate. Joe finally came out and told the ump, 'you have the video, use it. There's nothing to challenge except the other manager's mouth'.

The umpires huddled until they had the major league office confirm that I was hit and didn't lean into the pitch.

All of this, and I was still on first. Their pitcher never recovered and was hit for five runs before he was relieved that inning.

The rest of the game was about as bad. I was thrown a really sweet ball, and hit it straight to the shortstop who caught the fly and tossed to second to double up the runner. Now that doesn't help stats.

My last bat of the night was beautiful as we were up by six in the eighth and I was thrown a pitch so fat I was embarrassed to hit the ball. It went to the top row of the left field seats. That gave me two for six, with a walk, the fly out, and a ground out, along with two homers and being hit...

I took time to welcome my mom and introduced her to Joe. I told Mom and the girls that I would be home as soon as possible.

The buffet was enticing, but I showered and quickly changed. With the help of the staff, I was able to gather a bunch of food to take home. It looked like it was all for me as it was high protein foods. I walked out with a huge bag full of foam containers and a half dozen protein shakes.

The women mobbed me at home for no reason other than we were happy to be together. I spread the food out and let them devour a lot of it, and then I ate everything that was left. Mom asked, "Are you up to 190 yet?"

"No, Mom, I lost some weight, but I'm back up to 184. I'll get there one of these days."

I asked the girls, "Who were all those people you guys came in with? You only have those three seats right?"

Sherry looked a little embarrassed when she said, "Ah, we have six seats now and the other people were our mom's and a guy Jeannie's mom brought."

"Where are they now?"

"They are staying up the road at the Don CeSar, that pink hotel just off the bridge."

That was strange so I asked, "How come they're staying there? Couldn't we have put them up here? We could have given up our bed and even slept on the floor."

"Not a chance, Lover. Your mom knows we are a lusty bunch and she is used to us making noise. Besides, I think my mom and Sherry's mom are going to share my mom's friend."

That made sense, but my mom would have probably enjoyed sharing with them too.

The real deal was, the girls had me very primed and panting to get into them, but they whispered in stereo, "Go see if your mom needs to be tucked in. We'll be waiting for you and keeping each other ready for your return."

So that was the deal. They had this planned and just as I figured, Mom was under the covers nude, waiting to be ravished. I made love to my mother for a long while. The woman was so responsive and loving, but I missed the juices my lovers expelled.