The Hitting Zone

"Hey Jake, want to go see his bullpen?" Noah asked me. We had finished eating for awhile and were just sitting around, soaking up some vitamin D from the sun.

I glanced at Rhys.

He overheard Noah. He smiled. "I'll show him. You guys want to tag along? It's been awhile since you've seen it all." He laughed a little in a self-depreciating manner. "Dad had just redone it all so I could start throwing again. It looks way better than before." He stood up.

"I definitely want to see!" Dave jumped up in excitement.

Zeke got up as well. Everyone followed Rhys as he showed me the backyard. The pool was a rectangular shape and didn't have any toys nearby. Instead it had styrofoam weights which Rhys explained, was for his rehab. He was building up his strength again and the pool was where he liked to do most of his workouts.

We reached the makeshift bullpen. It was a caged area like what a singular batting cage would look like. Except, there was no machine. There was a fake mound and a fake home plate.

Dave got on the fake mound as soon as we walked in. He started to pretend pitch. "Wow! This isn't bad at all." The fake mound looked to be like a wood plank, but it was sturdy and didn't creak. "We've got to get one of these for our backyard. How much was it, Rhys?"

"This one was over a grand." Rhys told him.

Dave immediately jumped off and put his hand to his chest. "Oh geez! Why didn't you say something before I got on? What if I broke it?"

Rhys laughed. "If it broke that easy, then I'm sure my dad would demand a replacement from the company. You can get the cheaper kind for a couple hundred, but it won't be as durable as this one." He got on and threw a pretend pitch, not putting in his full effort obviously. "It helps my imagery training."

"How's it going?" Dave asked. "Do you think you're back to where you were, yet?"

Rhys grinned. "I'm almost there. I think by the end of summer, I'll be even slightly better." He looked at Zeke. "Got to make a case for myself on why I should start as a freshman after all."

"You'll definitely get a few starts!" Noah said, smiling. "You're too awesome to be sitting in the bullpen."

"Are you sure you want to be a starter still?" Dave asked, not as excited. "Wouldn't it be better to aim for being a closer? Since you had surgery..."

Rhys stepped off the fake mound and patted Dave's shoulder. "C'mon, Dave, you know what it's like for us. Being a star on the mound is what we all want." He flexed.

"Isn't it riskier for you to get reinjured now?" Dave wasn't convinced.

"There's a risk in everything." Rhys said. "I was scared of the thought too. Going through another surgery if I mess this up...it's scary. But I talked it out with my therapist. I can't just live in fear. I won't be reckless either. I have to find the balance between pushing myself and knowing when to stop and rest."

His happiness was contagious. Everyone spent the afternoon in a good mood as well. Even when we moved to inside the house to watch some Saturday day games in his living room, I stayed comfortable. He was just like the Atkins: kind and likable.

We didn't spend a whole lot of time watching tv since we were going to a game ourselves. As it got closer to the time we should leave, Rhys excused himself to go change.

"Ten bucks says he's going to wear his Giants nonsense." Noah snorted.

Dave shrugged. "He kind of has to. His dad is the pitching coach there. It'd be weird if he didn't."

"He's cheering for the other team..?" I asked.

Noah nodded. "He invited us to the A's game tonight because it's against his dad's team." He grinned. "Tonight's going to be crazy. We play the Giants. So basically it's a rivalry game. It'll be an almost even mix of A's and Giants fans. And it's a Saturday night so it's going to be packed."

"These are the best kind of games to go to." Rhys said, appearing in a black jersey with orange writing. Giants. He wore a plain shirt underneath and a pair of jeans. He put on a black baseball cap with a SF on it.

Noah groaned at the sight. "You disgust me."

Rhys laughed. "How dare you say that when I convinced my dad to get some of the best seats in the house." He took out the tickets and waved them around. "I guess Noah can just listen to the game from the car."

Noah huffed. "I've been in good seats. Jake's brother got us all-you-can-eat seats and I've been on the field for batting practice. Twice." He held up two fingers to emphasize it.

It was no longer a secret that Jeremy was my brother. It seemed like the world knew, but with Rhys, he didn't make a big deal out of it. His dad used to be a pro as well, and even now he was a coach for a professional team.

"Oh so you don't want to sit behind the dugout??" Rhys grinned, knowing that he had Noah.

Sure enough, Noah dropped the haughty attitude and cozied up to Rhys. "I was just joking! Ha. Hah. No matter what jersey you wear, I love you like a brother."

Rhys laughed and gave his head a pat. "I know. Now, lets get going. These seats might not be all-you-can-eat, but my dad said he'd give us some vouchers for the food."

"Behind the visitors dugout?" Dave wanted to clarify.

Rhys nodded. "Yea, so there'll be quite a few Giants fans." He looked at Noah. "You better not get us in trouble with that mouth of yours."

Noah pretended to zip his lips and throw away the key.

I smiled, knowing that it wouldn't be possible for him to keep silent. Especially if the A's does something good.

Dave looked to me. "Did you tell Jeremy you were coming to the game tonight?"

I shook my head.

"Why not?"

I shrugged. "I forgot my phone."

The guys laughed, but it was true. I wasn't used to carrying a phone around so it slipped my mind when Dave sent me to change into my A's gear.

"We'll be close enough to the field so maybe we can get his attention that way." Rhys suggested. "He would have to be doing autographs or warming up though. Otherwise he might be staying in the clubhouse or something."

I nodded. Jeremy has known beforehand when I was coming so he was always prepared. This time it was left up to chance.

With everyone ready, we got in the car and hit the road. Rhys took the front passenger seat to help Zeke with navigation, pushing Dave to the way back, behind me and Noah. The ride wasn't long, but getting into the stadium parking lot took up more time than normal. Zeke found a spot to park and we piled out.

There was a different kind of buzz in the air compared to the other games we went to. This time there was a lot of away team jerseys. It was almost an even mix...like the Giants could equally be the home team. Which made sense. Noah had informed me that the Giants stadium was only 11 miles away.

We got in with the tickets that Rhys had passed out. Unlike the two previous times, we didn't go to the field. Instead we walked to our seats behind the visitors dugout along the first baseline. Our tickets were constantly checked by the ushers to make sure we were allowed to be here.

Rhys led the way down the steps and then in the first row behind the dugout, he turned down the row and stopped after the fifth seat. He looked back at us. "Okay, this is it. These five seats."

Noah was the first to yell. "This is amazing! We get to sit here all game??"

They were impressive seats. You could see the players expressions in the infield. The foul territory was big, but that didn't mean anything to me. This was like standing on the grassy area, watching batting practice.

Speaking of that reminded me to look for Jeremy. As my eyes scanned the home dugout, I felt a tug on my shirt. I looked at Noah with a raised eyebrow, wondering why he was tugging on my clothes.

He pointed towards the left field foul line, where some players were warming up. I spotted the familiar back of Jeremy. I squinted. He was talking to some people in the stands right next to the field. They seemed pretty chummy.

"Isn't that Jack..?" Noah whispered.

I froze. One of the people did look like Jack. Uncle Jack. There was four other people with him. Probably his family. Wife, two daughters, and one son. Jeremy's family too. The one he spent most of his life with.

I watched closely, examining their interactions. The girls looked to be young teens, while the boy was definitely in high school, maybe even college. No, wait, I don't think he's in college yet. The group all laughed at something that was said. Even Jeremy. I don't know if it was because I was so far away, but he looked happy. Not awkward at all. Carefree.