2062.07 - Letter from rookie SP Tony Radtke to Abigail Radtke (dated 5/27/62)

[R.Umali]

Sis,

I was rooting through my travel bag and I was struck by the memory of visiting you in Banff and hiking up to those cabins. I had bought this bag for that trip and now I'm basically living out of it. I'm sure you know by now but I finally made it to Brewsters. Your little brother is in the big leagues!

It's been a wild trip. The assistant GM, a very uptight guy - you'll do good to think of Uncle Elton - well, more proper than uptight but definitely in over his head - guy named Alfredo, sent me to Huntsville with the Phantoms. That's a single-A team. I thought I'd never see the day - esp. after I shanked it in Spring Training. I thought I was heading back for a 5th season in San Pedro. Which, to be sure, I would not have minded.

So I make 6 starts in Huntsville. Then there's this roster crunch in the minor league Chicago teams, AA Peoria and AAA Rockford. Apparently, those teams were regularly throwing position players out on the mound. It was a mess. Definitely not a good look. They must've set the single season record for hit batsmen. (Actually, Rockford has 32 hit batsmen right now but the Victoria Canucks have even more!) Bad news. League got involved.

The upshot is: they're fast tracking all the pitchers in the org. It's like this express elevator ("straight to Hell!" - remember that?).

So I'm in Peoria. Exciting times. They stretch me out to, get ready: 83 pitches. But I made a big impression in both starts. Made player of the game each time! (Don't mean much but you better believe that Mom was stoked.)

I figured I'd be in Peoria for the duration but next week I'm on the Metra (the state rail service) with my bag and my duffel on the way to Chicago to start against Louisville. !!! I know, right?! I skipped Rockford all together.

Ah, Abby it was great: Sunday afternoon game, a bit cloudy, good crowd although some of the guys said they've been struggling to get people to come to the games. But even a small crowd here (20,000?) more than doubled what we got in Peoria or Huntsville. I did that whole bit about walking around the mound and writing the number on the glove.

And Mom and Dad were there. The club did a solid and flew them out! They were seated right next to the dugout and Mom was yelling words and scripture at me between innings even though she couldn't see me. It was actually kind of funny. And actually that made me friends with Jorge Gutierrez. Apparently, he knows his scripture by heart.

I was so, so happy they were there. You know Dad never thought it would happen after Chicago kept drafting pitcher and pitcher.

The game was great.

First batter was Ricardo Capeles (!!! Remember him from California? He's a Santa Ana boy, the guy they actually call "Buddy" - he's having a great rookie season - which is weird now that I write about it because my catcher here, Dale Olds, is also from Santa Ana). My first pitch is a called strike. Straight fastball. Sinker for the next pitch which he fouls back and I'm thinking of all those great pitchers who start off their major league career with a 3-pitch strikeout. Dale asks for the fastball again and I serve it up and Capeles stokes it for a double.

Then I'm thinking of all those great pitchers who start their career by giving up a double and then striking our the next guy. And I do just that. My first strikeout victim is, drum roll please: Will Patterson (another California boy - from Orcutt). Not exactly a match up to write home about, but there it is. (Yes, I kept the ball!)

The first guy to tag me is Justin Weatherford in the next inning. He's a rookie, too. Kind of unheralded but it's clear he has power. He jacks a fastball and there it went. They actually threw it back - which I didn't think was a tradition here. So, I have that ball, too. Signed and authenticated. One of the guys, I'm suspecting Salvador Montanez did it. We were friends from back in San Pedro.

We were leading 2-1 in the top of the 5th and it's sad to admit but I think my nerves got to me. I knew this was going to be my last inning as I'm still on a pitch count. But I was gassed but I wanted that win. So I promptly gave up a leadoff walk. You can see the whole inning on the Viz - with The Beef commentating. It's actually not bad from a team perspective - but for my wild pitch that allowed the tying run to score. I was facing Patterson again and completely overthrew it and I left with the game tied.

But we won that game. The line of my first game: 5 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 1 HR 3.60 ERA. Guys were awesome. Chicago's a fun team. The manager, Rocky, is cool.

And then, on my first BBA road start (against Madison) I got my first win. A laugher of a game that was sewn up by the 4th. We won 9-0 and I was on fire. I struck out 8 in 5 innings. Madison's not great this year but still. Parents were at that game. They bussed it up from Chicago and took off from Madison the next day. They're regular dog sitter wasn't available so they had to kennel Dash and space was limited.

I got credit for the win in the next game, too. An 8-3 win over Valencia. Our offense is killing it. There's some great young guys in the lineup: Timofei Gadomsky (I think you met him when you visited me in Evanston when I was doing that Development Lab), Angel de la Cruz, Dave Matthes,

In fact, every game I've started for the Black Sox we've won. So, you know, burn this letter so we don't get the jinx.

The big test is going to be next week. I'm lined up to start against San Fernando. Dad says that Mom's rented a bus to take a bunch of her friends from Church and the Mission over. My old coach, Rudy, is going to be there, too. It's going to be wild pitching at Chico's.

If you do get down into Banff, I hope you can catch some of the highlights. I sent some to your account and a couple of other messages. Mom and Dad's been super excited. I mean, it's beyond. If you thought Mom was crazy when I was pitching in the DR you should see her now. She got the Black Sox jersey that looks all gangster with the ornate B. It's oversized too. And Dad's bought 5 or 6 hats.

Enough about me! What about me!? Ha ha. I hope you are doing great and cooking up some scrumptious Alberta beef for those honeymooners and whatnot up in the mountains. Reserve a cabin for me in the off season. I'm going to need it.

Your brother,

Tony
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Tony "The Bern" Radtke was the 4th overall pick of the 2056 amateur draft and would never call himself "The Bern" even though he does fancy the nickname. He likes the French meaning, which translates to "The Brave" although it is most likely related to the German meaning: The Bear. Radtke, despite being Californian through and through, does have North German ancestry. The Brave, the Bear. Not bad either way.

Radtke displaced Orlando Rubio in the rotation. Rubio was the 7th overall pick in the 2059 amateur draft. Rubio has been relegated to middle relief.

The Chicago Black Sox are 28-24 after Sim 8 and 3rd in Heartland.

Tony's sister, Abigail, is a cook who works at one of the back country lodges in Banff National Park.