Page 45 of Sweet Spot

Then Everett returned to the mound and annihilated all three batters. The mood shifted. Inspired, Erik Cassidy walked to the plate and belted a moonshot of a home run. The guys erupted in the dugout.

Gordon put something in my hand. “You’ve got to give it to Erik.”

I looked down to find a giant plastic gold coin in my hand. “What’s this?”

“Something the players came up with. Just do it.” He nodded to the field. Erik crossed home plate. Wes stood waiting at the entrance to the dugout. He took Erik’s batting helmet off his head while Hunter placed a pirate hat on instead. Everyone in the dugout growled like a pirate.

“We have treasure, Captain!” Wes called out.

Erik ran down the steps looking at me the whole time. I held up the coin. His grin widened as he took it, then ran down the length of the dugout to where Seth Butler waited with a treasure chest. They hammed it up for the cameras, opening the chest and placing the coin inside.

“We doing this for every home run?”

Gordon nodded once and sucked his teeth. “Coins for solo home runs, jewels for more.”

“And a grand slam?”

He nodded to a container under the bench. I pulled it out and found coins, jewels, gold bars, and crowns inside.

“They’ve really thought this through.”

“Marketing helped.”

Of course they did.

“Do you hate it?”

What kind of asshole would hate something that gave his team this much joy? “No. I kind of love it.”

Gordo nodded once.

Korey, my new data coach, handed me a piece of paper. Korey was young, but what I really loved about her was that she was quick. Whenever she had good data she thought would help, she told me and she told me why. In and out.

I glanced over her notes. “You sure?”

She gave me a look. “Do I ever give you notes I’m not sure about?”

“All right then.” I whistled at Seth who was warming up in the on-deck circle.

“Yeah, Cap?”

I nodded toward the pitcher. “Don’t swing at anything until he throws you a curveball.”

“I hate curveballs, Cap.”

“I know. Just do it.”

“And then?”

If Korey was right… “Swing away.”

Understanding flashed.

While we were talking Rhett managed a base hit, giving us a real shot at tying this up. The old excitement began to grow inside me. I almost forgot how addicting the game was. Especially in moments like this. Seth did just as we said, laying off pitches meant to entice him to swing, and just as Korey predicted, their pitcher threw a curveball right on cue. Seth glanced at the third base coach just in case there was a change in strategy, but he signaled Seth to swing away.

And just like that, he tied the game. Gordo placed a giant jewel in my hand and we played out the new home run ritual all over again. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough. We ended up losing by a run in the end, and even though there was disappointment from everyone, there was also hope.

“Don’t worry, Cap,” Wes said as he slung his backpack on. “The fans love when they think we’re underdogs. Just don’t tell them we’re faking it.”

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