Bob had taken a piece of crab cake, and in between licking his fingers, he asked, “Do you mind if I record our conversation? I want to make sure I get everything you say right. If I’m scribbling, I won’t necessarily understand what I wrote, and I don’t want to misquote you.”
“No problem.”
Bob wiped his hand and depressed the lever on the old-school recording device and sat back, throwing a leg over his knee.
Mateo examined every one of his features, trying to determine what he’d passed down to his eldest daughter. The nose and perhaps the ash-blonde hair but as his was graying at the temples he couldn’t be sure.
He took a breath and prepared himself for the questions. He’d never been allowed to give an interview before, so he had no idea where this would go or how he’d come across. He had to trust the man to paint him in a good light.
There was a jocular smile on Bob’s face when he asked, “How does it feel to be here? In America?”
Mateo thought about it for a moment and decided that if this was the decadent West, he was okay with it.
“Strange. Different. Good.”
“What’s the biggest surprise?”
“Everything is so new. Modern. I will like playing at Harborside.”
He could have listed several things. The shopping mall. The amount of food stocked in his refrigerator. The condo. Being married.
“It’s a state-of-the-art ball field. You’ll have the harbor out in left field. It’ll be something to aim for.”
“Yes. Seb will have his job cut out for him. It’s not like he can reach out to grab a high-flying ball. He’d be in for a swim.”
“I hear that you, Seb, and Rique have some chemistry.”
“We like each other, which helps. And we seem to have the same work ethic. We’ll all give it up for the team.”
“The press wasn’t impressed with the dos Santos trade. If he does well here, it will be a nice surprise.”
“He seems to be settling down, getting his head into the game.”
“Mac won’t let him get away with much. If Rique doesn’t work, he doesn’t play.”
“He told him that this morning.”
Bob leaned over and took another piece of the cake, wiped his hands on a napkin, and got to the point of the interview.
“Can you tell me how you got here?”
He went over the basics, his trip from Cuba, his time spent in Cancun, meeting Allie, being sent to Brazil to stay with the dos Santos family.
“With a contract already negotiated, there was no need for third-country residency. I just needed to wait until a work visa was approved. As soon as it was, Alicia came down and escorted me here.”
“Where are you living?”
“A condo near the field. There are water views and it reminds me of home.”
“And where was that?”
He described the town of his birth, the place his mother still lived. “This town reminds me of what it was before the hurricane hit in 2008. There was extreme damage done to the eastern part of the island. We have not yet recovered completely.”
He wasn’t sure it ever would be. That took money and resources, which the country lacked. Improvements were coming, a lessening of the old laws that governed them, but it would take time. The reconstruction was taking place in the big cities, where the tourists flocked. Small towns like his would be on their own.
“I was surprised Krasnick didn’t hold a press conference when you arrived.”
Alicia had told him they were keeping him under the radar and why.
“I think they are downplaying any new defections. So much money wasted on unfulfilled promise, maybe they don’t want to look like fools if I don’t meet expectations.”
“If Allie thinks you’re the real deal, you’re the real deal. I stopped second-guessing her after she got Leatherman and Ritter signed.”
“I have only met Seb, Rique and Reid Jackson, and some new prospect from Puerto Rico, so don’t know either of those players or what they brought to the team. It sounds as if they brought much. You had doubts about her ability?”
He chuckled.
“No. I never did. She always knew more about the game than anyone, even me some days. I thought DeLorenzo was smart to promote her, but I think we all play armchair quarterback, second-guess even the experts. And just so you know, Leatherman is a middle inning reliever and kept the team in the game every time he saw action. Ritter is the utility man who spent a lot of time at third last year. He’s not the caliber athlete that you are but he did the job.”
Mateo leaned forward, concerned.
“Will he be upset that I am here?”
“He knows his role. I actually think it will be a relief he doesn’t have to play that corner of the diamond anymore. He’s more a second baseman than third and he’ll still get to play.”
“Where?”
“Any spot on the infield to fill in on your days off.”
“Why would I get days off?”
“It’s a long season. Mac will want to make sure you all stay healthy so you’re all strong at the end. The biggest games come in the post-season, and a lot of teams have burned out their players. They don’t have what it takes to bring the trophy home.”
“He will insist on this?”
“That’s been his philosophy. I can’t see him changing it now.”
He’d never been benched before. If he was on the team, he played. He wasn’t sure how he would feel if he had to watch the game and not participate in it.
As if reading the furrowed brow as disappointment, Bob added, “It would only be for a day here and there. Nothing long-term. They need you on the field and in the line-up.”
Mateo nodded but still wasn’t sure he
