Continued...
Jason
slowly came back to life after eight hours of surgery, in which he lost both
legs and had an implant into right arm. His promising baseball career was most
definitely finished. Though his parents asked him to wait till later to go see
his brother, Kris totally denied that and ran from their grasp into his
recovery room.
“Jason!”
“Lil
bro…” Jason was half asleep but he roused when Kris busted in.
“Hey…” Kris didn’t really know what
to say.
“Tell
me you’ll do it.”
“Huh?”
“Promise
me.”
“Okay
Jason…but what am I promising?”
“You’re
the family’s baseball prodigy now. Do it. For me. Please.”
Kris
knew he had to. He didn’t have a choice, and honestly he didn’t want it any
other way.
“Promise.”
The All-Star break was coming
up. Kris was sitting in his apartment when his cell rang. It was Prince
Fielder, wondering if he’d wanna hop on the NL Home Run Derby team.
Dude.
Yes.
Kris
picked up one of the starting outfield positions in the All-Star game. Man this
has been a fantastic week. First get
picked for the Derby team and then winning the fan vote? Score.
Not a
week later Kris was flying down to Arizona, to the Diamondbacks’ stadium. This
would be his show, his five seconds of fame in front of the whole world. Kris
was sure he’d make it a memorable one.
ALL-STAR GAME
Verlander
was pitching for the American League; opposing him was Tim Lincecum. What a
filthy matchup. There was a friendly wager in the National League clubhouse on
how long it would take for either side to score. Kris was keeping it light—he
couldn’t get too nervous. He really, really
wanted to make an impression on national TV. He was batting eighth and playing
left field.
“Welcome to FOX network’s presentation of
the Major League Baseball All-Star game, coming to you from Chase Field in
Arizona. We’ve got a great game on tap for you—the best players in the game on
showcase!”
“Yeah Tim! We have a fantastic
pitching matchup. Justin Verlander is arguably baseball’s best pitcher, and Tim
Lincecum is one of the filthiest starting pitcher of this decade.”
“Both guys feature 95-plus
mile-an-hour fastballs and can blow you away. The difference between them is
that Verlander has better control.”
Verlander lost control fast.
It was 3-0 with two on in the top of the first. The NL was lighting him up when
Kris came up to bat. And promptly ended the inning by grounding into a double
play. Goddammit.
It was
5-0 with a runner on third and two down for Kris’ second at-bat. Which ended in
a weak popup to short. Oh-for-two.
Still
5-0 with the sacks vacant for his third. He was leading off the fifth. Let’s get something going here. Fanned.
Great game, Kris. Really.
After the game he was sitting
next to his locker. He looks up and Matt Kemp is standing next to him. Images
of the days sitting in the ballpark with his brother welled up in front of his
eyes. The right fielder, whose autograph is still gracing the front page of
Kris’ autograph book, is saying something. Kris snaps back to reality.
“Hey Kris!”
Little Kris suddenly pops back out.
“Hello, Mr. Kemp!”
“’Mister Kemp’?”
Kris chuckles. “Sorry…hey Matt.
Whats going on?”
“How’s your brother doing?”
Everything stopped. What was that again?
“Come again?”
“Your brother. How’s he doing? …And
yes. I know about the accident after I signed your book.”
Kris sat in disbelief. How did he…
“Uh…well he lost both legs and
basically is homebound. But he’s still chipper as ever.”
“Did he watch the game?”
“He watches EVERY game.”
“Can he travel?”
“He can, but its not easy.”
“Tell him to pack up. He’s coming
to the park to watch you guys play us next week.”
Kris literally jumped up and hugged
Matt.
And then immediately backed off.
“Sorry…”
“No, its totally ok. If you’re like
me I know you probably don’t get a lot of time to spend with him during the
season. And I want to meet him.”
“Thank…you. So much Matt!”
“No problem rookie!”
The door to the NL clubhouse closes
and footsteps echo down the hall. The rookie has left. But he has arrived. And
this...this is still just the beginning.
The End
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