Chapter 34

Oh Boy! This was it; the series was now split two to two so far. Today could be the answer if Price pitched the way he has during the season. I somehow knew that if he won, I could and would win back home.

You know how it is to have that feeling, the feeling that something special is just around the corner or hidden behind that closed door. Then when you open the door, there they are, the Christmas presents you knew were hidden somewhere. You don't touch them so that you don't destroy the magic, but it still gives you the excitement that will keep you going until...

I was being nuts, but I know we can do it. We came from way back to first and now we're playing in the biggest series of our lives. I hated the fact that one team had to lose, but too bad. The Rays were going to do it, we were going to win starting today.

Sherry leaned over and kissed me. She softly said, "I can feel your heart racing. You're thinking of today's game, aren't you?"

Jeanie had to move one of her big breasts over my chest to get up on her elbow. She kissed my other cheek and told me, "You guys are winners; tonight is David's night, and Wednesday is yours."

Sherry told me, "Go run so you can have a normal day getting ready. You said that you didn't practice throwing much last night, so you should do more today."

I slid from bed and looked at the two beauties. They both smiled as they pulled the sheet and blanket up to below their breasts to tease me. They received the smile they were looking for, and if they had paid attention, they would have seen the drool that ran from the side of my mouth.

It was a little chillier outside when I met my running partners at the door. We stretched out on the street, noticing that traffic was heavier than it had been yesterday morning. We ran to the first light, jogged in place until we could cross, ran to the second light, and decided to run this block a few times as it was a very large block. It was longer, but the same width as the others. We ran our prescribed time and were receiving honks and beeps from passing motorists by the time we were back at the hotel.

We went straight to the hotel gym and did our prescribed regimens. It was agreed we'd meet in a half-hour for breakfast when we finished.

The girls were up and dressed, but no maid had showed up yet. I showered, shaved, and dressed so we could leave for breakfast.

The topic of the morning at the multiple tables shoved together was whether we wanted to wait to go back tomorrow, or fly back tonight. Jeannie said, "The family and fan flight is leaving tomorrow morning. The game won't be over until about ten, so you guys couldn't fly out until midnight or later. That would put you in St. Pete somewhere around three. Do you really want to stay up all night?"

The consensus was that no, we didn't want to stay up all night. The idea came up that the airlines should have sleeper births like trains do so that we could sleep all the way home. Several deviations of the theme were discussed, but there was no answer other than to get a good night's sleep here at the hotel and leave early in the morning.

What was really exciting was that everyone at our table was talking about what they were going to do after Wednesday. No one even gave a thought about the series going any farther than Wednesday. That excited me. My mind wandered a little thinking about Hawaii and what it might really be like.

The girls and I took a nap until one after exchanging some body fluids. We ate lunch so I could stoke up on energy, and kissed goodbye knowing that it was just for a few hours.

Man, I was one lovesick puppy.

Buses were leaving hourly, and I was on the first to go to the ballpark. The visitor's clubhouse was pristine, with all of our uniforms hanging, waiting for us. I put workout clothes on and headed for the batting cages. I was making consistent contact from both sides of the plate when I realized that my workout buddies, Myers and Loney were hitting on either side of me.

I waited for the two to pause when I was done, and asked if they wanted to do some fungo batting or would they rather keep hitting in the cage.

Myers said he would continue batting, and Loney added that he would do that too.

I went out to see if Scott was in yet, and he was. Hanigan was also there, so I loosened up with both Scott and Hanigan before going to the Brewers' class act bullpen to practice my pitches. Hanigan told me to throw Scott my low curveball after a few warm up throws. I threw that a half dozen times before Ryan asked for a high curveball in the zone. I was dropping them in below the letters. That would really confuse the batters. Hanigan had me alternating between the high and low curveballs for several pitches, before calling for a slider. The ball was at the slower speed and right at the knees. Ryan called for another, but letter high. My pitch was as near to perfect as you could ask for. I threw a few backup sliders, and then a couple of fastballs that I overthrew a little in my excitement.

Hanigan walked from behind Scott and said, "Enough, you and I are going to finish this on Wednesday."

That didn't help my excitement level. I was like one of those super balls bouncing from one wall to another until it crashed into something, and your mother then chastised you for throwing a ball like that inside the house. How do you explain to your mother that you have to throw it in the house or you would lose it? My excitement had my mind wandering everywhere.

We three walked to the dugout and went into the clubhouse where a couple of players were putting their uniforms on. I was sweaty from the batting cages and excited from practice pitching, so I took a shower, put the uniform of the day on, and began filling up from the generous buffet table. This was some good food and it had been put out early enough for us to enjoy. Several of the hungry players were enjoying the fare and even some of the picky weightwatchers had some of the good stuff. These people knew to have good meat, good cheese, and my favorite, some good shrimp and crab, on the table.

Joe called everyone into the clubhouse and sat on a big stool. I wondered if he had brought it from home.

"Okay, you guys. You know you're going to have Price pitching with Molina catching. Loney's on first, Zo second, Matt at short, and Longo on third. Myers is in right, Jennings in center, and Matt Joyce in left. Let's win this and go home to finish the series. This is the big one. Let's win it!"

Joe didn't move and said, "All of you, study the pitchers' book. David and Molina have studied the umps' book, and are reviewing the batters' book. We need to research our opponents and the game officials. Let's win this game with knowledge and skill. Go do it, and if you want to throw some batting practice, Matt, do it. All you guys who want to practice hitting a specific pitch holler it to Matt so that he can throw it. Let's win this."

On the way out, Joe said, "Don't overthrow. I'm using you because you have the best control. Get them comfortable with what they're having trouble with. I'll have Shelton and Hickey with you."

Batting practice turned out to be fun. The guys were asking for curveballs, and I fooled with them with a high curveball. Shelton said that was dirty pool, but Hickey thought it was a hoot. A couple of right-handers were asking for sliders but mine came from right at them and slid over the plate rather than doing the in and out. That's down the middle, but falling off to the outside and down.

I stopped after fifty pitches and fielded some grounders to throw to Loney. Everything was working.

Their pitcher struck our first batter out. Zobrist pushed a ball over the second baseman's head. I could see that Myers had his confidence back when he came up. He took a first pitch fastball, but when the second pitch was another fastball challenge, Myers swung and put it over the right field bullpen for a two-run homer. Longoria had been struggling with being teased into expanding his zone. Not to worry today, as he powdered the ball right out of the park into the left field stands. Both homeruns were from the right side. We were up three to zip.

Loney was in front of me batting left, and instantly hit a single between first and second. I was looking for anything in the zone to advance him. The pitcher stood up perfectly erect and threw a fastball right down Main Street. I wish I could say I hit the ball a mile, but it went straight up and came down in the catcher's mitt. I wondered if I needed glasses. The next man up hit into an easy out.

David had just a few mechanical problems in the bottom of the first, and allowed a couple of hits without any scoring. He found his groove and struck the side out. It was all David Price from there. He showed them that he could place his fastball anywhere he wanted and that he knew or felt when the batter would swing and miss or take a pitch.

I did get a single and a double, but Price put the game away and we were on our way back to St. Petersburg to finish this in front of our fans.

The visitor's clubhouse was happy once again, with everyone excited about going home with us being up one game. The intensity of the newspaper and TV reporters was nearly disastrous. Some guys were getting pissed and just undressing and heading to the showers.

My diversion was to eat. The caterers had refreshed the buffet, so I ate some ribs, half a dozen big shrimp, some roast beef covered with good gravy, mashed potatoes with more gravy, and a whole lot of green beans. I was smiling by the time the TV people were winding up. I went to my locker and began taking my uniform off. A microphone was put in front of me just as I was shirtless and working on my belt buckle, and a very nice looking lady asked, "You didn't hit any home runs tonight, and only drove in one run. Are you excited that you might pitch in the next game?"

I looked around for help and saw some of the players listening in, and some trying to get a shower.

"Yes, I'm excited that Joe might use me to pitch the next game. I'm disappointed that I didn't bat that well this evening."

My eyes must have been pleading to the reporter, as she messed with something on her microphone and waved to the cameraman. She leaned close to me and said, "I'm coming down to St. Pete this winter. Can I look you up?"

I laughed and told the woman, "You know that I have a couple of girlfriends right now, and I don't plan on changing or expanding the menu."

The woman had a sense of humor and laughed. She told me, "That's the first time I've ever been turned down, and the first time I've enjoyed being told 'no'."

I met the ladies at the hotel after a quick shower, and we decided to just go to the bar and snack. The girls had a sweet drink of some kind with fruit in it. I had a pint of thick dark beer that was almost bitter. I loved the beer by the time I finished it and the snacks. Everything is as I dreamed it so far.

We enjoyed some fun time in the hotel room that night, but went to sleep early in anticipation of the morning flights home.

I was out of bed and skipped running Tuesday morning because we had to be in the lobby by seven thirty. The girls had packed the night before, so all we had to do was shower and dress.

There was an air of excitement in the lobby as the players were checking out and moving toward the bus. The families and fans were doing the same, all with the expectation of enjoying being home. I didn't sit up front on the airplane this time, but sat in a window seat next to Junel Escobar who was sitting on the aisle. He told me that he was feeling good now and hoped I didn't want to keep his position. He was joking because he knew I would be pitching tomorrow night. I didn't realize how accustomed I had become to speaking Spanish. The two us actually chatted all the way home.

There was a crowd that had to be over twice what it had been at our last big homecoming when we walked out of the Jetway. All the TV and cable networks were there, along with reporters from several newspapers and magazines. All the guys had to make comments and smile while trying to get out of there. There were very few autograph moochers once again.

I met the girls when they entered the airport from their Jetway, and we went straight to the fancy Mercedes. The sun was shining so the first thing we did was put the top down. I would have waited for Loney or Scott, but I saw Loney's lady, and that Nancy had met Scott. The girls' Mercedes was parked next to Andy's car, so I knew all was well.

We drove straight home and opened the windows and patio door to let some fresh air in. The girls were busy unpacking and putting clothes into piles to wash. I put running clothes on and ran on the beach. There were a lot of people out, but they didn't mind that I was running on the hard sand.

I came back to the patio after running for an hour and found our three mothers sitting there. That was a surprise. I was able to get and give kisses, but no hugs since I was very sweaty. I excused myself and headed to the bedroom. Sherry was in the bathroom while I was stripping. She told me, "Mom said she was coming down, but I didn't know whether or not to believe her. You don't mind, do you?"

"I haven't seen my mom in a while either, so this is great. I wanted to say hi before we take off for Hawaii."

Sherry gave me a hug in spite of my sweaty condition and asked, "Want me to wash your back?"

Jeannie walked in at that second and said, "No way do you get him by yourself. I haven't had any of our man since last night either."

I laughed and said, "How about I just take a quick shower, and we visit with our moms?" The girls grinned and agreed. I was quickly in and out of the shower, and in shorts and a T-shirt. We had a good time talking about our trip to Milwaukee. My mom asked me, "Do you think you'll get a chance to enhance your contract since you've done so well since you came up with the Rays?"

I frowned and told my mother, "Until this series is in the bag and the trophy is on display, I don't want to talk about anything except winning tomorrow night, Mom. I kind of think it would be bad luck to even talk about it."

Mom smiled, patted my arm, and said, "You haven't changed, have you? You are still as single-minded as ever; one goal at a time." She got up and sat on my lap to give me an un-motherly kiss in front of my two special women's mothers.

The kiss brought on some 'Get a room', 'Can't you get someone your own age?', and 'Save some for us so we can enjoy him too' comments. Jeannie had the answer, "Okay, you three. Matt will line you up in the hot tub after supper tonight, and we'll see who can get him off. I think that would be the perfect way to cap your visit."

That shut them up and removed Mom from my lap. Jeannie sat on my lap and said, "I think I fit better anyway."

It was only about three and Sherry asked if I was going to go in to bat and throw. My answer was, "Let me see if anyone is in."

The secretary said that Joe and the coaches were in when I called. I told her I was coming in to use the cages and hung up. I didn't bother changing clothes, but went to the patio to tell everyone I was going in for a bit. Sherry pushed the foliage out and walked out on the sand before she turned and looked up. "Hey, Scott, Matt's going in, do you want to go with him?"

Scott hollered down to Sherry, "I have to put some clothes on. I'll be right down."

How about that? My personal workout partner was always ready to work with me.

We were doing our gym regimen when we were joined by Loney and Myers. They followed me to the cages and we four were soon hitting everything the machines could throw us at the max speed and we kept changing the heights of pitches so we could feel comfortable swinging at all levels.

Scott and I went to the bullpen to loosen up and throw my pitches when we were done. Every pitch felt good right through the palm ball. The high and low curveballs were in the zone, and I wished we had one of those stands to throw through. They were for little leaguers, but who cares if it teaches you throw in the zone.

I told Scott when we were done, "You know that you're one of the big reasons if we win this tomorrow. You've given a lot of yourself, and I want to make sure you know how much I appreciate the help you've given me."

Scott grinned and told me, "I'm going to be a bullpen coach or maybe even a bench coach one of these days. I love baseball like you do, but I'm not the player you or any of the guys on the team are. I'm working on learning to teach so I can be like Hickey or Shelton. One of these days, Matt, one of these days."

"You'll make it, Scott. Let's go home."

Scott agreed to go home and enjoy the evening since no one else came in to practice. I think he and Nancy were getting serious enough that they might be considering moving in together, although Scott was at Freddie's and Nancy's every night he was in town.

The moms and girls were dressed to go out. I asked where we were going, and the girls said, "We have to go by Chica's to say hi to Rosa first, and then we're taking our moms to our little seafood place right up the road. Come on; put your nice stuff on for your Rubenesque girlfriend."

Mom didn't understand, but Sherry said, "You will and you'll love her. She is something special."

We took the big red Expedition and were at Chica's reasonably early. Our favorite bartender saw us when the six of us came through the door, and gave me the wiggling curled finger come on and pointed to a row of empty chairs at the bar. Jeannie told me, "She's waiting for you. I wonder if there will be a competition between her and Rosa."

I noticed the bartender disappear for a second, and was quickly back to begin pouring everyone some of the smaller sized margaritas. Just as she was finishing, but leaning over to display some flesh to me since she had unbuttoned a few more buttons, Rosa came from behind, wrapped her arms around me, and loudly whispered in my ear. "Do you want her? How about having her and me at the same time? You are so exciting, Matt, and your Jeannie said she shares."

Rosa's whisper was loud enough for the girls and our mothers to hear. I wanted to bust up, but something told me this big beautiful woman was serious. The bartender stood on something and leaned across the bar to put a lip lock on me that sent shivers down to ah, ah, you know where. She softly said, "Oh, I want that," when she moved away with a smile.

Rosa spun me around on the bar seat, snuggled between my legs, and hugged me to her massive chest. She sensuously kissed me and wiggled on my growing interest. Her black eyes flashed as she offered, "Gane el juego mañana y puede tener mi muchacha y mí mientras le gusta." That roughly translates to, "Win the game tomorrow and you can have my girl and me for as long as you like." After pausing for a second, she said in English, "You don't even have to win, just tell us when and where."

Rosa was smiling when she released me, and let her hand drag across my very obvious protrusion. She turned to Jeannie on one side of me, and kissed her as sensuously as she had kissed me. She whispered something to her that I couldn't hear, but it made Jeannie blush. She then turned to Sherry on the other side of me and did it again. The sensuous kiss followed by the whisper, but she did something else to Sherry. She cupped one of Sherry's small breasts, tweaked the nipple, and licked Sherry's lips. Whew, that was hot and I could see Sherry flush with excitement. They were hidden from most everyone except us few who were on that end of the bar which happened to contain our moms.

It took a second for Sherry to catch her breath when Rosa finished, but she wanted to talk. She held on to Rosa's hand and told her, "These women with us are special people, Rosa. This is Matt's mother, this is Jeannie's mom, and this lady is my mother."

Rosa beamed her happiness and hugged each of the ladies to her in a way that told them how warm and genuine her feelings for them were. She stood back and said to the three women, "I've already told Matt's two ladies how much I want him, but I somehow think you know how happy I would be to spend some intimate time with Matt and his ladies."

It was my turn to blush crimson. Rosa leaned over, kissed my cheek, and told me, "My brother really likes you. He told me to enjoy knowing someone special like you."

I told Rosa, "We stopped by to say hi. You've given us some happy thoughts that may become more than just thoughts. You are special." We hugged and she kissed me one more time. She leaned back and looked at me, "You win tomorrow. You win and I'll make sure you are rewarded with all of your fantasies."

The moms and girls were getting up when the very attractive bartender came around to our side of the bar. The smaller girl almost climbed up on me and said, "My mother knows how attracted to you I am. I am still unused, but I want you to use me. I will be your women's slave. Make me yours, Matt."

She said 'my mother'. Holy smokes, the sexy bartender is Rosa's daughter. I smiled, gave her a chaste kiss, and sent her back to her duties. This had been a lot more than I had expected.

The girls teased me all the way to the truck. The moms were not much better, but told me they understood as they were as attracted to me as the two women we had just left.

I needed a cold shower after all that.

We went to our special seafood restaurant on Pass-a-grill beach. As almost always, there was an empty table in the main restaurant downstairs. We all ordered drinks and sat back to review the menu.

The owner of the restaurant came out to our table and said, "Welcome home, Matt. I'm looking forward to watching you pitch tomorrow night. Before you make up your mind, we have some fresh mahi-mahi that just came in. I can bake it a special way for you if you were to have a long drink or two. You know that it'll be good if it comes from my kitchen."

"Make it for all five of us, and send some wine that will go well both before and with the fish."

My mom asked, "Are you drinking now? You sipped on a margarita at Chica's, and now wine? You would never touch anything before."

I told her, "The nutritionist said I should drink beer and wine often, then we were at Chica's and enjoyed those margaritas. I've had a lot of wine since having the poison problem, but not too much. I like it all, but I don't like the feeling of losing control."

"Just like your dad. He used to go out with his buddies, and they would come back with him being the only sober one in the bunch. Enjoy yourself, Matt. I think your father comes out in you more and more.

"Thanks, Mom. That is a special compliment." I didn't think of my dad that often anymore, but wondered if he could possibly be watching what he had started so many years ago. I hope he was.

Jeannie immediately opened the patio doors to let the sea smell come in once back inside the condo. The air was a little fishy tonight, not bad but it let you know that you lived on the beach. She asked everyone when she came back in from the patio, "How about some hot tub time? Matt keeps it at just about a hundred degrees. The best part is the jets that relax you. Come on, get dressed, or is that undressed, to relax."

I went to our bedroom, undressed, and wrapped a towel around me before leaving the room. The two girls did the same, but their towels covered them from their chests down. Hmm, they must have bigger towels to be that wide.

We were already in the tub when our moms came out with their towels over their shoulders. Oh my, Sherry's mom is a wet dream, and then you check out the mature blonde that Jeannie's mom is. My mother is such a beauty that I couldn't help becoming instantly erect from looking at her. Jeannie's hand found my interest and just held it. Sherry's hand wandered down to check my condition and found Jeannie's hand wrapped around the base. Sherry had enough room to get a firm hold on what was still exposed, and the two girls grinned as they had a firm hold on me.

The jets felt wonderful on my back and legs. I sometimes think I could use this thing several times a day.

Mom told me, "You know that you should probably be excited by sitting in the tub with five nice looking nude women."

Sherry kissed my cheek and said, "Oh, he's excited all right. Jeannie and I have a good hold on him so that he doesn't fly off into the night."

It was Jeannie who cracked me up, "Our man does us right here in the tub when we can't wait long enough to get inside. We would spend a lot more time in here if we weren't so impatient to get at him."

My women are really funny. Sherry's mom told us, "I remember some good times when I was first married. There was one of these where we lived and we would go out there late at night and really enjoy playing in it. Some people told on us because what we were doing was leaving slick blobs floating around, and they had to empty, clean, and refill it."

Sherry told the ladies, "Not this one, it has an automatic cleaning cycle. Whenever we think it needs cleaning, Matt presses the button and the water is drained, nozzles spray the inside, and then the tub is refilled. Pretty neat, huh?"

It was getting late, so I suggested, "How about bed time, Ladies. I get up early to run before breakfast. You guys are welcome to eat with us in the morning, and it would be nice to visit some more. Let's go to bed."

We all got out and wrapped in our towels. The three moms gave me kisses and my mom said, "It's too bad I brought the other two, I could use some cuddling with my man."

I wanted to ask what happened to her other man, but didn't want to bring up a possible bad subject. I shut and locked the doors, pulled the drapes, and went to the bedroom to find my two ladies stretched out on a pile of towels. Jeannie said, "We can't be as loud as we usually are or as loud as we were in the hotel, but you need to take care of your two ladies. I don't know why but Rosa and her daughter really turned me on tonight."

I was thinking, 'me too' but didn't want to verbalize that. We ended up playing all over our big bedroom, and finally lay exhausted, with the two girls head to toe, and me nearly passed out beside them. The two moved around, pulled the wet towels from beneath us, and dragged the covers up over us. Jeannie told Sherry and me, "We're the perfect lovers for each other. We enjoy each other until we have nothing more to give. I love you, Sherry and Matt. I'm like Rosa's daughter; I'll be your slave forever."

We fell asleep.

Daylight was streaming through the curtained windows when I opened my eyes. I looked at the clock and saw that it was just a few minutes after seven. The two women, who were drifting in and out of sleep, kissed me on both cheeks when I moved to get out of bed. I smiled all the way to the bathroom and while putting my running clothes on.

I checked the beach and saw that the tide was coming in, but there was going to be plenty of beach left to run on for a couple of hours. Deciding to run north for a change had me up near the Don Caesar, the pink palace. Another runner came up next to me as I ran past it and said, "Morning, Matt."

I looked over and saw Julie, Chet's wife. "Hey, how are you? You should have called us and gone to eat with us last night."

Julie told me, "We didn't get in until nearly nine, so we decided to just relax, feed the kids pizza, and go to bed. Chet and the kids are still snoozing."

"You need to come to breakfast at my place this morning. I'm sure we have plenty to feed everyone, and the girls would love to see you and the kids."

"I might be able to get Chet away from his phone long enough to do that. He's doing a lot of negotiating and renegotiating for football and basketball players this time of year. He's also down here to talk to Andrew Friedman and Matt Silverman at their request. Don't tell Chet I told you, as it's supposed to be on the QT."

I told Julie my sentiments about not wanting to talk about any money stuff until the season is finished. This season isn't over until we win the Series as far as I'm concerned, and I hope that's tonight." I suddenly had a thought. "Do you guys have tickets? Are you coming to the game?"

Julie laughed and answered, "Chet bought seats next to the family section so we'll be sitting with or near your girls. The man has the magic touch when it comes to getting good seats or the seats he wants."

We had turned around and were nearing the resort, so I told Julie, "Go in, wake the family, and come to the condo for breakfast. Tell the kids that I bought a big waffle maker at a condo garage sale and we'll have waffles with all of the other stuff."

I dug in and put some speed on to get home. I wanted to get everyone up because I know Julie, Chet, and the two kids would be here within thirty to forty-five minutes.

I opened the patio door using my key, and saw that someone was up as the coffee maker was just finishing. The girls were in the bedroom, up and dressed in shorts and tank tops. Both gave me good morning kisses. I said, "I met Julie running on the beach and invited them to breakfast. I told her to tell the kids that I would make waffles. I hope you don't mind."