The Best Cup Of Coffee In The World

IT TAKES MORE THAN RARE SKILLS TO KEEP THE DREAM ALIVE

 A baseball memoir



Prompt: Write a memoir-style (first-person) entry for a baseball player (fictitious or real) who’s struggling at the pro level and feels like they might be demoted back to the minors after just making it up to the majors for the first time.


Respect the game and it will pay you back. I’ve heard that from coaches ever since I first picked up a baseball. Sometimes my focus wandered and another line of work sounded like a good idea. In a moment of weakness, this felt like one of those times.


Looking back, the call came in while I was pumping gas in my truck. My agent was on the phone saying he heard I was going to get called up.

Former teammates of mine had received the same call from their agents and had been let down, so I decided I would not think about it until it was real.

The cost of living for a minor league baseball player is another world from being in the show. Every cent is counted and budgeted, especially when there is a wife and two children involved. My wife would know nothing about what might happen. The anxiety would send her spinning, so I had to keep the dream bottled up. It was killing me.

Then it happened! We were going to the big leagues!
After the mini-celebration and a night with no sleep, I got up and packed whatever I could and headed to the airport to catch a plane to where the club played that night.

After meeting the guys, it finally hit me when I sat down in the bullpen. Everyone was good. The heat these guys could throw was ungodly. It seemed like everyone could heave a hundred easily.

My fastball is just above league average, but it can be successful when I can get a good sink. My slider pays the bills. I have to pitch to contact and get ground balls. If anything gets up in the zone, I’m dead meat.

Everything started out good. I was getting into games and getting key outs. My confidence was up. And then the scouting reports started making the rounds and the hitters adjusted to my pitches. My stuff has to be precise.

And that’s the thing. It’s getting a little hairy whenever I don’t get calls from the umpire. The key to excelling in this game is not thinking. Play dumb. It’s a game of failure if you’re a hitter. But, if your job is to get hitters out, the fear of failure is a career killer.

I’ve had pretty outstanding success on all levels of this game. But, I haven’t been able to really relax since I’ve been here. The talent of everyone at this level is the best in the world. There are no easy outs, at least for me. Every pitch is a grind. It has to be all reflex and very little thought.

There is a lot of pressure to execute your pitches and keep your mechanics as perfect as it can be. Not just pressure on the field, but off it as well. I know my family, who have sacrificed much to help me get here, are on top of the world. The thought of letting them down is unthinkable.

My wife and kids.
Now I hear there may be another on the way. She put off getting her degree and has gone all in to raise our family and support this obsession of mine.

My parents bought all the equipment to get me started. They hired instructors to assist me in unlocking biomechanics and functional training that would’ve never occurred to me. All the hours in the car driving me all over the state playing in tournaments, not to mention the hundreds of practices. I owe them big.

This is the destination I have lived for, dreamt about, lost sleep over and have had to overcome injury and every physical discomfort for. I have respected the game, and it has paid me back.

This shouldn’t even enter my mind, but if I get sent back down to the minors, I’m going to be even more determined to get back here. It’s damn the torpedoes and full steam ahead. I’ll train harder, if that’s possible.

In the meantime, I’m staying outwardly positive and not complain. I’ll support my teammates and the ball club in every way possible. Management will know I’m an asset.

This moderately talented overachiever will do whatever it takes to help my team win. That’s what I do control and that I can guarantee.

They say when a player comes to the show and only spends a short time there, that he is there long enough for a cup of coffee. If that’s the way it turns out, this has been the best cup of coffee in the world.

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