Steal Bases, Not Hearts (A Chicago Cubs Story)

Chapter 7

Kris's Point of View

I walked into the clubhouse on Monday morning a little more bummed than usual. We not only were swept by the Brewers but having to deal with Ray again just made me miss Alex so much more. I still have no idea where she went all weekend but I hope wherever it was was worth it and that she had fun. I almost want to believe that the reason we lost was because we need her here for us in order to win, I know I sure feel that way.

"KB, got a sec?" Maddon asked as I walked past his office.

"Yeah, Coach. What is it?" I walked in and set down my bag, wanting to get on with my ritual before being reunited with my girl.

"I wanted you to be the first one to know, I know how close you two have become and when I was figuring out how to tell the team before a big game like today's I figured maybe having you give a small speech might be best."

My heart sank to the bottom of my chest. 'What happened to Alex' was the only thought racing through my mind as he spoke, but I was afraid to find out.

"Coach?" I finally asked unable to take the suspense.

"Alex was in a car accident late last night. She was driving up from downstate on the highway and the roads were slick. I don't know much more details than that but she was unconscious on the scene and was air lifted back up here to her father's hospital so he could perform an emergency surgery to save her life."

"Is she going to be okay?" I asked unable to think about anything else but her safety. I had gone out with the boys last night and the entire time I was having a blast and letting myself be irresponsible, she was suffering and I had no idea.

"She is going to be fine, but she got pretty beat up. I know this is going to just completely affect the team today and for a while as she faces recovery, but I am hoping you can say something to the team. Something to inspire them to go out there and continue to win. And what I am worried about is that I want you to keep up with your home run goals. You are a contender for the derby next month, and you are so close. We both know that she wants you to reach the goals and to not let this affect that"

"Yeah," I said in a daze as I thought about how true that was. She would hate for me to have to worry about her if she knew it affected my dreams. I left his office and went straight to Alex's office. There was an older woman sitting down at her desk. Must be our fill in. At least its not Ray, I thought and then felt guilty for even joking while Alex was going through pain.

"Are you a player?" she asked, "Is there anything I can help you with?"

I thought back to Alex's first day with our team. She knew everyone's names and new exactly how to help us all without having to ask. I definitely took that for granted.

"No. Uh, yeah. Kris Bryant," I reached out my hand to introduce myself, something I didn't have to do with Alex, "Third baseman. Uh, Alex, she is a good friend. One of the greatest, actually. I was hoping there was something of hers left behind here that I could bring out there with me during the game," I said looking around.

"Oh, I am so sorry to hear you were close, I can't imagine what it must feel like to have to play after hearing such news. Here, I was just putting my stuff on the desk and saw this hair tie and placed it in the drawer. Maybe you could wear it on your wrist. There wasn't much else around."

"That's actually perfect," I said taking it and walking back to the locker room. I went through my pregame ritual and then sat in silence as the guys all acted like children. It usually doesn't bother me, but after today I could not take it anymore. I got up and stood in the center of the room.

"Speech! Speech!" Grandpa Rossy joked as he wondered what I was doing.

Everyone noticed how serious I looked and then the room got so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly Maddon was standing with me.

"Guys, I received some news this morning that I have been told to share with you all," I began, all eyes intently watching me. "Alex was in a car accident. I don't know how shes doing, or what happened exactly. I don't really know anything. I do know that I am going to do whatever I can out there today to do my part in helping us win this game for her. She wouldn't want us to rush through this game just to see her, but how great will it be to be able to go to her tonight after our game and tell her how hard we played out there for her. Jake, you are on the mound tonight. Do your thing, we all remember the last outing you had. It was phenomenal. Everyone else, lets get things moving early and play some great defense. We have all the momentum on our side today. We can make big things happen."

I grabbed Alex's hair tie that I had placed on my left wrist and snapped it softly against my skin. Hopefully, no matter what condition she is in, she will know that I am thinking about her and counting down the hours until I can get to her. I looked up at my teammates who each felt their own personal grief over the accident. Alex has become a big part of our lives and we are a very superstitious team. Our problem is that we need to break our superstitions. Just because she isn't here, does not mean we have to lose our fourth game in a row. As everyone continued to sit in silence Rizzo joined me in the center of the room and called everyone else up into a huddle.

"Lets do this for our girl," Rizzo said raising up his arm. I joined in and pretty soon our entire team was standing there shoulder to shoulder swaying back and forth as we all chanted various pump up chants.

At the beginning of the game, we scored early and got it going. It wasn't until the score was 8-0 in the bottom of the 5th inning that we realized that this game was something special. Not only has Jake given up no hits thus far, but he struck out three batters in a row to end the inning and we went into the 6th with so much momentum and the best batters in our lineup back up to the plate.

I ended up getting walked to start the inning and then stole second. Rizzo got a single up the gap in right field and we spent a lot of time waiting as the Pirates changed their pitching. We wanted more.

"We're doing this for Alex!" I overheard Rizzo shout aloud as we got started back up again and Zobrist immediately followed Rizzo's gapper with one of his own. The next play was a strike out to end the inning but not before Rizzo and I scored on the Zobrist play, making it a 10 run ball game going into the bottom of the 6th.

I never felt more pumped up during a baseball game in my entire life, and that is saying a lot. The icing on the cake was standing at third and watching Jake pitch his final 3 outs in the 9th. We scored plenty of runs to keep his confidence up and he just had to finish it off. When he struck out the final batter, we all mobbed him at the mound. Ross handed Jake the ball he had caught in his glove to strike out the final batter and since it was his second career no-hitter, I knew that he wouldn't be so concerned with keeping it. I think he had a better idea in mind for who deserved to have this baseball.

"Let's go see her," Jake said to me. He patted me on the back as a tear streamed down his face and the crowd gave him a standing ovation. I was surprised at how emotional this game had become. It not only showed how great we can work as a team when we have a goal set in our minds, but it also showed what an impact Alex has had on all of us. I watched as Jake hugged his wife in a tight embrace and kissed each of his two kids after they came down to the field and all I could think about was getting to Alex, the only person I wanted to hold. Jake, Rizzo, Russell and I were going to see her as representation for the entire team but waiting for them to finish their post game interviews felt like torture.

I declined my post game interview but Rizzo had to go out there as my replacement and he surprised me when talked to the interviewers about Alex and called her our biggest inspiration. I was so happy that he had decided to tell the world what it was we were playing for.