3 Months Later
March 15th, 2022
The Challengers' spring training is told in the perspective of Fernando Ortiz, a 36 year-old 3rd baseman past the prime of his career. He played for the New York Yankees of MLB from 2011-2021.
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"I'm so glad you're here, man," was one of the first things I told James after he joined the team. We shook hands, and he began to compliment me on my big league career. Of course, those 10 years were behind me now. My Yankees tenure had ended with an ankle fracture. Before that moment, I had regressed at the plate, batting .250 between 2019 and 2021; during that time, I also noticed a slight drop in my running speed, which was very overwhelming for me and a telltale sign that I wouldn't be playing for much longer. 2018 was really my last good year with the Yankees, and even then, I faced injuries that cut my season short.
I simply nodded along and replied to him with a "thank you" and a slight smile. I didn't expect I would be doing much offensively as a Challenger, but I wanted at least one more season to play. Maybe I could pass along my advice to the younger guys, I thought.
Little did I know how exciting this team would become in a few years.
That day was the first game of the team's Spring Training, and we were playing against the Rising Stars team in Baton Rouge, managed by James' father, Jack Robinson. I reported early in the morning so I could get my training work in, which included batting practice. When James showed up, it was 10:30 AM, about 1 and a half hours before the first pitch. He approached me with a glove and a ball in his hands after getting in some stretching. "You want to warm up?" he asked me simply while tossing me the ball. He was only a few feet away.
"Let's do it," I said, catching it with my right hand, which I threw with.
Usually I didn't warm up with an outfielder as my partner, but that day was an exception. I wanted to see more of what he could do, so I continued to back up after every throw he made- one small step at a time. Almost all his throws made it right to me in a straight line. He also had good velocity behind them. I kept nodding my head and pointing to him so I could indicate how good his throws were. After a few more throws, we stopped.
"You've got a future, man," I complimented, "You throw better than I suppose I could from center field."
James chuckled. "Nah, you've never tried it... have you?"
I shook my head, "No, and I don't want to kill my arm at this point in my life."
"Good point. Third base is something I'll look into myself, though. Maybe Skip will let me play a few games there someday." He said this to me before we both walked away to do our own position-specific drills.
For me, that included working on catching pop-ups, fly-balls, and fielding ground balls at my position on the field. It was something I had done so many times that I barely had to think about it. After all that work was done, it was time to grab our bats for batting practice. I noticed fans began to enter the stadium around 11:00 AM, the same time I stepped up to the plate to get in my swings.
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It was a packed crowd by the time of the first pitch. I guess after news of the new signings to the team came out, baseball fans all over Louisiana and beyond came to Challenger Stadium to cheer us on. Of course, this was only an exhibition game, but acquiring a top college prospect was something fans were waiting for.
On the mound was the 25 year-old lefty Sebastian Thomas. He threw three pitches: a fastball, forkball, and slider. He was known in the Minor League system for locating his pitches well and for his velocity. He stepped up to the mound to throw the first pitch. I got into my position to the left of third base, ready to play ball. I looked over to center field to see James there. He was turned around and had taken off his cap to show respect to the crowd. I smiled before turning back towards the plate and the batter that was leading off.
I took a deep breath while getting into my stance, ready for the ball to be hit to me; he was a righty batter, so it was likely. Instead of being hit to me, he took the first pitch deep. I watched it soar over the infield and into center. James began to run after it, realizing it was going to drop. He extended out his arms as he let himself fall to the ground.
The crowd erupted as they realized he had made the catch. I put my hands straight up above me, having just witnessed a great play- 1 out.
When the half-inning was over, I waited for James to run over to me before heading to the dugout. "You're definitely a ballplayer, man," I said to him with a smile.
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James was put in the number 4 spot in the batting lineup right after me. The first batter, Jake, who batted left-handed, lined out to the opposite field. The #2 batter, 1st baseman Mike Harris, doubled by hitting one into the left-center gap, and then I took a 4-pitch walk.
As James, a righty, began to walk up to the plate, his walk-up song, Times Like These by the Foo Fighters, began to ring out through the stadium speakers (youtube.com/watch?v=cwLBAuem5K4). The Rising Stars' pitching coach called for a mound visit. I definitely would in that situation, too- a top offensive player in college is coming up with runners on 1st and 2nd, 1 out. Who knows what will happen if he makes contact with a pitch?
Anyways, the pitcher fought Lee to a full count, 3-2. One thing I noticed about Lee pretty quickly was that he kept his composure, even if he took a bad swing or fouled off a pitch. He kept a routine, which is something else that made him a well-rounded player.
I took my lead off the bag again as the pitcher committed to the pitch. He looked over at Harris on 2nd before delivering. A loud crack rang through the stadium as he made contact with the pitch. The ball flew high over my head, and I thought he had hit a home run. However, he narrowly missed hitting one out- the ball hit off the top of the wall. Harris and I took off around the bases, though I was only able to make it to 3rd; James slid into 2nd safely as the ball was relayed back.
After this moment, I had a feeling that he would be a great help to the team this year. Heck, I might even learn some things from him!
We ended up winning this game 5-0, with a complete game gem put on by Thomas. He only gave up 2 hits, while our team racked up 10; James hit two more doubles after he delivered one in the 1st- he totaled 3 RBI's.
I managed 3 hits, 2 of them singles, 1 a double.
ns 15.158.61.20da2
