Chapter 32

The clock said seven, but it felt like it was later. I slipped from bed, pulled the sheet over the girls, and headed for the bathroom. I looked out at the beach after dressing and saw that the tide was up, so I headed for the street after stretching. The run down to Pass-a-grill was pleasant without a lot of traffic. It was Thursday morning, so any beach traffic wouldn't normally start until after eight or nine. It's always fun to run along and watch the seagulls swoop down to see if I had anything to throw to them. The sandpipers were running in and out from the surge of the incoming tide, looking for any tiny sea life that washed up. There was a cormorant on a piling with his wings spread out to dry, and a dog sitting near the water's edge watching a lone woman splashing in the water.

The odor of bacon cooking stirred my senses when I came back into the condo. Jeannie met me and gave me a hug although my T-shirt was sweaty. She told me, "Go shower and your breakfast will be ready. We should have company in about five minutes. Andy, Chet, Julie, and the kids are coming. Chet wanted to take the family to a World Series game and Andy has come up with tickets for them."

I quickly showered and dressed in shorts and T-shirt to be in typical Florida attire. The kitchen was busy with new arrivals when I came in. Matt Silverman and his wife were there along with Freddie, Howie, Nancy, and Scott, in addition to those we thought were going to be here.

I had to ask, "Who called this meeting?"

Freddie answered as she and Nancy, with Julie's help, were setting the big table. It was Sherry who was blushing as she said, "I thought it would be neat for us all to start the day off with a good breakfast. Mr. Silverman had to come because his wife wanted to be here. Freddie and family is a surprise, but always a good one."

I began pouring glasses of orange juice and milk. Everyone had mugs of coffee, so people began sitting while Sherry and Jeannie brought out platters of bacon, toast, pieces of steak, and two huge bowls of scrambled eggs. I thought they were done, but Sherry brought my oversized plate out with a huge piece of meat on it, and Jeannie brought in another huge bowl of fried potatoes. Sherry finally brought a huge basket of biscuits in and Jeannie brought another huge bowl full of gravy.

"Wow, you two did a lot in the time I was running. I was only gone an hour." I was surprised at how much food they had prepared.

Sherry was smiling as she said, "We were awake when you left and went right to work. You really helped when you gave us that Alka-Seltzer last night."

Andy asked, "What did you do, Matt, take them out and get them drunk?"

"No, we went to Chica's and the girls drank an entire super Margarita. They say they're just out of shape, but I don't know many who can drink a 42 ounce Margarita and stay sober."

Matthew Silverman's wife laughed, "I tried, and Matt almost had to carry me home. Their food is so good that you've finished that huge drink before you realize it."

Chet said, "You'll have to give us directions. Sounds like a great place to eat. Is it mainly a restaurant or a bar? We need to keep it low key for the kids."

Jeannie told him, "It's a sports bar/restaurant that is like Chili's, but with better true Mexican food."

Sherry told everyone, "Rosa, the very well-endowed and large lady who owns the restaurant, was trying to steal Matt away from us last night. She was really sweet to us."

I had to blush as they told the story of how I had told Rosa in Spanish not to chastise the bartender for flashing me. Andy said, "Joe has said that you're friendly with the Latino players and speak to them in Spanish. It's nice that you know their language and use it with them."

Jeannie told everyone, "We all learned Spanish in junior high and continued in high school. We had a lot of Latino kids that went to school with us and it was a way we could communicate with them."

Sherry offered, "We thought we could out smart our moms by using Spanish. They didn't tell us they understood and spoke Spanish too. It's a wonder we didn't get into trouble."

Julie was smiling and said, "That just makes Matt more valuable to the team or any team. It helps to teach the Latinos English as well as another way for everyone to communicate."

The kids headed out to the beach when we were finished with breakfast. I moved the foliage out so it would give us a view to the beach and we could watch them from the patio. Matthew Silverman said he would see me at the game and wished me good luck pitching. As soon as they left, Andy said, "Whew, I would have begged off if I knew Matt S. was going to be here. You should be honored that he's in town to watch you play. I guess that really shouldn't be unusual because Stuart is here too. I think they're both going to Milwaukee for games 3 an 4, and stay for game 5 if it goes that far."

I told Andy and Chet, "I would rather finish it here, but I want to go for it if we can win up there."

Andy asked me when I was going in, and I told him I would go in after lunch just like I would normally for a seven PM game time. Andy said he might see me in the clubhouse and left.

Chet was relaxing with a fresh cup of coffee, and he began talking about next season and how I would be eligible to enhance my contract. I told him, "How about let's get the World Series won, and then work on anything that needs to be done. I don't want to think of anything except winning right now."

Chet nodded and told me, "The kids want to go to Busch Gardens today. We'll be at the game tonight in seats that Sherry and Jeannie helped us get. They seem to know all the important people and easily get favors. You better keep those two; they are good for you."

"They sure are, Chet. See if the kids want to stay here or go to Busch Gardens.'

Chet went out to the beach to talk to Julie and the kids. That sent them running back to wash their feet off and put their T-shirts on to go back to their hotel. Julie came back to the patio with Sherry and Jeannie. Chet and Julie thanked us for breakfast and our hospitality. Sherry told them, "Matt doesn't know when he will travel to Milwaukee, but you two are welcome for breakfast in the morning. Call first though, since the fan airplane may be going up early too."

I suggested a nap before lunch for a little more rest as soon as they left. The girls said that was a good idea. We pulled the foliage closed, cleared the patio, and finished putting everything into the dishwasher. I wouldn't have believed we would use the big table with the extender leaves, but it had been used a few times now.

A nap in our house wasn't complete if we didn't soak some towels before a good two hour snooze. I felt very refreshed when I woke up at noon. I also felt very excited about the coming game, but also about the two gorgeous bodies snuggled up to me. I didn't want to start anything, so I slipped out of bed to take a quick shower. Jeannie stopped me before I could get in, and told me, "Come to the patio and we'll cut your hair. It's getting long in back, and you need to look good too."

I was given a haircut by two nude women on the patio. It's so much fun to view Sherry's dark features and her thick brownish/reddish pubic fur. She keeps it trimmed short and mostly shaved. Jeannie is tanned, but has so much lighter skin. Her fuzz was the same. Very sparse reddish fuzz that she also keeps trimmed and mostly shaved.

It only took five minutes to trim me up. They brushed me off and we three went to the shower to rinse the hair off and get ready for the day. The girls said they would take me to the ballpark, and they then planned to go to the fancy International shopping mall in Tampa. They said they needed a few things for the trip up north.

We had lunch at the Roadhouse before I was dropped off at the ballpark. I went to the gym after putting workout clothes on, and found Loney, Scott, Longoria, and Myers all working out. I did my regimen before heading to the cages. The four cages were full, but Scott motioned for me to use his position when he saw me. I hit from both sides, knowing we were going against a right-handed pitcher, but I also knew the Brewers' bullpen was full of lefties.

I went out to the field to see if Scott would want to loosen me up. He was busy with other pitchers, but Hanigan was waiting for me. We began loosening up right through the long toss. He told me that he only wanted me to throw as he called them, and that he would position his glove for location. He called the four-seam fastball first followed by the forkball, the two-seam, standard slider, backup slider, curve, changeup, and finally, the palm ball. He stood up and said, "Enough. We'll loosen up again before game time. How about a snack? We'll change into our game uniform and come out for some live batting practice."

We ate heartily from a buffet that was really decked out with a variety of foods. Hanigan was sticking with me like flypaper when I asked him, "Are you nervous? You've played in big games before. What's the deal?"

Ryan Hanigan blushed under his red head, and told me, "This is the biggest game I've ever played in besides the last game of the season and the playoff games. You're handling this better than I am, and you're a rookie."

I had to admit, "I was scared shitless before the game yesterday, but I was calm when it was time to play because I did everything the way I usually prepare for a game. That's the way I feel right now. Did you do anything different than you normally do?"

Hanigan said, "I'm doing more to prepare for games since you've been showing me what you do. My wife, Jas, that's Jasmine, did her best to settle me down, but I'm still nervous."

I suggested, "Don't you think that you're just excited about being in this game? You know what to do, and you'll automatically begin thinking as a catcher and controlling the field for defense when you squat down for that first pitch. You'll look over at the dugout, get the sign, sign to me, and I'll throw you a beautiful pitch that baffles the batter."

Hanigan was now laughing, as I had dramatized the various actions with voice and arm actions. He was smiling when he said, "You're right. Let's go get some live pitching batting practice before we have to give the cages up."

We both hit some long balls for souvenirs and practiced our bunts. I used both sides of the plate and was going to field some grounders, when Joe Maddon hollered, "Come in a minute, I need to talk to you."

Joe said, "Just cool it until game time," when I jogged over to him. "You've been going nonstop since two this afternoon. I know, because I've kept track of you and I'm tired just from following you around." I saw Jim Hickey and Shelton both rolling their eyes as they knew my usual routine.

"I'm just doing my regular routine, Joe. I'll go in and have something else to eat, but I do like to work some infield and go out to catch some in the outfield." Joe just shook his head and went back to studying his lineup card.

Jim Hickey pointed at the clubhouse door and followed me in. "How are your nerves, Matt? You seem pretty relaxed to be pitching in your first World Series game."

"I feel good, Coach. I made today like any normal seven o'clock start day. I've done everything the same way and that has relaxed me so far. Hanigan is a bundle of nerves, but I think I was able to settle him down some. I have to tell you though, I'm really excited. This is like a dream come true for any ballplayer. You've been here before, but most of us haven't. This is the culmination of everything we've done for the past year. David pitched the way he always does yesterday, and told me that I was going to pitch the way I have since I came up. I'd really like a complete game, but I don't mind if McGee finishes it. I just want to win."

Hickey smiled as he took a large shrimp from the buffet, dunked it in some sauce, and bit it off at the tail. He patted me on the back and said, "Make sure that you and Ryan throw a few in the bullpen before the Anthem."

That was a good idea. That would settle Ryan down and get us ready for that first inning where every Brewers batter was looking to capitalize on a young rookie pitcher who would or should have the jitters, and no command or control, or whatever you wanted to call it.

I really didn't want anything else to eat, so I took a protein shake to the dugout to see if Hanigan was ready to warm up before the National Anthem. He was already decked out in his gear, with his face mask cocked back on his head. "Come on, Ryan, let me warm up a little with some changeups and curves. I want to check my sliders too."

Ryan was instantly off the bench and walking toward the bullpen. I followed knowing that he would relax when he was catching me. It was something he was used to and something he enjoyed.

My changeup was working well according to Ryan. I was able to place it at the bottom of the zone every time. Ryan came up to me on the mound and asked, "Do you think you could drop a curve in at the top of the zone? I know you've only practiced on both sides of the bottom, but one at the top of zone would really confuse some batters."

"Let me try. We have another half-hour, so let me throw some and see. I don't want them to be coming in on the zone's sweet spot, so it might not work today."

It took four pitches to get a ball to come in at the high point of the zone. I did it five times in a row and tried to vary the balls on both sides. Ryan called for one back at the bottom of the zone and I was able to release at the right point to let the ball drop in at the knees.

Ryan hollered, "Sliders now."

My sliders came out with my hand and arm motion like all of my pitches. I had worked on having the same arm motion for everything I threw so I didn't have tells that the batter could use to anticipate the pitch. All my right to left were working fine, but since they would probably fill their lineup with as many left-handed batters as they had, I practiced my left to right slider until I liked it.

Hanigan wanted a fastball and I torched one into him. The ball hit with a solid 'thwack' and Hanigan smiled. He called for a forkball that tried to dive like the palm ball that he asked for next. Ryan stood grinning and said, "They're beginning to line up. Let's go up. I think we're both ready."

We had kids with us again, and my kid held onto my left hand as I held my hat over my heart. The kids all had Rays hats and held them with their left hands, trying to imitate the players but still hold our hands. A military glee club sang the Anthem very well and straightforward, without embellishment. I think it was the way Francis Scott Key imagined it would be sung. The big difference was no accompaniment, completely 'a cappella'.

The little girl holding my hand tugged at mine when the Anthem was complete. She pointed at her jersey that was like my girls had. Nineteen was on the back with 'Matt' over the number. She grinned at me before putting her cap on her bald head and running toward a couple waiting for her. I followed and made sure the couple had good seats. The man said, our son is here too, and yes, we have decent seats. Thank your lady friends for providing jerseys for all the kids. It's really special for them.

I watched with watery eyes as they walked up the aisle. Damn, these are the people you want to help, but you never know if it's who receives the help. Loney came up next to me and said, "You're seeing some of your and your ladies' work going up there. You and I are helping those kids with them. Let's go win a game."

I turned to see Joe Maddon smiling at me as he pointed to the pitcher's mound. Hanigan was behind the plate talking to the umpire. I jogged out to the mound and scuffed the area up a little before receiving the ball to warm up.

Hanigan flashed me a bunch of pitches, then pointed at zones. He was talking to the umpire on every pitch I threw. This was his way of letting the umpire know how my deliveries were and how I threw.

My first pitch in my first World Series game was supposed to be a curve. I threw the curve the way I always did to the bottom of the zone. It was called a ball. Hanigan had a surprised look on his face. He signed another curve and I threw it the exact same way, and it too was called a ball. Hanigan came out and told me, "The guy obviously doesn't like stuff coming in low, so we'll give him something at the letters to see what he thinks. What do you want?"

"How about a slider, but I'll put it between the belt and knees."

Hanigan flashed, I threw, and the right-handed batter backed away from the plate although the ball came in fat. The ump called a ball again. I was astounded. That was right across the plate, fatter than I would want. Hanigan signed for a fastball and wanted it high. I threw hard releasing a little early and let the ball slide in on top of the letters.

The batter was going to throw the bat for a walk, but the ump called a strike. Okay, the man behind the catcher didn't like low curves, and didn't like sliders, but did call high fastballs strikes. Hanigan signed for the curve, but high like we practiced. I threw the ball wondering what would be called as the batter watched it into Hanigan's glove for a called strike.