Chapter 4

Oh boy, this is exciting. I was selected twenty-second in the first round of the June draft, but the team wasn't very generous when Mom questioned them about money, so she told me to go to college instead of a minor league camp. I was offered several scholarships, but I wanted to stay at home and go to the local state university. They offered to pay all of my expenses since I didn't want to stay in a dorm. I could eat in the sports cafeteria for lunch and any other meal, and would get my books and tuition paid. This was what I wanted. Jeannie and Sherry both received full scholarships and worked a deal similar to mine where they didn't use a dorm but still received free books and had cafeteria privileges. It was a good deal for the university, since the meals we didn't eat and the dorm we didn't use were worth a lot more than the books and lab fees we would have had to pay.

My two girlfriends were still that, my two girlfriends. I didn't have much contact with the mothers as Sherry's mom now had a steady guy, and Jeannie's mom found another swinger guy who she liked. Mom and Earl were still dating steadily, but neither one wanted anything permanent. I wondered if there was 'yet' in that thought.

College baseball was easier than the 'Big League' I had played in, and I was the shining star throughout my four years at the university. Since this was a Florida school, we had baseball practice and intercollegiate games all year long. Other Florida teams wanted practice games, so we had a continuous season when the regular conference season was over for the winter. This was fine with me as I loved baseball.

None of my classes required a lot of effort. Sherry and Jeannie were so bored that they read novels during most of their classes and we all still aced everything. I think the most trouble we had was biology. The professor snuck in some killer lab stuff that had us digging to find the information to perform the necessary tests and analyses. I'm sure they didn't figure on the three of us working together and coming up with the answers. We were the only three to receive a grade on the test.

Chemistry turned out to be similar to biology, but the three of us were lab partners with one other person. The result was the other person didn't really have to do much, as we did all of the research and he did what we told him to and documented the results. We were finally split up during our senior year at the university. The girls had more education courses, and I had more business classes. They were both ahead in hours and could have graduated at the end of the fall, but they applied for graduation as they wanted to continue to get their masters' degree anyway. The two girls were almost finished with the requirements for their masters' by the time the school figured out what they were doing.

Meanwhile, I was almost overwhelmed by agents and attorneys wanting to represent me when I graduated. I had to rely on coach Earl and the university coach to help me make a choice. It was a good choice, as I was selected fourth in the first round and was signed to a good contract with a huge bonus by the Miami Marlins. The agent really worked them over and with my college stats and versatility I was given way over slot value. A new guy usually goes to a short season 'A' club and works his way up from there, but they sent me straight to their 'Triple A' club. Their management had money, but didn't have a good 'Triple A' farm club. I was in confrontations with the Manager as soon as I showed up. The man wanted me to pitch, then sit for a four or five days. I wanted to play ball and thought I had been selected as a shortstop and utility infielder. The man said he would send me down to an 'A' or 'Double A' club if I didn't shut up. That would be fine with me if I could play ball every time I complained.

Mom even came to Jupiter to settle me down. She said I had to do what the team wanted as they did give me a lot of money. I told her, "I haven't spent any of their signing money so far, and live off the weekly salary they pay. You see how I live sharing an apartment with four guys. I'll give it back to them if they'll trade me to a team that I can play ball for."

Mom helped me, and often had Earl talk to me to keep me settled down. I was in the starting rotation and kept pitching every fourth or fifth day, depending on who we were playing. Pitchers were able to hit in the National League, so I was able to show off a little when we played other National league farm clubs. The coach actually began to use me as a designated hitter on my off days when we played as visitors at American League teams.

I was sent to the 'bigs' or 'majors' in late July because of injuries to relievers. I did well against major league batters, but as a reliever you only pitch one or two innings, and usually not every day. You don't get many at bats as a reliever, so I didn't get to show off my untouchable average up there. The Manager of the major league team didn't believe my batting average coming out of the minor league team, and discounted my fielding and hitting ability. I finally had a chance to bat in practice and constantly belted balls out of the park. Then I was going to stay in to pitch another inning one day, and hit a three run homer that pretty much sealed the game for us.

I was pulled from the bullpen to pinch hit in the eighth with two men on the next day and hit a home run again. The Manager called me into his office after the game. "Where did you learn to hit like that? Pitchers don't usually bat worth a damn."

"I haven't always been a pitcher. I thought I was drafted as a shortstop or utility player when I was drafted. I play all of the infield positions and have played both right and left field. I haven't played much center field, and haven't caught since high school."

The Manager, Mike Redmond, pulled my file out and called the pitching coach and Mike Berger, the Assistant General Manager to come to his office. After the other two men arrived in the office, the Manager said, "I've used this guy to hit two days in a row and you both know the results. I asked him where he learned to hit and he told me that he always was decent with a bat, and thought he was being drafted as a utility player. Who drafted him as a pitcher?"

No one answered. Mike Berger said, "I remember when we drafted Matt fourth in the first round this past summer. I thought he would go down to the short season A club and possibly work his way up to an expansion spot in September and figured he was going to be one of the infielders we were going to use later this year. We needed and still need depth in the infield. He was batting in the five or six hundreds in college and had an unbelievable on base percentage."

The pitching coach, Chuck Hernandez said, "The Triple A coach told me Matt was a very good pitcher, but was a complainer because he always wanted to play the infield and didn't like to pitch. He has been a good enough pitcher, and as a matter of fact, also a good enough reliever that he was a starter down there and is a hell of a reliever up here. I thought the farm coach just didn't like him. You know the guy has his favorites and gets like that."

The Manager leaned back in his chair as if in deep thought, and said, "I'm going to see what kind of glove the kid has. I think our bullpen is sort of okay, but we're weak in our depth at second and short. Heck, we don't have a decent backup for third either, and we have two guys in the outfield we should put on the DL. We're close in the running for last place and we need some pop in our bats to improve the season. I'm going to use Matt for his bat if he can be as good as either of our infield people are now. If we need his arm, well, I guess we'll have to send him to the bullpen to warm up or he'll have to warm up between innings."

I was grinning and the other three men had serious frowns of indecision on their faces. The pitching coach said, "I guess I should get Frank in here to coach him on hitting, but Matt may not need or want any advice."

The Manager told me to get out of there and come in at noon tomorrow. "I want to work you out in the infield and see what you have. You've been coming in early and using the batting cages, so this should be more fun. You'll still have time to use the cages, and I'll tell the people in the staff cafeteria to feed you. Now get."

I was almost skipping back to the locker room. There were only a couple of the older players still there and they complimented me on the homer. One said, "You need to be playing every day. We need your bat. Can you do anything in the field?"

As I stripped down, I told them, "I thought I was drafted as a shortstop or utility player, primarily an infielder. Somewhere along the line, the Triple A coach thought I was supposed to be a pitcher and that's where I was when they needed me up here. I'm happy to play anywhere, but would rather play anywhere other than pitching."

One guy, a good reliever said, "You have a good arm and have a great fastball, a decent curve, and a slider that is really deceptive, but you don't throw it much. I know you're throwing what the catcher signs as the Manager signs to him. So how are we going to get to use your bat?"

I told them about the conversation I just had, and both players said they would come in early to help with the workout. The older first baseman said, "I think you might be the kid my little brother told me about. You came out of college with what, a 600 plus average, didn't you?"

I smiled and said, "College batting averages aren't all that important as they don't have the pitching that is in the majors."

The older relief pitcher said, "I heard you were batting almost 800 down in Triple A. I know you don't get many at bats as a pitcher down there, but you were getting up two or three times a game when you were pitching. You must be a decent pitcher if you were in the rotation in our Triple A club and came up to fill a spot here. They are pretty stingy with pitching jobs."

I had a towel around my waist and said, "I need to get a shower and get something to eat. I'm starved."

The two guys smiled and one said, "We going out to eat in a minute. Hurry and come along with us. I heard you don't have a car yet, so we'll drive ya. Where are you living down here?"

"At the Residence Inn up the road. It's the easiest place right now. I do need to go buy a car though. I just haven't taken the time to find one."

"Get cleaned up and we'll talk about it while we eat."

I was quickly showered and dressed in clothes similar to the other two. That would be jeans and a Marlins T-shirt; pretty hokey for a couple of major league players.

The two men asked me what kind of car I wanted while we were eating in a decent restaurant. I hadn't thought much about a car since I had figured that I might be moving around a lot, and didn't need the aggravation of dealing with a car. The guys said that I could leave a car in the players' lot where it would be safe when we were on the road. I suggested, "How about I look for a good used car, something like a Camaro or Mustang? On second thought, I don't want a flashy car; I think I'll get something plain like a big Ford or Chevy. Both of your Escalades are nice, but that's too flashy for me."

The first baseman said, "I'll tell you what, I'm buying the old lady a new Caddy that she wants and I'll sell you her Jeep Cherokee. It's three years old, has low mileage, and runs perfectly. Drive that until you decide what you want to buy. I'll sell it to you for whatever is wholesale. How's that?"

"Perfect, my man. Bring it or call me to come get it when you get her the new car. I'll give you the money right away so I can get it insured and registered. That'll be perfect."

I called Mom when I got to the Residence Inn that night to tell her that the Manager was going to try me out in the infield tomorrow. She was happy for me and said she was looking forward to coming down to visit with me on the next long home stand. I called the girls next. I had to make two calls as they were both at their own home. Both were excited and told me they were getting close to finishing the requirements for their masters' and would shortly be applying for teaching positions. I told them I missed them and they told me the same. It sure is lonely when you live in a hotel or a farm club bunk room.

I was in the locker room at eleven the next day, dressed for practice. I pulled my good infield glove out and stretched out to get ready. The Manager showed up at eleven thirty and the two players from last night showed up at noon. They went out and along with the Manager, hit balls to me to see how I fielded. They would hit alternately to me and kept me running. I didn't boot any balls and had to charge a few that were coming off the grass wrong. My throws to first were accurate and then the reliever came out and we practiced some double plays with me pitching a ball to him or him to me before relaying it to first. We worked up a good sweat in the Florida sun until the Manager said, "I want to put you on second today and see how you do. I might switch you to short after infield practice later, but we'll see. You seem to have good range and your arm is accurate to first. We just have to see what your baseball instincts are."

In the locker room where all four of us showered before going up to the staff cafeteria to eat, the first baseman said, "My lady is bringing the Jeep here in a few minutes so you can have a car. We'll have one of the secretaries go register the car and have her stop by a State Farm agent for insurance while we're upstairs. I have the number of how much the beast will cost when you catch up to your checkbook."

I was all smiles as the task of buying a car was taken care of without my having to go to a car lot and going through all of that nonsense. A good used car should be perfect for me and get me wherever I want to go. I was actually looking forward to going home to visit with my Mom and the two girls before I went to a winter league somewhere. I would have to talk to the Manager and coaches about that.