Thou Shalt Not(64)

I sat my second helping of black beans and rice on the ground next to my feet and inched forward in my seat. The first batter struck out, looking like a blind man swinging at a small piñata. The second batter popped up to the shortstop and there were quickly two outs. Marco stopped throwing in the bullpen and just stood on the mound, watching what was happening on the field. The right-handed pitcher kept throwing, and I knew I would see him if the Rays didn’t score.

But then something wonderful happened. The third batter of the inning walked on four pitches. If there is one thing that can change a game in baseball, it was the two-out walk. Giving a team a free runner on first base and injecting a little hope into the players often turned out badly for the team that gave up the walk. The next batter ripped a single into right field, and the player who had walked was now on third base. Then another walk loaded the bases and Baltimore’s manager had seen enough. He stomped out to the mound and brought in one of their best relievers to try to get the Orioles out of the bases-loaded jam.

Then, the next Rays’ batter walked up to the plate, swung as hard as he could at the first pitch he saw, and hit a grand slam to left field. The small crowd in attendance leaped to their feet and cheered loudly as the Rays rounded the bases to take a 9-6 lead. Even Marco had a smile on his face as he resumed throwing in the bullpen. The right-handed pitcher sat down, which meant that Marco was a sure bet to come in.

I wondered if April was watching the game from home. I doubted very seriously that she was here in the stadium, but I thought I would text her just to see. The thought of texting the pitcher’s wife while I watched him work seemed rather intriguing to me. I am also a terrible person.

Are you at the game tonight? I sent.

Once again, she amazed me with how quickly she responded. She must have her phone in her hand at all times.

No, not tonight. Kids aren’t feeling well and I was tired. What are you up to?

Oh, that’s no good. Hope they feel better. I am at the game. Ken gave me tickets or I promise I’d be at home reading Dubliners. ;-)

Slacker! Are they losing?

It was a telling sign when the wife of a pitcher didn’t ask, “Are they winning?” when referring to her husband’s team. I laughed.

Surprisingly no! They just took the lead. And it looks like Marco might be coming in soon.

That is a surprise. I will have to turn it on. Maybe the kids will want to see their dad.

The inning ended and Marco jogged out onto the field to pitch the eighth inning. I ended my conversation with April by putting my phone back into my pocket.

Can’t keep talking to the woman I am going to be pre-breaking up with.

The inning started and Marco looked off right away. His first two pitches weren’t even close to the strike zone, and the next pitch was hit hard right back up the middle for a single. I wondered if the brief suspension he had received had been weighing on his mind at all. Who knows what went through the head of a crazy man?

Pitchers sometimes attempt a pickoff move when they think the runner on first base is going to try stealing second base. That means they will make it seem like they are going to pitch the ball to the batter, but will instead make a quick throw to the first baseman. The runner is allowed to be off the base, but if he is tagged before he gets back, he would be out.

In this particular situation, with the Rays up three, it didn’t make much sense for Marco to try picking the runner off, but that’s exactly what he did. He lifted his leg up and made a quick throw over to the first baseman. Only the ball bounced into the dirt to the first-baseman’s right side, and skipped away from him and into the outfield. The runner took off for second base and made it there easily.

Marco looked tense, but he seemed to be attempting to keep his composure. Knowing him, he was probably blaming the first baseman for the bad throw.

The next batter came to the plate and Marco threw four straight balls, walking the batter so that there were now two runners on base. The tying run came to the plate and the crowd started murmuring and mumbling and a few of them even started to boo.

Maybe since he had thrown so many balls to the previous batter, he decided to throw one down the middle just to get a strike, but the batter hit it into right field, down the line. The ball rolled all the way to the wall in front of me, and the two runners who were already on base scored easily and the speedy batter ended up on third base with a triple. The score was 9-8.

Now the boos were more noticeable and I heard a few “Marco, you’re a bum!” chants being yelled across the stadium along with other colorful phrases that would probably have made mothers cover the ears of their children.