2063.06 - Forrest Rockburn's Debut with the Black Sox (August 29, 2063)

[R.Umali]

In Forrest Rockburn's debut for the Black Sox, he gave up a hit to the first batter he faced: Bluebirds' speedy leadoff hitter, Alfonso Gonzalez.

"He's a lefty, he could hold runners. His move is alpha," Will Hsung said to his aunt. She rolled her eyes.

They never got to see the move because Gonzalez took off on the first pitch. Marcos Echevarria gunned him down.

The good vibes all around the stadium were short-lived as the batter, outfielder power-hitter Carter Cramer, turned a 2-1 fastball into a vertical blur. Two batters, two hits. Only Echevarria's arm prevented it from being 2-0 Bluebirds.

Will and his aunt exchanged looks.

Will looked down at the field, two sections below them. He yelled at Rockburn, "Don't melt, man. Reboot. Reboot it all! One-nothing ain't nothing."

And it wasn't. And Forrest didn't just reboot. He recompiled. He struck out 2 in the 2nd, his first strikeout victim David Lopez. Then he struck out the side in the third, including Carter Cramer. The Black Sox tied it up in their half of the inning. Will was constantly on his Viz pinging clips to his socials.

In the top of the fourth, Will said, "The crowd's into it but why didn't we sell out this game? I mean, Rockburn's debut? Against the Bluebirds?"

Will's aunt scanned the crowd. The Black Sox have had a few sellouts recently - Will and his aunt were actually at a packed game against the Kernels (a loss, no thanks to the recently waived Christian Walker) - but the sellouts were never on weeknights. "I don't know, Will. It's not a bad crowd."

"This place should be maxbanded! It's like we're on ghost mode. And what's up with Legacy?"

Tony Cochran, aka Legacy, was also called up for this Sim. Cochran, who went 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout in his season debut yesterday, would finish this game with another 0-fer. For all his swagger, he looked lost at the plate. The rest of the Black Sox weren't doing any better.

But Rockburn had it handled and kept pace with Javier Basanta, himself a rookie, albeit a much less-heralded one, and the game remained tied until Carter Cramer hit another solo blast in the 6th, reclaiming the lead for the Bluebirds.

It looked like it would've ended that way except that Rocky Wattson had the one right move in the 9th, sending up a pinch-hitter for Cochran.

When backup, generally disgruntled, but otherwise capable catcher Dale Olds came out to pinch hit for Cochran, with Enrique Caballero already on first with a leadoff single, Will muttered, "F*cking Dale Olds. He better not be bunting." His aunt was about to comment on his cursing when Olds smacked a single up the middle. Instead, she yelled, "F*cking Dale Olds!!!" Olds was having his best season at the plate, slashing .300 / .349 / .400 in a very limited use (only 129 PAs). Marcos Echevarria hit a sac fly to score Caballero, who had scampered to third on the Olds single.

"Wattson called that neurotight. He buffered it from the future! I've never seen Caballero run like that!" The Black Sox currently are last in the Base Running metric, but aggressive is as aggressive does.

The Birds and the Black Sox traded scores in the 10th, and then Mahir bin Sa'id, who took over left from Cochran, walked it off in the 13th. Caballero, who doubled earlier, scored the winning run, sliding belly first which was more joy than necessity. Vinnie Vitale vibing full-spread.

Much of the underloaded crowd stayed for the on-field interviews, which included bin Sa'id and Caballero.

Sa'id: "I just saw the lane and jerked it. That pitch? Hanging dead like a patch in beta. I zipped it clean to right, and then I saw Caballero actually move. Like, move-move."

Caballero: "Look, I'm built for bench clears and doubles, not 0-to-100s. But, yeah, no. I saw Mahir swing and I just ... shifted. Something clicked, maybe it was fear. Coach was waving like he was coding Morse. Outfield maybe bobbled for a nanosec and I was like, 'Yo, time to haul.'"

At this point, Tony Cochran and Salvador Montanez (injured but always at the home games in the dugout), dumped water coolers over the two heroes.

It's a good time and one would think: Why can't it be like this all the time? And if not, why not?

On the train ride home, Will listened to Forrest's postgame interview on the Viz:

"Took a bit to reach max zip, but I threaded the zone when and where I needed to. Kept 'em ground-stuck. Couple misfires, though, no deny. Cramer caught one and sent it into orbit. Sucks cheese whiz but can't argue. That guy's got torque. Though actually though I wouldn't mind having that ball. Anybody catch the ball?"

When Forrest was corrected to the fact that Cramer hit two, not one, home runs off him, he said: "Yeah I'm real glitchy right now. Not gonna lie: I'm still zoned. What a win."

The same reporter wanted him to comment about now being eligible for the playoff roster. "Look, man, I didn't come up just to grab a locker and ride pine. If the Sox punch a ticket, I'm ready to throw zeros when it counts. Ain't nothin' sweeter than playoff shine."

Will clicked off his inputs and laughed. He said to his aunt, "This dude talks weird!"

His aunt replied, "He talks like you when you're with your friends."

Will took that as a compliment.
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After Sim 22 (trade deadline), the Black Sox maintained their hold on the 1st Wild Card spot in the Frick. Forrest Rockburn's line: 6.2 IP 5 H 2 ER 2 HR 3 BB 7 K.

[R.Umali]

IRL, my summer class features a crazy mix of high school students and college students which has caused me to explore contemporary teenage vernacular. I'm confronted with words and phrases such as "low key", "no cap", "chopped" on the regular. My plan is to use some of my younger players (prominent among them 20 year-old Forrest Rockburn) to explore this language.

Similarly, I finally read Anthony Burgess' A Clockwork Orange (having loved the Kubrick film for years) and am trying to figure out a way to include the Nadsat slang / language that Burgess created. It'll be real horrorshow.