SIDE ARM A Fictional Player Story

[vrobx1]

Keith Stephen started walking towards the mound. I knew my afternoon was over.

I didn't even have the desire to argue.

We were in San Jose. And the defending League Champions had just kicked my butt!

Their catcher had led off the bottom of the sixth with a home run. I was ahead in the count 1-2. I had tried to fool him with a slider. 354 feet later, the Bees led 6-1.

The game had started horribly.

By the end of the second innning, San Jose was up 5-0.

I have to tell you, I think I am beginning to hate the San Jose Bees more than I even hate anything that is Dodger Blue. These guys just beat me like a drum every time I pitch against them.

I didn't even bother watching the rest of the game. We lost 9-3 for those of you keeping score at home.

My line:
5.0 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 4 K

"Keep your focus on what," Broadway said after the game. "If you can strike out twice as many as you walk, that should be your goal for this season. Don't worry about wins and losses. Remember. Leagues like this one exist to get guys like you ready to play in the Big Show."

I took a large swig of Pepsi and grunted a reply.

I knew what he was saying but I hated losing.

I hated losing!

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[vrobx1]

We lost again.

I lost. Again.

It had only been 16 days since that complete game shutout against Modesto put it already seemed like a season ago.

We had traveled to Salinas to face the Spurs.

I had given up a run in each of the first two innnings. The second innning was the infuriating one as it was a leadoff walk that had gone on to score.

But then I settled in and only allowed one base runner the next three innings.

We went into the bottom of the sixth tied 2-2.

Then the Spurs just pounded everything I could throw. A double. A triple. A single. Another single. Another double.

For the second start in a row, I wouldn't make it out of the sixth innning.

5.2 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K.

And a big ol fat L!

My ERA had shot up to 4.55.

We were now 12-28.

Coach Broadway pointed out that the Bees and Spurs were the top two offenses in the California League.

I didn't want to hear it.

I didn't care who it was. I couldn't keep letting them pound me like this.

I might as well be walking everybody.

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[vrobx1]

On the 25th of May, I had arranged for my Mom to buy a very nice bouquet of flowers to have presented to Beth on graduation day. Mom and my sister would be there. Dad wasn't the type to attend your girlfriend's graduation to begin with, especially with his health issues added in.

Yes, you could say she was my girlfriend. No, there were no immediate plans for a long-term commitment at this time. In fact, after hanging up the phone, I stared out at the baseball diamond and realized that no matter who the woman would be, she would have to deal with baseball being the mistress she would have to share me with.

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[vrobx1]

California League Standings
As of May 26, 1986

CALL NORTH
Salinas Spurs 28-14
San Jose Bees 28-16
Modesto A's 17-27
Stockton Ports 14-30
Reno Padres 12-31

CALL SOUTH
Palm Springs Angels 30-13
Bakersfield Dodgers 29-16
Fresno Giants 20-23
Ventura County Gulls 20-23
Visalia Oaks 19-24

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[vrobx1]

Sometimes, the luck of the draw is just not on your side in the pitching rotation.

For the third straight start, we were on the road against one of the top teams in the league. This time in Palm Springs against the South Division leading Angels.

Why couldn't I draw the Stockton Ports?

No, I got pounded again.

By the end of the second innning, we were down 7-0.

I lasted just 5 innnings again.

It was 9-2 when Skip decided I had been beaten down long enough.

8 hits. 9 runs. 3 walks and just 1 strikeout.

So, that brought me to 0-3 on the road. The Spurs, Bees and Angels had run roughshod all over me. Of course, they were three of the top four scoring teams in the California League.

The top scoring team was the Bakersfield Dodgers.

I hate the Dodgers.

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[vrobx1]

After 5 starts, my current line was as follows:

1-4, 32.2 IP, 6.34 ERA, 12 BB, 18 K

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[vrobx1]

We were still in Palm Springs on the 29th of May. I charged a call to my parents house and talked to Beth before her graduation.

I could hear the shakiness in her voice. I could feel the emptiness we were sharing with me missing this special moment in her life.

I avoided all talk of baseball. I didn't want to ruin her night even more by mentioning how bad I and the Reno Padres sucked again.

We instead talked about her plans for the summer. Her enrolling in Southwest Texas State. Getting a shot at college volleyball.

She didn't know what to major in yet. She was leaning Physical Education but wasn't sure if she wanted the hassle of having to teach a class as well.

Coach Buresh, her volleyball coach, had suggested Physical Therapy as a major.

It was left unspoken but I knew we both were thinking the same thing. That it was too bad there were no professional sports opportunities for her.

Of course. If there were. There would be no chance at a future for us as a couple.

Why was even thinking about that?

I was just 19. I was way too young for that to have even crossed my mind.

We hung up and then I headed to the bullpen. Happy to have baseball there to help clear my head.

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[vrobx1]

I called home when we got back to Reno.

Dad had another surgery scheduled for July. The $600,000 was going fast but it wasn't something that was going to waste.

The loans on Mom's cafe were being paid off as well. Business there would be booming once again with the summer months upon them.

The oil business in Texas was for more than just oil companies getting rich. Businesses like my Mom's cafe were depending on the oil business for their very survival.

Still, there was over a quarter of a million left in the credit union drawing interest. The interest was plenty for me to tap from every once in a while and make it through the month.

Mom had also been excited about the NBA Finals. Dad hated basketball.

The Houston Rockets had made it after beating the Lakers. But the first two games in Boston had seen the Rockets get destroyed. Those Celtics were tough, let me tell you.

It was good to talk about anything but baseball again.

I just needed a break.

Already.

Constant losing will do that to you.

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[vrobx1]

Rain poured down on Reno, Nevada on May 31.

We headed to the ballpark but it was no use. The tarp was pulled over the field and 90 minutes later we headed back home.

The game would be made up the next day as a part of a Sunday double header.

The good news is we were at home where my ERA was barely over 1.0.

The bad news is we were facing the Salinas Spurs, who had pounded me pretty good just a week and a half ago.

Salinas still held a 2 game lead over San Jose in the North Division. Once again I had drawn one of the best teams in the league to face.

I was not good in the first inning. At all! I walked three, including one with the bases loaded. In the first inning alone!

John Frierson sat me down in the bottom of the first.

"Dammit, James, pitch! Stop being scared of these guys and pitch!"

He was right. I had been intimidated by the Spurs and was pitching scared.

The next innning lasted only five pitches. They got a lead off single but we wiped it out with a 6-4-3.

I gave up a couple of hits, including an RBI single in the top of the third. I shut the door with my only two strikeouts of the game after that.

They got unearned run in the fifth, the score of the game for either team.

I pitched well.

Not bad. Not great. Just well. I did okay.

I got the complete game. 3 runs. 2 earned. 9 hits. 4 walks. 2 strikeouts.

And another L.

We didn't score a run and lost 3-0.

I headed to the showers and watched in my street clothes as we won the second game in 10 innings. 5-4.

Damn.

I could have used 5 runs.



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[vrobx1]

1-5.

5.40 ERA

41.2 IP

16 BB.

20 K.

I had been dropped to third in the rotation.

But there was some good news.

We had moved out of last place. The Stockton Ports were worse than we were.

In the bigs, the San Diego Padres were just three games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Come on, Padres!

I hate the Dodgers.

My home teams, the Astros and Rangers, were just terrible. Houston was 20-28 and Texas was 18-32.

The Montreal Expos, who had been to back-to-back World Series, were 20-25.

The defending World Series Champions from Boston were 36-13.



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[vrobx1]

"Trust the process, James," Broadway said as he pulled out another piece of Wrigley's Spearmint Gum. His wife, he explained, had been nagging on him to quit dipping chewing tobacco.

We sat in the film room and watched film together once again.

"When you get older, James, these things will become more obvious. It's harder to recognize right now but there are some small things getting better."

He was right about the hard to recognize part. Like the changeup. I couldn't see the improvement at all. It had to be one of the worst off speed pitches in all of professional baseball. My changeup that is.

Still, he kept saying that it would one day be my best pitch.

I wondered if tobacco withdrawals were making him hallucinate.

He would constantly pull out the stat line of my idol Nolan Ryan. Currently in 1986, Ryan was 3-5 in 11 starts. He had pitched 68.2 innnings with a 3.28 ERA, 27 walks and 54 strikeouts.

At the age of 39.

"He doesn't just throw a fastball, James," Broadway said. "He throws a circle change too. And a mean curve ball. You also have a slider. You actually can throw one more pitch than the great Nolan Ryan."

If you call what I do with the slider, curve and changeup as throwing pitches.

"You see, James, none of us are going to be judged on the record of the Reno Padres. We are here, all of us, to make sure you become worthy of being a first round draft pick for the San Diego Padres. Nothing else matters. If at the age of 25, you are the Padres ace and winning games and awards and the World Series, then we all did our job in Reno. Then you will understand that the growing pains were all worth it.

"You are a good student of the game. But you're impatient. Trust the process. Don't try and win every game. Try and improve every game."

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[vrobx1]

Hey Bobby,

How's life in the big baseball world!

I just got stationed here in Germany and let me tell you it's something else that's for sure.

I wasn't even here a month and was already having to testify in some court martial over some sergeants having sex with some privates.

Yeah, it's crazy. And the girls weren't all that hot to begin with.

There are some really pretty women in Germany but dude! They like don't shave their arm pits man. I ain't talking about army women. I'm talking about German women! I saw one girl dancing and she had on this sleeveless shirt and she raised her arms up. She had more ATM pit hair than my dad. Scared the hell outta me!

They have a tanker unit next to ours. Those guys are nuts. Go out drinking all the time. That's wild too. You don't even need an ID here. If you can see over the bar, they'll serve you.

Hey, man, I gotta ask you. My parents said they heard that you were dating Beth Hammond? Really? That's cool but man people used to think she was into girls that way.

Oh, I have to tell you. One of our squad leaders is from California and a huge Dodgers fan. I know how much you hate the Dodgers. Like I hated Algebra. I always give him grief when the Dodgers lose.

I get my first trip in the field next week. That should be a blast. Too bad we don't get to go fishing. That would be awesome!

Hope this letter gets to you by the time the World Series starts. Hahahaha.

Catch you later
PFC Michael Mike Brown

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[vrobx1]

"Oh, come on!"

The top of the second had started off rough with a single and a walk but I was about to get out of trouble as a perfect 6-4-3 grounder was rolling up the diamond.

Except for one problem.

Jorge Suris booted the ball.

Suddenly there were bases loaded and nobody out.

I kicked the mound in disgust and John came out to calm me down.

"Settle down or you won't make it past the second."

Problem was we were playing the Bakersfield Dodgers. The highest scoring offense in the California League. You absolutely can not boot a grounder against these guys or they will make you pay!

And they did.

With four runs.

Only one of them earned.

They loaded the bases with nobody out again the next innning but only got a single run.

But at this point we were behind 5-0.

In the fifth, we tried to fight back. Even Jorge contributed a sacrifice bunt. We got three runs off four hits to cut the lead to 5-3.

I finished the seventh but I was beat. I had only had three days rest. The reschedule of the rain out into a double header had thrown us off.

They would score four more in the ninth.

Bakersfield 9 Reno 3.

I had gone 7.0 innings, allowing 5 runs but just 2 earned. 9 hits and 4 walks and not a single strikeout. I now had 20 of each on the season.

At least, with the way the schedule was looking, I had something to look forward to. My next start was tentatively set for a road game against the Stockton Ports.

The worst offense in the California League.

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[vrobx1]

My line in 1986 so far:
1-6 in 7 starts.
48.2 IP almost 7 innnings per start. Last season I was barely over 6.
4.99 ERA. Not good at all. But still a big improvement over 1985 when I has an ERA of 7.38.
20 walks and 20 strikeouts. A 1 to 1 ratio. Very pedestrian but much better than last year when I allowed over 2 walks per every strikeout.
And it was just June 6th.

The Rockets were still alive in the NBA Finals. Boston led the series 3-2.

A crazy event became a sensation as a 21 year old college girl who had set an NCAA record in the 10,000 meter race back in April darted off the track during the race and jumped off a bridge.

Was it because she was in fourth?

I could certainly know what the pressure of that would have been like.

After we saw the news story, I got on the phone and called Beth. Just to hear her voice.

We just talked about nothing.

For almost an hour.

I don't think she even knew about this girl.

And then we were off to Salinas for a series against the Spurs. Thankfully, I didn't have to pitch in this series.

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[vrobx1]

Beth,

Hey. I know I haven't written in a little bit. The season been kinda rough again. I haven't won since my first game and the team is really bad again. In fact, I am writing to you from the bullpen of a game that we are losing 14-0.

No, I didn't join the football team. It's 14-0 in a baseball game.

We are in Salinas, California. Just eighth miles from the Pacific Ocean. We took a trip down there today. I am sending a roll of film with some pictures of the ocean. The waves are amazing out in the ocean. My dad would love to go fishing out here.

Some of the guys talked about coming here to surf during the All Star Break. I don't think I am allowed to. I have to check all my contract clauses but I am pretty sure that things like surfing and motor cycle riding are forbidden to me.

When someone pays you over half a million, they don't want you getting hurt doing something reckless.

I also have another picture of me in my uniform I am sending you. Yes, we still have the same yellow and brown colors. I tried to tell them you said they were ugly but they said I have to win more games before my girlfriend can pick new colors for the team.

Hey, good news!

We just scored as I was writing this. It's 14-1 now! We're coming back!

I better stop writing now and pretend like I am paying attention to this game. Coach Broadway is giving me The Eye of the Tiger.

Can't wait to see you...

Bobby

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[vrobx1]

The Rockets just couldn't win in Boston.

The Celtics ended up winning the NBA Championship in six games.

"And Boston has the second pick in the draft, too. They are going to dominate the 90s like they did the 80s."

We had taken the final game in Salinas 2-1. Steve Adkins had gotten his first ever professional win, going 8 innnings. Adkins was from Chicago and thought he had a different idea about the future of the NBA.

"Let Michael Jordan play a full season and you'll someone who can challenge the Celtics!"

"Jordan is good but no one player can beat a team like the Celtics."

We were on our way to Stockton for two games against the last place Ports. We were only ahead of them by a half game but we were ahead of them and that's what mattered! I was still on schedule to start the second game of the series.

If I couldn't beat then....

Oh boy....

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[vrobx1]

I didn't get the start in Stockton.

We had won the series opener 8-3. Then it was supposed to be my turn. However, because of the day off on Monday, our ace, 21 year old Mack Jenkins had gotten enough rest and they decided to go with him.

Mack was done before the sixth innning was over.

We lost 9-1.

Then we were headed back to Reno where I was now supposed to start on Friday.

The 13th.

Oh boy.

Our opponent would be the Modesto A's. The team I had shut out in my first appearance of the season.

It would be a home game and I had been a lot better at home than on the road.

I really needed this win.



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[vrobx1]

I don't know what happened.

I really don't know.

Everything was looking great.

We were up 2-1 in the top of the sixth.

The A's had a runner on first and two out.

I had only walked one guy the whole game.

Then I walked the next batter on four pitches.

Then, in the next four pitches, single, double, single and we were down 5-3.

I just lost my mind. I used words that would have gotten my mama kicked out of church.

Keith Stephen came out to the mound.

I didn't care.

I was ready to leave.

I threw my glove across the dugout and headed to the showers.

My seventh straight loss.

I needed to have a long talk with Coach Broadway tomorrow.

I hate it here.

I hate baseball.

I hate losing!

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[vrobx1]

In 5.2 innnings, I had given up 5 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks and struck out 3.

For the season, I was 1-7. 54.1 IP, 5.30 ERA, 22 BB, 23 K.

"You fell apart after the walk, James. You got down on yourself. You want too much to go out and become a super star right away. That's not how to do it. You have to take your time. Enjoy the fact that you play baseball for a living."

It was the night of the second game of the series. I looked out on the field as Coach Broadway talked.

"Your intelligence is very impressive, James. You have a solid grasp on baseball. But you lack adaptability. That's why you struggle in certain situations. We're going to work on that."

Frierson came to bat in the bottom of the first with bases loaded and two out. And grounded to third to end the inning.

Your 1986 Reno Padres on full display.

"Other teams know what is coming. Like last night. As soon as that walk happened, the A's knew exactly what pitches you would throw and they ate them up."

Modesto got a run in the second innning and we were behind 1-0.

"The top scouts have noticed this. They actually wanted to move you to the bullpen. I had to fight not just to keep you in Reno but also keep you as a starting pitcher."

I listened silently as the game went on. Broadway would talk to Coach Stephen and then check on the relievers and come back and continue talking. Meanwhile, Frierson got an RBI ground out in the bottom of the third and the game was tied 1-1.

"In the end, James, it all came down to the signing bonus. You are still a starting pitcher because of the money they paid you already."

The A's got a run in the top of the fourth and went back up 2-1. Then in the fifth, Frierson made a bad throw on a stolen base attempt and Modesto cashed that in as well to go up 3-1.

"It's all about the money, huh."

"Now James I didn't mean it that way."

"Oh, no, we're good. I am glad I got it straight from you."

"James, I really don't like the look in your eyes right now."

I grinned.

"I really don't like that either."

I nodded. But I knew what I had to do.

In the bottom of the seventh, Frierson got an RBI single to cut it to 3-2.

Modesto then scored 5 runs in the top of the eighth and the Reno Padres were behind 8-2.

Like we always were.

I walked out of the bullpen, grabbed my bags and headed on home. A few fans recognized me and yelled and waved but I ignored them.

Just like I ignored the team as they lost another game.




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[TheMaus2]

I like this. Reminds me of the legendary ITP dynasty report Short Hop. I really enjoy the letters, too. They give James' story a nice breather from all the baseball talk.