81 – The Ninth Inning
By Aramis Thorn
The temperatures have truly turned toward winter
and my dear friend baseball is resting and preparing for spring. My thoughts have turned to Christmas and the
long dark of winter. Thank you for traveling
with me on this side journey. Enjoy the last installment and as always, I
treasure your thoughts.
Ninth Inning
Warm Up
Joe is almost to the mound when he turns and trots
back to Jack. He looks at the catcher
who meets him two feet in front of home plate.
He hesitates then asks, “Can we skip the warm up? I just need to throw.”
Garner Patch is within ear shot and catches Jack’s
eye when he turns around. Garner nods
his approval. Jack is worried that the
kid’s nerves will catch up with him. He
does not know that Joe is actually worried about Jack. They go over a couple of
new signs to encompass the pitches Joe has revealed. The rookie pitcher and
veteran catcher take their places for what both hope is the last dance of the
evening.
The umpire rests a hand on Jack’s shoulder that is
both reassuring and finalizes the import of the moment. He looks out at Joe Zander form Tiger,
Georgia and for a moment realizes just how young the pitcher is. “Play ball,” calls Garner Patch. The stadium erupts with fan expression of the
potential in the next moments. Garner
has to raise both hands to call for quiet from the spectators. After the storm of applause subside he
signals for Joe to pitch.
Pitch 73
Wholesome Mathews steps in and tips his hat to the
mound. There is another tsunami of
applause from the stands.
“Evening Mr. Patch,” offers the man from Yazoo
City, Mississippi.
“Evening Wholesome,” replies the umpire.
“Evening Jack,” says Wholesome.
“Welcome back to our little spectacle,” responds
Morris.
He knows that Joe has some things he has not shown
yet. He gives the fist down sign they
had agreed to as the signal for the knuckleball. Joe nods, winds, and delivers.
It is said that knuckleballs float. There have been cartoons that portrayed a
batter swing three times at a single one before it reaches the plate. Joe’s knuckleball dances with Wholesome’s
timing. The knuckleball leads and
Wholesome swings far too early.
It is good that he did as the pitch dances far to
the left of home plate and Jack barely snags it.
“Steeerike one Wholesome,” calls Garner Patch.
Wholesome looks back at Jack and Garner. “That ball
is breaking the laws of gravity and physics.
How could you expect any good man to hit it?”
Jack is busy being thankful for the pitch as he
tosses it back to Joe.
The red watcher blinks a bright 59 mph.
Pitch 74
Jack signals for curve and inside. He needs to keep his wise friend guessing.
Joe nods and deals.
The pitch reads fastball as it moves in exactly where Jack is set
up.
Wholesome swings again. Wholesome misses again.
“Steeerike two,” calls Patch.
“Jack that kid of yours is diabolical,” begins
Wholesome. “Curve balls are not supposed
to move that fast.”
Jack smiles through the return of the pain in his
hand. “You can try to tell him but I do
not think he will listen.”
The pitch clock agrees with the catcher at 92 mph.
Pitch 75
As Wholesome digs in Jack chooses to try
something. He calls for the heat and
makes a lifting motion with his hand. He
is sure the kid has a rising fastball and just has not thrown it yet. He would much rather a man of Wholesome’s
character goes down swinging than be called out.
Joe grins before he nods. He understands. Jack can tell. The young pitcher winds and delivers. The pitch screams in like a centered fastball
because it is.
Wholesome pulls the trigger just as the ball begins
to rise. By the time it crosses the
plate it is a full six inches above the bat.
Jack reaches up to snag it and it encloses fully in the webbing of his
glove.
“Steeerike three, you are out,” calls Patch.
Jack looks up at Wholesome and shrugs.
As Wholesome retreats he mutters something about
voodoo and black magic.
The pitch clock verifies that the arcane happened
at the speed of 104 mph.
Pitch 76
Jack hands the ball off to Tom who inscribes it and
takes it to the bag. Jackson Daniels
kicks at the divot in the batter’s box as if it is the enemy and not the bright
read jerseys that surround him.
Morris signals curve. Joe throws a true and vengeful one. Daniels thinks the pitch outside. Garner Patch thinks it crosses the outside corner. That is all that matters.
“Steeerike one,” calls the umpire.
The pitch clock blinks 88 mph.
Pitch 77
Even at 88 mph the pitch hurts Jack’s damaged
hand. He signals changeup for the next
pitch. It is a perfect lie and Daniels
swings too early.
“Steeerike two,” calls Patch.
The red watcher deems it a 72 mph triumph.
78
Using the signal that they have devised Jack calls
for the screwball. Joe nods and lets fly. Again the pitch looks true until it is too
late. The ball dives down and in toward
the batter who swings over it as it dives.
“Steeerike three,” call Garner Patch.
Jackson Daniel’s at bat has lasted less than two
minutes.
The pitch clock winks a demure 91 mph.
Pitch 79
As Morris hands of the ball to the ball boy he
looks over at the opposition on deck circle.
Where Andrew Vine should be is a kid that looks even younger than
Joe. The announcer calls him out as a
pinch hitter; number 37 Fred Zeitz from Madison, Wisconsin. Jack ponders that their team is not the only
one robbing the cradle in the last week of the season.
As Fred steps into the box the cone of silence
descends again on the stadium. Except
for a few fans who have been over-served by the beer vendors no one is unaware
of the circumstances.
The catcher signals for heat and inside. He wants to remind the new batter what real
pitching is like. Joe shakes him
off. He does not understand but Joe has
not been wrong yet. Jack calls for the
curve. Joe nods.
As Joe deals Zeitz tenses up. He adjusts his stance and swings. Had the curve hung it may have made it to the
parking lot. Instead Jack sees the
stadium lights through the space between ball and bat.
“Steeerike one,” calls Garner Patch.
The pitch clock sings 83 mph.
Pitch 80
Jack calls for the heat again and Joe shakes him
off. Jack feels irritated. He is concerned about Joe blowing it over
protection for the catcher. Jack calls
for a changeup. Joe nods his agreement.
The pitch looks just like every fastball pitched
tonight.
Zeitz swings again and misses again. He swung too soon.
“Steeerike two,” calls Patch.
Zeitz looks back a Jack with anger in his eyes.
The pitch clock’s angry red numbers call out 73
mph.
Pitch 81
Jack signals heat again and inside. Joe shakes him off again. Jack signals heat and inside. Joe does not smile but nods his approval.
The entire stadium has stopped. Beer vendors and popcorn hawkers are silent. Joe Zander from Tiger, Georgia winds and
deals.
The pitch traverses the space between mound and
home with such force that the slow motion replays will have ghosts of the
pressure wave created in them. Fred
Zeitz has no time to think. He freezes.
The impact of the ball against the catcher’s mitt
sounds almost as loud as a hit. It seems
like an hour before Garner Patch makes the call.
“Steeerike three.
You are out batter. That is the
game,” calls Garner Patch.
This is the last thing that anyone hears as the
crowd explodes.
The pitch clock reads 108 mph.
After Innings
The last pitch was the last pitch Jack “Cracker
Jack” Morris would catch for eighteen months.
The fastball shattered his entire lower hand. He was so filled with joy for young Joe
Zander he did not notice until he found he could not remove his glove. He held the bag of balls all the way through
the post-game interviews and press talks.
The team made the playoffs and with Zander’s help
the series. They lost in the seventh
game to the Tigers by one run. During
the off season Joe and Jack frequented every talk show and sports show
available. Joe even got his picture on a
Wheaties box.
While he was healing Jack put in his papers to
retire from play. The team offered him a
pitching coach job. He took it.
Jack “Cracker Jack” Morris spent the next two years
helping pitchers stay calm and pitch better.
He talked often of what had become known as the “Immaculate Game”. He had the record breaking ball and the final
strike out ball put in a special case for Joe.
He gave it to Joe for his twenty-first birthday. The remaining balls ended up at the baseball
hall of fame. So eventually did Jack and
Joe eventually.
I will be brief today.
This is the day I will decorate my home for Christmas. My heart is filled with joy and wonder as it
always is this time of year. I was at my
Son, Maxim’s home last night and watched my Grandsons show their excitement the
tree and lights.
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