The team comes running out of the dugout to their positions for the fifth inning and the last one out is my Rick dressed in all of his catcher’s gear, ready for war and sexy as hell. “Looking damn sexy, Seno! Wooo!” I stop myself and reset, “Take these guys out! 1, 2, 3, Tommy!” Rick turns to me and shakes his head.
The next few innings are quick and all three outs in a row except Cross getting a double and knocked in during the seventh inning. My Rick catching makes all the difference in the world. Okay, I may be biased, but the game is going quicker and I no longer feel the need to kill anyone or be intoxicated. Seno always keeps the game on track and in motion.
Top of the ninth inning and the score is 6-0 Seals. Tommy’s still pitching and LA comes out ready to eat him alive. Four consecutive solo home runs, taking the score to 6-4 Seals. Skip pulls Tommy and brings in Houck since it’s now a save situation. I watch Houck throw a few to Rick and something’s off. This doesn’t look like Houck’s normal stuff. Rick’s catching him fine and they’re in sync. I can’t place what’s different. No outs and nobody on base. Houck throws and it’s away, and I mean away like I could’ve caught that pitch if I was still sitting at the bar across the street. Seno manages to grab it and not let it get by him, arm straight out to reach it. Next pitch is away, but not as far. Third pitch is just outside and high. At least he’s getting closer, but the count is 3-0 and it might as well be a lead off walk—always a bad thing. Houck manages to get some control and takes the count to 3-2, and ends up walking him anyway. The tying run is at the plate and I’m on the edge of my seat, “Get this guy out!” The pitch isn’t where Rick is set up, I knew Houck was off! I hear the bat connect, “Oh fuck!” The ball is out of the park and it’s a tied game. Skip pulls Houck and Rhett comes running in from the bull pen. Interesting move. I watch him toss to Rick a few times and he’s on point. Rick claps a few times and makes eye contact around the field, I can almost hear him saying “Let’s do this!” It’s a whole new game. We need to get three outs and then come up to bat and score. Rhett fires in three in a row and strikes out the next hitter before he knew what hit him. Next hitter is their DH. Rhett and Rick are playing a game with him, each pitch located at a different spot around the plate, they almost circle it. The hitter gets a piece of a few of the pitches and pops out. The lead off guy is up and Rick glances back at me, then turns back to Rhett. I told him he couldn’t connect to save his life and he hasn’t connected all night. They literally play catch with him at the plate, pitches at about 78 miles per hour. Rick didn’t even get all the way down into his crouch—strike three and the third out. That was a bit of a ballsy thing to do. Doesn’t matter, on to the bottom of the ninth.
Bottom of the ninth inning and we’re starting with Chase. Cross hits a double. Martin strikes out, caught looking. One out and one on when Lucky walks, taking the empty space at first base. Rock gets a base hit and everybody moves up one. Bases loaded and we only need one to win. Bravo is at the plate and Seno is swinging a bat in the on deck circle. Bravo strikes out swinging. Rick turns to me and grins. “All we need is a base hit! Let’s finish this, baby!” He nods and walks to the plate, pointing at me before he turns his attention to the ball. “Go Seno!” The coaches are flashing signs, and Rick has made eye contact with his teammates on base. I don’t think they’re going to stick to the script. I hope they don’t get crazy, we need Cross to score. The first pitch is low and inside. The second pitch is a fastball straight down the pipe. Rick swings and connects. It’s beautiful and almost an exact copy of his home run from his first at bat in the game, except this time it’s a grand slam! The horn blows. The fireworks go crazy. The big screen is my Rick running the bases with comic book word bubbles, pow, pop, wow, boom, wham, smack, bursting around him. Cross scores, Lucky scores, Rock scores and Rick slows as he approaches the plate, jumping on home plate as his team mobs him. I’m out of my seat, jumping up and down,
