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Hammer Time 2044 #5

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 1:06 pm
by chicoruiz
“It’s called Kunafa”, said Miriam. “It has cheese in it, but it’s sweet. Here, try it”. She held out a bite of the pastry between two fingers.

August in Jerusalem was pretty good, despite everything. The team sucked, but there were a few signs of progress. The farm system was better, and my one big free agent signing, Mauro Saucedo, was a big success. The owner greeted me like a long-lost son whenever he saw me, probably because I was keeping payroll so low. And Miriam, Chaim and I were sitting at a sidewalk café under an umbrella. Chaim was engrossed in what he called “fun facts”, but that was only mildly annoying. Miriam had forsaken her usual jeans and T shirt for a light summer dress, and it was hard to recognize her as the same person I saw helping the grounds crew drag the infield last night. And she was feeding me pastries by hand. Yeah, life was pretty good.

“Hey, here’s a fun fact”, said Chaim. “Jerusalem has used 25 pitchers so far this year- that has to be some kind of a record. And only one has pitched over 30 innings with an ERA under 4.70. And you traded him.”

“Tell your statistics to shut up”, I said good-naturedly. True, my first attempt at a trade had not gone well, giving up my best pitcher for four players: a starter currently sporting a 6.50 ERA, two marginal minor leaguers, and a borderline sociopath. But that was the past. Nothing could kill my good mood now.

A shadow passed across our table, and I looked up to see Adam Backhouse, our DH, standing by our table. “Ah, there you are Adam”, said Miriam, rising from her chair. “See you later, guys… Adam and I have to hurry or we’ll miss the movie.”

After they left, I looked at Chaim in wonderment. “Adam and Miriam???” I said.

“Sure, they’ve been seeing each other for a while now”, said Chaim. “You really need to keep better track of what goes on around here.”
Bad thoughts raced through my mind. Trade him… Trade him somewhere far away. Mumbai maybe… Or which is further, Bucharest or Libya…. But I knew I couldn’t. It would be petty and small and unlike me…. And he was by far our best player…And the trade deadline was past.

“Here’s another fun fact”, said Chaim. “Eight of our top nine prospects are pitchers. And the one who’s a position player is hitting .190 in single A”.

“Chaim, I say this in all sincerity. Shut up.” Stupid, miserable August in Jerusalem…

Re: Hammer Time 2044 #5

Posted: Sun Oct 18, 2020 1:33 pm
by tylertoo
Such audacity. You should immediately ship him to Libya for a bag of balls.