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.