An Unlikely Slugger: The story of Cole Bassitt

Chapter 22: Keep The Change

I strolled into the Rusty Nail. Nobody immediately acknowledged my arrival, being glued to a TV playing a taping of the Barons-Fire contest earlier today. One perk of that game being on was that I had absolutely no idea who won, so I'd be just as surprised as everyone else.

I sat down at a table near a large flatscreen, where Anthony Wilson, an old college buddy of mine, struck out against Mat Hatchet, Indy's ace pitcher and last year's Kaloborn Award winner. The Kaloborn Award is a big trophy that goes to the top three pitchers in the PL and the CL. I think Bryan and Reece might have won a couple. Handy definitely did, but after blowing out his arm, I doubt he'll get it next year.

A waitress came up to me with a notepad.

"Hi, welcome to the Rusty Nail, can I get you anything?" The waitress said as fast as possible.

"Uh, yeah, I'll have a burger and fries," I mumbled, staring ravenously at the picture provided of a very attractive looking cheeseburger. Just what I needed.

"OK, anything else?"

"A large Coke."

"Is Pepsi okay?" No.

"Yeah."

"OK, we'll be right out with your order!"

Excellent. In the meantime, I watched as the helpless Baron pitcher was mashed into a pulp by the powerful "Flamin' Four". Frye, Theodore, Stroman and Garremis were names that would make any pitcher in our bullpen shudder.

Jadiel Frye is the 26 year old Cuban sensation that, alongside some other guy, were considered to be the franchise saviors back in 2016. He lived up to expectations. The other guy didn't, but he's not important.

Hayden Theodore, now 34, had stuck with the club through thick and thin, through the losing years, and now was finally getting some help to win a championship.

Madox Stroman is a corn-fed Illinois boy with huge arms and an even huger batting average. At 23, he was the club's young star.

Ethan Garremis, a 27 year old masher, was supposed to be Plymouth's guy for his entire career, until the Fire made him an offer he couldn't refuse. If you were offered $84 million for 4 years, would you ditch your hometown team?

With a core like that, would you even need good pitchers? The Fire think so. They also signed Mat Hatchet last offseason and recently traded for Reece, rounding out a powerful core. That's about it pitching-wise, with no other arms in their bullpen really scaring me. 

Hey, look at that! I worried so much about the Fire that I didn't even realize my burger came!

Life is full of miracles.

I took a bite out of the burger. The patty and cheese, still hot, flooded my mouth with the taste of beautifully-cooked beef and bread. This burger was so worth 13 dollars. I finished the burger almost immediately, and decided it was time for a drink to wash it down.

Just kidding. I had a Pepsi right here! I just go to the bar to socialize. Nobody really talked to me, which wasn't surprising given that after yesterday's events I was now the most hated man in the state of Indiana. After a couple hours of watching the poor Barons get demolished, the game came to it's final out. Kolton Reyna, some dude from Venezuela, came up with the bases empty and his team down by five. 

The pitcher adjusted his hat and threw. Reyna swung and missed. The bar cheered. The pitcher smirked, almost laughing, and threw again. Reyna fouled it off. The bar hushed. The pitcher fired. Reyna took it, closing his eyes. Ball. The bar collectively slammed things against the tables.

Finally, Reyna mustered up his courage to swing. The ball rocketed off his bat. Braxton, who was playing first base, dove for it. It smacked his glove and went straight up. Braxton, mustering his wits, scrambled back up and secured the ball. The bar went wild, hugging and high-fiving each other.