Red Sox Pitcher: A Short Story

The crack of the bat and the fresh smell of roasted peanuts. It’s a baseball game alright. Billy is a starting pitcher for Amberline high. Their team's name was the Amberline Armadillos. He lives in Boston and his dream is to become the best Red sox pitcher. The Armadillos are winning with a two to one score against the buckville bees in the bottom of the ninth. Two outs bases loaded and the count is three-two. It is every pitcher's dream to strike the batter out and this is every batter’s dream to get in the winning run. Billy threw a fastball it soar through the air like a bullet and missed the strike zone. “Ball four” yelled the umpire. Billy got pulled out after that and the relief pitcher did his job. In the next inning, the armadillos get in two runs which decided the game.
Billy was mad at himself after the game; he was happy that they won and all, but he was frustrated that he walked the batter when he had a chance to glory. He entered school and
everybody was congratulating him for his great job on the mound. Billy excels at baseball, but not academics. Currently, he has three C's and two D’s. Everyone considers him as a “jock” and one of the popular kids. In math he sits next to Michael a kid with Asperger's syndrome. Just in case if you don’t know, Asperger’s syndrome is a developmental disorder affecting ability to effectively socialize and communicate. Michael never talks to any of his group members he just looks into his own book and answers the questions. Unlike Billy, Michael has straight A’s in everything except P.E. those two have different personalities. During lunch Michael sits about ten feet away from Billy because Michael has no one to sit with and Billy is the closest to a friend he has. Michael doesn’t sit with Billy because Billy sits with many people and Michael doesn’t like that. “What’s up bro” hollered Billy to a friend. Billy sat down and the first thing he saw was Michael sitting there. “ Yesterday was a tough break man,” said George blocking Billy’s view of Michael. Billy just answered all the questions he got with a yes no matter what it was. Billy’s friends saw what was distracting him from the conversations. They went up to Michael and started scaring him by surrounding him and asking him questions he wasn’t safe enough to answer. While all this happened Billy just sat there and ate his salad.
Billy and Michael are kinda close since Billy and Michael are family friends. When Billy was walking to school he saw Michael and rushed to him. He wanted to apologize for doing nothing while they scared him. “It's alright I...I am alright” said Michael. Billy asked Michael to come to the game today after school and Michael said “I’ll try my best to come”. Then he just rushed to school acting like he was late to school.
Billy wasn't pitching today, but all he wanted to do was get Michael to a baseball game. The game started and Billy couldn't find Michael anywhere. The first inning ended and Billy finally spotted Michael when he came out of the dugout to congratulate the pitcher. Billy waved to Michael and Michael waved back. It was the top of the sixth and the armadillos were losing by three runs. Michael started crying and the whole game just stopped. Billy left the game and took Michael home immediately. Billy asked Michael what the problem was Michael didn’t respond. When they reached his house Billy explained everything that happened to Michael’s mother. When she heard what happened she told Billy to never invite Michael to another baseball game ever. Then Billy and Michael’s mother went on and on while Michael went upstairs in his room and watched what happened through the window. Billy told his mother that Michael was having fun up till the sixth inning. She slammed the door on his face and went upstairs to talk to Michael. “Did you enjoy the game honey,” said Michael’s mother. Michael said “yes”.Then she thought maybe Billy was telling the truth.
The next day Billy got back his math test and got a C plus while Michael got an A minus.
Billy asked Michael if he could teach him math and in return Billy would teach him the rules of baseball. They shook hands on it and decide that on Monday’s, Wednesday’s, and Friday’s Michael would teach math. On Tuesday’s, Thursday’s, and Saturday's Billy would teach baseball.
This procedure went on for months and months Michael kept teaching Billy and Billy kept teaching Michael. Billy started getting B’s in math while Michael started watching baseball on TV. This also got Michael and Billy closer they became best friends. The end of the year came by and the armadillos were a game away from going to the playoffs.
It was a Friday morning Billy woke up got cleaned up ate breakfast and headed out. He didn’t see Michael anywhere, but he didn't stop and wait for him. The bell rang and everyone rushed to their classes. Billy still couldn’t seem to find Michael. He thought he would see him at third period which was
math.
Billy went to his math class and, sure enough, Michael was there, but there was something different. He was filled with so much joy he kept bouncing up and down. Billy asked him why are you so happy Michael replied “ I am going to your baseball game”. Billy was surprised, he asked Michael if he told his mother. Michael said he did, but he really didn’t. These days Michael sits with Billy during lunch, but Billy’s friends don’t like it. They decided to teach Michael a lesson. They were going to go outside of school with Michael and beat him up. They saw Michael all alone then they rushed and started talking to him about Billy. When they were far enough from school and the streets one of the guys went to punch him. Michael dodged it and made a break for it. He ran faster than any of them. He rushed to school and went to Billy. He told Billy what happened and a soon as he finished they caught up. Billy didn’t throw any punches at them instead he lured them to the office by embarrassing them in front of the whole school. They started chasing Billy after what he said to them and Billy raced to the principal then told exactly what Michael told him. Michael and Billy got them suspended for a week. Looks like Billy got smarter and Michael got more athletic.
What a great day it was after the suspending of Billy’s former friends. The armadillos were a win away from the playoffs and Michael can see Billy pitch for the very first time. The game started and Billy threw the first pitch a curveball right down broadway. As the game went along nicely Michael mother realized that it was late and Michael didn’t come home yet. She went to the school as fast as she could to find where Michael was. When she finally reached the school she knew that her son was in the stadium. She rushed to the stadium bought the tickets and at the entrance to the seats she saw her son jumping with joy with a baseball signed “We will always be best friends no matter what”. She just stopped right there and looked at her son and wondered “Maybe all this baseball stuff really did help Michael”. She took slow steps and sat next to him. Michael tried to explain what this was all about then his mother just hushed him and he knew exactly what he meant. It was the top of the ninth and the armadillos were leading by one run. There were two outs bases loaded and the count was three-two. Billy remembered this situation right away and said to himself “I will not fail this time because this time I have a purpose”. Then he looked at Michael and Michael gave him a big thumbs up. Billy smiled and gripped the ball as hard as he could hurling it in the air then threw his fastball for Michael.