Ashlyn's the new player for the Braves. Being the first woman in the MLB, she has learned to let the hate roll off her back. But one of her teammates catches her eyes, and her heart.
"This will be y'all's new teammate. Treat her with respect and like she's one of you." My new manager, Brian Snitker told the rest of my new team, the Atlanta Braves. I scanned the faces of the team, some confused and some accepting as I walked to my locker.
This was my first practice with the team I'd supported since I was in diapers, so I was nervous, to say the least. Snitker wanted me to watch the team first, to get the gist of all the drills we would do today, so I was just following as he led me by the boys and explained the drills. "So the one I want to start you on is pretty simple. Just hit the soft toss ball and run the bases, sliding into home." "Yes sir," I replied, grabbing my bat and stepping up to the plate. I made contact with the toss and started running, not really paying attention to where I hit the ball to. After I made my way around the bases and slid into home, Snitker and practically everyone on the team was staring at me, some mouths were even hanging open. "What happened?" Freddie Freeman, the first baseman, approached me and throwing an arm over my shoulders said, "You just hit a home run off a soft toss ball. You know how hard that is right? I'm Freddie by the way, nice to meet you." "I'm Ashlyn, nice to meet you. But there's no way I did that. You're joking right?"
"Ella es más fuerte que todas nosotras, incluso tú Ronnie!" One of the players in the outfield called out to another. "Hombre, lo sé, cállate." The other called back, causing a few people to laugh, including Freddie. I recognized the first speaker as Ender Inciarte and the second as Ronald Acuña Jr. "Okay, I have no clue what either of them just said, which is kind of scary." "Don't worry it wasn't bad," Freddie replied chuckling.
After practice, I called my momma on the drive home because she made me promise I would.
Hey momma.
Hi baby, how was your day?
It was good, I had my first practice with the team today.
My goodness baby, I completely forgot that was today, how'd it go? are they treating my baby girl right?
Yes, momma they are, I think I'll get along with everyone really well.
That's good baby, well I'm going to have to call you later. Your daddy has to take me out for supper since he didn't do his chores today.
okay momma, y'all have fun
We will baby, love you
love you too momma
By the time I hung up, I was only a few minutes from my house, where I could shower, eat, and go straight to bed after. Today was a long practice trying to get me into everything. We left for a 3 day series against the Marlins in Miami tomorrow, and even though I may not get to play, I was still excited to watch a game from the dugout.
All I could hear was my alarm. Groaning, I rolled over and saw the time, 7:15. "No one should have to get up this early, Lou," I muttered to my sleeping dog beside me. Before practice ended yesterday, Snitker told us to be at the airport by 8:30 for the flight to Miami. As I got ready and made sure I had everything for Miami, I checked the dog's automatic food and water bowls and loaded my truck. As I got to the airport, I went through security and to the gate Snitker told us we were boarding the plane. By the time I got there, Freddie, Austin, Ozzie, Acuña, and a few of the coaches were there. I sat down and scrolled through Instagram, waiting on the rest of the team. 15 minutes later, Snitker walked up and saw two people were missing. "Where are Swanson and Inciarte?" He said sounding tired. "Dansby just texted me and said they're on the way sir," Max Freid, who was sitting next to me said. After Snitker walked away to call them, Max leaned over to me and said, "They live together, so if one is late, the other is. And they're usually late." I just shook my head and laughed.
Five minutes later, Dansby and Ender came sprinting into the airport, after Snitker pulled some strings at security for them to move ahead in line. "Sorry we're late sir," Dansby said, breathing heavily. At this point, the whole team had started talking to me, and we were all laughing at a story Freddie just told of his oldest son, Charlie. "Come on everybody, we've got to go to Miami," Snitker said, completely ignoring Dansby. As we were boarding, Freddie was beside me and said, "Snitker's mad at Dansby and Ender. He'll ignore them till game time and then if he's mad enough, yell at them for not waking up on time." "So you're basically saying, stay on his good side and I'll be good?" I asked, sitting down in my seat. "Yea, basically," Freddie said, sitting next to me.
After all the safety videos and flight attendants checking the overhead compartments, the plane began to take off. Freddie must've seen me tense up because he looked over and asked, "Are you okay?" "Yea, I just don't like take off or landing in an airplane," I said, closing my eyes and leaning my head back onto the seat. "Well let's talk about something else. Do you have any pets?" "Yea, I've got a golden retriever named Lou." "Aww, I bet she's adorable. Do you have a picture?" "Yea, hang on." I pulled out my phone and showed Freddie my favorite picture of Lou.
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"See. You just have to distract yourself and take off is nothing." Freddie said, turning in his seat. "Wait, what?" I questioned, looking out the window to see the plane was in the air. "Thanks," I said, laying my head back to try to get rest. "Anytime," Freddie answered, doing the same.
