Bases Loaded Jam (Bases Loaded Jam Series #1)

Ch. 52: Sent to the Minors (Joe)

Yeah, I blew it. I blew it big time. I can't say what was on my mind when I got drunk and had that one night stand with Quinn. I'm not proud of myself. The minute I woke up the next day, I knew I had done wrong. When Quinn woke up, she had a feeling of regret. We didn't speak for a few days after that. I was totally embarrassed by the situation at hand.

I guess the best way to explain myself is to give you the full story. You see, I grew up in a pretty rich neighborhood. My parents started off as industry workers until one night, by some fortune, my father won the lottery. We were instantly rich and signed off the check for the amount, which was a million dollars. A few investments later, the price of our money got so huge that my parents quit their jobs and decided to live life fancy.

We didn't move to an apartment or a mansion. But we did acquire a nice house overlooking the beautiful waters that would soon run into the Pacific Ocean. Granted, there was a period where we had to evacuate due to safety concerns on the house. But at least, we were happy with our new living arrangements.

That didn't mean we had to act spoiled and bratty about it. I was taught to be respectful and courteous to others. That was one of the reasons I went into sports. It wasn't my liking at first, but I grew to love it. Baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and even tennis were the sports I played. I was without question the best athlete in my neighborhood and in school. That was why it was easy for me to join my school friends on their little league team.

Never did making the Little League World Series come to mind. But once I saw it on TV, I knew it was a possible option.  Needless to say, we struggled to get there in my first few seasons. We always ran into the Northern California kids in the regionals. I knew we had a great team. But it felt like we needed another piece to the puzzle.

That missing piece turned out to be Jordan. Now, like many skeptical kids in our area, I didn't think she could be on our team. But it wasn't due to her gender. It was just that she never played on a boys' team prior to this. We saw that she had potential, however and voted to let her play. With California being mainly liberal I feel, everyone is entitled to equality.

Jordan did start off slowly, but got to becoming an everyday player. Then, because Eddie Schmidt had to act so freely and go skateboarding only to break his arm, Jordan took over for his spot. Jordan took over and just dominated. The more she pitched, the more we won, the more recognition she got from the press.

I had to admit there was jealousy because the team was seen as Jordan and friends. I was the ace of the team and had been that for a few years. But when Jordan got the rave reviews and the praise from everyone, including older female athletes that were famous, I was jealous. But what irked me, even more, was that Jordan was getting kids her age or older asking for dates. I never saw Jordan as a beautiful girl because she had a tomboy personality. Yet, she was attractive thinking back on it. Fortunately for me, Jordan never answered those requests and just pitched her game.

We reached the Little League World Series after wins over Northern California and Utah. I was tasked with opening our tournament run against Missouri and I pitched brilliantly. When I wasn't pitching, I would head to my other position at right field. Against Massachusetts, I saved a run for Jordan by robbing a home run in the top of the fourth inning. With two wins in our belt, we advanced to take on our toughest competition.

Two wins separated us from the final game. Early on, I struggled as Texas put up two runs on me in the first inning. Despite keeping them at bay for the next few innings, we couldn't score runs. Fortunately, the bats woke up in the fifth and we scored four runs. That was all I needed as I finished the job.

If we won the U.S Championship game, I was guaranteed to start the game. Even though my arm was tired, I felt for sure I would be ready for Japan. Jordan did her part in retiring seventeen straight hitters and giving us a 1-0 lead. Even after a hit by pitch to the next hitter, I was still confident I would be pitching in the final game the next day,