The Comets' game was on the tube, the recliner was cranked back, and the beer wasn't tasting so lousy any more, so Paul knew he'd had a few already. Too many for a Monday night? Eh, perhaps, but they all ran together anymore. A baseball schedule didn't care about weekends. It was certainly no nine-to-five job. A couple more home games, and then a blessed day off before they headed to Tijuana. Paul shifted in the chair and carefully placed the remote into ideal "easy access" position. He took a deep breath and exhaled. Overall, things were going pretty well, he thought. It had been a little over six months since Cary had taken a chance on him, and he had to admit, he was feeling a bit more like himself again. He enjoyed managing more than he had thought he would, although there was no doubt he still wished he could get out there himself. Still, that feeling of longing was gradually fading, transposing into a sense of purpose. If he couldn't live that life again, he could certainly help some of these younger players accomplish what he had. He had a decent little apartment. Hermisillo had grown on him, and a few of the local businesses knew him by name by now. It wasn't Kansas City. It wasn't home. But then again, home hadn't felt all that much like home in a long time. So this was . . . something. There was a muffled buzzing from underneath him somewhere. He rooted in the seat cushion to find his phone, and unlocked it to read the text. From Maria, his texting buddy, of course.
"One month" was all it said.
"One month what?"
"One month since we met. So, are you ever going to ask me out?" Paul nearly dropped the phone in surprise. He blushed, sure that she could see he was bright red straight through the text messages.
"Maria, I'm old enough to be your dad!"
"Correction, smarty-pants. ALEJANDRO is old enough to be my dad, and is in fact, my dad. YOU, on the other hand, are, uh, thirty-something. And I am thirty-something. Hence, no hay problema."
"Maria, you're not thirty-something, you're 29. And I'm almost forty-something."
"Jesus, it's a wonder you were ever married." He could almost picture her shaking her head prettily in frustration. "Can't you even tell when a girl is coming on to you? Listen, papi. I'm a big girl. I'm single. I like talking to you. I think you're handsome. We live like 15 minutes from each other. What's the problem?"
Paul scratched the back of his neck, furiously trying to figure out what to write. He couldn't deny she was attractive, and he really enjoyed chatting with her. But never in a million years did he think she was attracted to him. Plus, she was Alejandro's daughter! He started to type, then erased, then started, then erased again. The phone buzzed again.
"Of course, I'll likely be forty-something by the time you get off your ass and ask me out."
"Jesus, Maria, I'm four beers in and it's been a long, long day! Give a guy a break!"
"OK OK Papi. Tell you what. Not only am I a big girl, but I'm a modern woman too. I happen to know the Estrellas don't play on Wednesday. So, 8 o'clock at La Verbena. As the cool kids say, 'Be there or be square.' Peace out!"
She finished up with a kiss emoji. Paul stared at the icon for few seconds, his mind starting to go places he hadn't allowed it to go previously. He stood up abruptly and started pacing. Jesus, what was he getting himself into? She was a kid! He was an old man! He was technically still married! She was the daughter of probably his best friend right now! His mind whirled through a series of negative reasoning. And then he ran out of reasons. He thought about that kiss emoji. He thought about the way she made him laugh. She thought about the idea that someone might still find him attractive.
So . . . why the hell not? Hadn't he just been thinking that things had been looking up? He wasn't completely clueless about the state of his marriage. He and Patty had been separated almost a year now, and she hadn't shown the slightest interest in reconciling. He knew she'd been out on dates, multiple times. He was still in touch with many of their mutual friends, and news traveled, even all the way to Hermosillo.
What did he always tell himself when he was in a slump? "Don't think too much about it." Maybe that's what he had to do here as well. He made a conscious effort to stop his mind from going in circles. At least on the baseball front, the team was continuing to fire on all cylinders. They had started out the week by finishing out the set with Leon, winning two of three. Then they had proceeded to sweep Guadalajara before starting a series with Pueblo by drubbing them 14-7. The offense was continuing to click, despite having no players ony any of the offensive leaderboards. They had averaged almost eight runs a game this week. Unfortunately, they still just couldn't put any distance between them and second-place Juarez, who had been hot as a firecracker lately, with five straight wins to keep them within two games. Well, a showdown was coming. Hermosillo had to finish up this series with Pueblo, then start off July by facing Tijuana and Monterrey before a critical four-game set with the Jalapenos. Paul was certainly happy with how they had been playing of late, even against strong teams like Ecatepec, but that Juarez series would really show them where they stood.
There had been offensive standouts up and down the lineup this week. Dennis Bergeon, the speedy but serious centerfielder, had been fantastic, with six hits and four walks in 15 plate appearances. Alfonso Martinez had been a machine at plating runs, knocking in seven in five games, including RBI in his last four games. He was up to a ten-game hitting streak as well, as was Carlos Trujillo, who had added five more stolen bases to his league-leading total.
The pitching hadn't been quite as special this past week, giving up 28 runs in six games. Not great, but obviously good enough when you were mashing the ball. Ron Olsen, the tall righty from Nevada, had what for him was probably a career week out of the pen, tossing five and a third scoreless, and inducing 13 ground balls along the way. Good enough to lower his sky-high ERA to 6.07. Sometimes all you needed was one good week and good things would start to happen. Hopefully that would happen for Ron. Maybe things were looking up for Paul, too...
Team Status
Season Record: 44-23
Record for this Stretch: 5-1
Position: 1st
Standout Performers
CF Dennis Bergeron (.545/.334/.818, 1.485 OPS)
CF Alfonso Martinez (.375/.423/.500, 7 RBI)
SS Carlos Trujillo (.412/.450/.412, 5 SB)
Dennis Bergeron
RP Ron Olsen (5.1 IP, 0.00 ERA, .118 BABIP, 0.56 WHIP)
Ron Olsen