The Hitting Zone

Jason and Noah talked about the teams that were great last year, those that had a chance to win the whole thing this year, who retired, who was traded, and who might make their major league debut. They went back and forth for too long, and Coach caught us just standing around, talking.

"Noah! Jake! Over here now!" Coach's stern voice made me shiver and I definitely didn't want to go over.

"Busted." Jason whispered, as we left him in the dugout.

We jogged out to coach as he glared at us. Once we stopped in front of him, he started to rant. "It's bad enough you owed Zeke laps and didn't do them on your own time. Now you're basically skipping practice just to chat away with Jason. News flash, you can chat with him in your free time, that's why there's cell phones. Even though you're both freshman, you should still be focused on the task at hand. We have Wednesday's game to prepare for. Do you want me to bench you both?!"

I quivered with fear and stepped behind Noah to hide.

"No need to raise your voice coach." Noah dragged me out from behind him. "You're scaring Bambi. We were just inquiring about Jason's injury. No big deal."

Coach's face turned red with anger. His glare became more ferocious and I could almost imagine him trying shoot lasers out of his eyes. "Laps! Now!"

Noah pouted. "But what about practice?"

"You should have thought about that before shooting the breeze with Jason. Laps! GO!"

I quickly turned and started to jog away.

"How many?" I heard Noah ask.

"Until the end of practice!" He yelled.

I picked up the pace and exited the field as the twins just finished their laps. They stopped, thinking I was heading for them, but instead I moved past them and started the laps.

"Jake! Slow down!" I heard Noah said from behind, but I didn't dare. He was better off catching up to me with his fast legs, instead of us getting into trouble for not focusing again. "If Coach is going to make us run for the rest of the evening, then it's better to have a nice even pace so you don't tire yourself out."

What Noah said, sounded reasonable, so I slowed up to the slow pace he was doing. "This is all your fault." I told him, resentful that I have to run even more. Especially on a practice that Drew wasn't going to show up at.

Noah laughed at my sorrow. "Its not a big deal. Coach is just a little upset that we weren't hustling to practice with the team."

I gave him the side eye. "A little??"

"Okay. More than a little. This run will be good for you though. Works on your endurance and whatnot. Small price to pay. And you talked to Jason too!"

I frowned. "Just a little. You're the one that kept talking about the A's with him. We should have left after I spoke."

Noah rolled his eyes. "The A's are THE team to cheer for around here."

"Isn't the San Francisco Giants just across the bay?" I rolled my eyes right back at him.

"Blasphemy!! Don't ever mention them again. On this side of the bay, you're in A's territory." He thought for a minute. "You're from down south right? Do you like the Angels or Dodgers?"

I shook my head. "Neither. I don't know anything about either."

"You never-" He cut himself off. "Right. You had a crazy lady controlling your life. You probably haven't watched any real games or know the players, since you barely even know the rules now." He brightened up. "But this just means that we can convert you into an A's fan now."

"What do you like about them?"

"What do you mean? I like everything about them! I grew up watching them! They've been apart of my life forever. The whole family likes them. We got to a few games throughout the year!" He caught his breath. "You'll see later in the month with Spring Training going on. The TV in the living room will always be on, broadcasting their games."

"What exactly is Spring Training?"

Noah stumbled, then quickly regained his footing. "Wow. Total newbie. Geez. Spring training is where new players get to try out to make the roster, and gives established players practice time prior to the season. It's like an extended tryout. Practice games will start by March 1st in like two weeks. Then they play multiple games all month to find out which players they want to keep on the roster. Opening Day is when the season starts at the beginning of April. Then they play all summer long." Noah sighed. "I can't wait."

I couldn't really understand why he's so attached to it. Just sounds like what we're doing, to me. We practice and coach picks out the starting lineups for the games. And we play games all spring?

Noah continued to talk all about the A's and why they should make the World Series this year: the pitching rotation is the best it's been, they had last years rookie of the year, they have another good player coming from the minors, their lineup shows promise, yada yada, etc.

I could barely keep up normally, and this run was making things worse. Even though we were going at an easy pace, after an hour, I was panting. It was barely fifty degrees (Fahrenheit) and I was sweating like it was the middle of summer. I really can't decide what's worse: this or Drew's training.

Coach really made us run all the way until the end of practice. After the team started to leave, he called us over. I flopped at his feet, laid on my back and stretched my arms and legs out like a starfish. Noah stayed standing, but put his hands on his head also steady his breathing.

"Tomorrow, I expect better. Baseball practice is for baseball practice." Coach instructed. "You slack off for one second and you'll lose your starting position, understand?"

"Yes, sir." Noah replied. Hopefully for the both of us since I couldn't move anymore.

Coach looked down at me. "You're still out of shape, Bambi? Don't worry, Andrew will be here tomorrow."

I groaned.