Mr Jones & Wild Bill.

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Clayman
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Mr Jones & Wild Bill.

Post by Clayman » Sat Mar 28, 2020 7:20 pm

(a phone rings)

No doubt my mum checking up on her 34 year old son.

The man in the chair checks his caller id.

Yeah I was right, hi mom how are things back in Texas? Me and my mom had been all we had until I got married, my mom's parents had disowned her for marrying my pops. My pops parents had passed away before I was born, pops died in a work accident when I was four so until I got married it was just me and mom, besides Mr Jones.

"Hi hun".

Hi stranger, not heard from you since yesterday.

"I have some bad news, Mr Jones passed away last night. I called in this morning see if he wanted anything, he was still in bed the doctor said he must have passed away in his sleep, natural causes he said".

Apt

"What Hun?"

I said apt, very apt he'd go from natural causes.

"Why William Hardy have more respect".

Mum you know were ever he is he'd be laughing at that.

"I know".

22 years ago, I remember it like yesterday. I'd been grounded, no TV. So it was a matter of staring out the window for a week, whilst I was staring trying to find something interesting, there wasn't. A removal wagon turned up. Little did I know but that day I adopted a grandpa or was it an old man adopted a grandson, I'd like to think it was a little of both.

Mum are we moving?

"Of course not".

There's a removal wagon outside.

"Oh that'll be Mr Jones moving into the Jenkins place, he's an old man. He's moving here because of his health, warmer, dryer weather that kind of thing".

Great I'd lost one of my best friends when the Jenkins moved, I'd also lost a decent pitcher in Hank Jenkins. So his replacement would be an old guy, great. Does he have any kids?

"He may have but I'm betting their older than me, they maybe even have kids".

Cool they may have a pitcher to replace...........

"But they live in Illinois, least that's where Mr Jones was living".

Great!

A couple days passed and yeah I was still grounded.

"We have company for supper tonight, so clean face AND please no ballcap at the table and put something else on beside a baseball jersey".

I did what I was told, or the grounding may have gone into extra innings. By the time I came downstairs our guest Mr Jones had arrived and was sat at the table.

"I gather you must be William or is it Will? Bill?".

"William when he's grounded, Bill when he's not". My mom shouted from the kitchen.

"Seeing I've not heard you in your backyard or seen you go out playing I gather it's William". The old man laughed.

"He was grounded for smashing a window, after I'd told him not to play baseball in the backyard".

"Oh your a ballplayer then? I used to play some ball when I was younger, not swung a bat in anger since 96 though".

Used to play some ball, I was a starter for my high school team, scouts had been known to watch me. Bit different from playing "some" ball when he was younger.

A day later.

Mom's cooking was the best, people passing by would drool at the baking smells coming from her kitchen.

"Bill take this chocolate cake next door to Mr Jones".

She must have heard my sigh as not only was a chocolate cake being given away but I had to visit the old guy.

"Don't worry I've made two and Mr Jones won't bite you I'm sure he'd rather have the cake". She laughed.

I was just about to knock on the door.

"Come in Bill I saw you go past the window, the doors open".

I walked into what would become my second favourite place in the world, of course my first would always be the baseball field.

"In here Bill, I've got some lemonade if you'd like a glass".

I was just about to say no when I walked into his frontroom, however this was no frontroom I'd seen before. Well I had but only in pictures, it was like something out of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. Photos adorned the walls, there was a cabinet on one wall with baseball's in it the other against the other wall had three baseball bats and five mitts in it. Two medals hung in a picture frame and next to them hung a plaque AN Hall of Fame plaque, Mr Jones hadn't played "some ball" he'd only played major league ball!

"See you've seen my baseball collection, I told you I'd played some ball". The old man winked as he said "some ball".

Your an hall of famer though, you've won two championships, you hit over 600 home runs, over 1700 runs batted in you, you, you.

I must have been stumbling on my words or something.....

"Bill why don't you take a breath, sit down with some cake and a glass of lemonade and we can talk baseball".

Two hours later after talking about the Black Sox, his time in Louisville, players like Resurrection Santos, Willie Armenta, Jeff Kiplinger how he'd spiked Cory Gerhinger in 95 trying to steal third but in the end him and Gerhinger had become friends once their ball careers had finished. He wasn't Mr Jones anymore he was Henry 'Natural' Jones.

There was a knock at the door.

"Bill are you bothering Mr Jones? Mr Jones is he bothering you? It's time you came home, don't forget you have homework".

But mom!

"You do as your mum says, your welcome to call in anytime long as it's ok with your mum and you've done your chores and homework, deal?"

Deal!

It turns out my mom knew who Mr Jones was as they'd talked when he'd looked at his house before buying it, my baseball coach over those years wasn't my high school coach nor my college coach it was Hall of Famer Henry 'Natural' Jones or simply Mr Jones as I called him, I'd miss our conversations.
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