Sweet Spot: Homeruns #4

Sweet Spot: Homeruns #4 Read Free

Book: Sweet Spot: Homeruns #4 Read Free
Author: Sloan Johnson
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disbelief. How could he possibly think this was easy for me? I was dying inside. “You’re going to believe whatever you want, so there’s no point in arguing.”
    Releasing Cody, I walked away. Once I’d gone far enough he wouldn’t see the tears streaming down my face, I turned back to him. “Thank you, Cody. Maybe someday you’ll believe me when I say how grateful I am that we had even one day together.”
    As I walked down the block, I listened for the sound of Cody’s car racing away from me, but the night had grown uncomfortably silent. If I was a good man, I’d turn around to make sure the piece of shit car hadn’t died in the parking lot. I wasn’t a good man. By the time I reached the hotel, I wished I’d told him I loved him. Maybe it was for the best I hadn’t, since I doubted he’d believe me.

One
    (Nick)
    Four years later
    E ven though I ’d been raised around baseball, I’d never fully appreciated how hard it’d be to make it to the Bigs. Four years after my first spring training, I was beginning to lose hope that my name would be called and invited to the other side of the training complex. Back then, I’d been terrified I was receiving preferential treatment because my dad was the Mavericks’ GM. Now, I wondered if I was being held back for the same reason.
    Jimmy, one of the equipment managers, greeted me at baggage claim. I liked Jimmy. He wouldn’t give me a hard time about my foul mood today. He’d been around long enough to know that baseball went from a starry-eyed dream to just another job when players didn’t see the forward motion they needed to feel like they’d eventually get out of the minors.
    “Hey Nick, it’s good to see you again,” he greeted me as he helped me wrestle my bags off the carousel. “You think this is the year they’ll call you up?”
    “You know it,” I lied. I hoped I’d hear my name called to head over and work out with the Mavericks, but I wasn’t holding my breath. I’d learned numbers weren’t the only consideration, and I had no way of knowing what they were looking for that I was missing.
    “That’s the right attitude,” he praised me. Jimmy was all about all this new-age shit and would tell every player who threw a tantrum in the locker room that they had to change their thinking if they wanted to get called up. I wasn’t so sure about the whole positive affirmations thing, but I was at the point where I had nothing to lose. The more time a player spends stuck in the minors, the harder it is to make it to the majors. That’s another one of those unspoken rules about baseball. “As soon as your new roomie gets off the plane and graces us with his presence, we’ll be on our way. His flight should be landing about now.”
    Jimmy closed his eyes and started going through some weird breathing exercises. For someone who was usually the most laid-back guy in the organization, he seemed awfully tense. Although I was happy Clint had gotten called up last year and was free from the requirement that he stay in team housing, I was also pissed because his absence meant we wouldn’t be sharing a room this year. He’d been a good roommate the past four years and I wasn’t looking forward to having to break in someone new. Especially if whoever I’d be stuck living with for the next six weeks had this effect on Jimmy.
    “I don’t know why that man needs to be such a diva,” Jimmy muttered to himself. “You’d think he’d wait until the last minute to come down here, but no, he’s got to get here as soon as possible. Probably to make everyone as miserable as he is. Or try to prove he’s finally going to treat this like a job.”
    “Uh, is there something you need to tell me?” I asked. “Maybe a bit of a heads-up would be good, because you never get this wound up.”
    Jimmy ran his hand over the band of leather on his wrist. He did that a lot. Between his nervous tic and lack of eye contact, I braced myself for bad news. “I take it

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