All To Myself//Christian Yelich

Manager?

Meanwhile outside…

Christian followed the older man out of the house, passed the barn and around the coop, until his eyes rested on what looked like a homemade batting cage and some work out equipment. 

"Wow." Christian commented as he moved to inspect it. His eyes picked up on the wear and tear of the years. Moving to the left, he spotted the pitcher's mound. In his imagination, he could hear the thwack of a ball hitting mitt and the crack of bat. He could even picture the siblings arguing over a pitch. 

"Yeah, Mattie and Rosie spent hours and hours out here."

"Let me guess, Ro pitching and Mattie batting?"

"You got it." Christian could hear the pride in his voice. Nostalgia. 

"She's got quite an arm." Christian murmured as he stood in the batter's box. 

"That she does. She worked hard for that arm."

Now, he sounded disappointed. Christian felt the whiplash in the conversation. 

"She's still got it. Threw 72 mph at BP." 

"I saw that on ESPN. Doesn't matter in the long run."

 Christian did a double take. "Why?"

"She's not playing baseball." Christian gave him a wild look. Did this man expect his daughter to play in an all dude sport? 

"How would she be playing in the MLB?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. 

The older man simply shook his head, "She could have broken new ground." 

"But that wasn't her dream. That was yours. If anything, she should be managing or coaching a pro team." Christian stated as he picked up an old bat and took some practice swings, but kept his eyes on Scott who seemed to contemplate his words. 

"You think?"

"She knows more than a lot of dudes. I have a meeting with the higher ups coming up in the spring, I plan on suggesting just that." 

Scott nodded, grabbed a bucket of balls, and asked, "Humor an old man?"

"Sure. I'll give it a go. I might be a bit rusty." 

"You? Doubt it."

"Thanks for the faith." Christian returned with a small smile. 

"You're a baseball player through and through. That natural talent doesn't disappear." The older man tossed, and Christian easily batted it out of the area. 

Another toss, this one, perfect. Christian, on instinct and practice, took a step and swung. The crack of a home run thundered across the field. 

"I'll tell you, Christian. It's one thing to see it on TV; it's another to feel it."

"It felt good." Christian admitted as he readied himself to go again.

Another bat crack. 

Christian's ears picked up footsteps approaching, but he didn't turn to look. Mr Olson flashed a smile at whoever had joined them, and he continued to toss, giving the outfielder another opportunity to send the ball deep. 

Another.

Another. 

"You trying to get yourself back in that brace?"

Mr Olson chuckled lowly at his daughter's comment. Christian stood up and stepped back and out of the box.

"Got caught up in the moment." The slugger offered with his usual boyish grin causing her to falter her concerned look.