The SoapBoxers

Today is the 600th article in the history of The Soap Boxers.  Recently, in preparation for the launch of The Victimless Crime and Other Stories, I’ve been looking back at some of my older stories.  I’ve featured 70 fiction stories on The Soap Boxers.   Today, I look back at some of my favorites.

The one that started it all – Although Tina was technically written earlier (years ago), Release Point was the first story written specifically for you, the audience of The Soap Boxers.  It features Jerome Franklin, a baseball prospect who is on the last of his nine lives in baseball and needs to have a breakthrough year.

The one that made a social statement – Most of my stories are simply pieces of fiction with no attempt to make any sort of statement.  The characters may advance their own agendas, but the author is not attempting to make a statement.  Warm Feet is the exception, as it puts a positive spin on the topic of gay marriage.  In spite of the fact that I have no openly gay friends, this issue has become a hot topic for me in recent years.  I expected this to be somewhat controversial, but nobody really had any comments for or against the story.

The freakiest one – A lot of people were freaked out by Tale of the Wolf, but I don’t consider it the freakiest story I’ve written.  That honor goes to Friends for Thanksgiving.  Oh, and I apologize for the second part of Tale of the Wolf – it’s quite weak.

Perseverance against the odds – Heidi and the Shark features a woman battling against a fearsome beast to save her life.  I hammered this out in about 20 minutes after an offhand comment someone made about looking for sharks on their next trip to the beach,

Favorite animal stories – This was a real toss-up.  I’ve written a few stories about animals.  Perhaps my favorite is What Really Killed the Dinosaurs, which puts that silly meteorite theory to rest.  I had a lot of fun with this story.  You’ll note that there is a base at Tulowitz.  The name is derived from that of Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki.  Toronso is a twist of Toronto.  Look closely at other names and you might see where they came from.  I also had a lot of fun with The Attack, which tells the tale of a family of wolves launching an attack on a henhouse.

Favorite sports story– I’ve written quite a few stories about sports.  I’ve covered basketball, football, bull riding, track, and auto racing.  Most of the sports stories are written about baseball.  Additionally, baseball pops up in the background of many stories where it is not the primary focus.  This is, of course, due to the fact that I’m a huge fan.  My favorite baseball story?  The Rookie.

O. Henry – In recent months, I’ve been working on the technique of putting a surprising twist at the end of stories, in the manner of the great author O. Henry.  My favorite of these stories is the dramatic Second Chances and the humorous The Champion.

Of course, you can peruse all of the stories and pick your favorites.  Or you can purchase PDF versions at the Hyrax Publications store.  Not only do the PDFs provide a more user-friendly interface to the stories, but they’ve been given a second round of proofreading.  Quite a few items are on sale right now.

Long time readers – which of the stories was your favorite?

The alarm clock jarred Calvin Chance from a fitful sleep.  Calvin slapped the snooze button and pulled the blankets over his head.  At 6:22 AM the alarm erupted with noise again, and Calvin had to make a decision.

Calvin decided that he would not work today.  He called the boss and left a message saying that he was sick with the flu.  Calvin turned off the blasted alarm clock and once again used the blankets to shield himself from the outside world.

At the crack of noon, Calvin’s body was suffering an overdose of sleep, and he was thrust unwillingly into consciousness.  He yawned and finally arose from his bed.

First, it was time for a shower.  Calvin pondered the risks.  A surprising number of people died in shower-related accidents each year.  Water was truly the hidden killer.  On this, of all days, Calvin decided that he would forgo the shower.  It simply wasn’t worth the risk.

Calvin’s stomach had begun to growl.  It was time for lunch.  He was really craving a burger from the corner diner.  Calvin gave serious thought to leaving the house in pursuit of lunch.  Finally, he decided it was simply too dangerous.  Driving a car to the diner was essentially inviting an accident to happen.  Calvin was definitely capable of walking the three blocks, but that would mean crossing a busy intersection.  How could he be sure that a car wouldn’t run a red light and send him hurtling toward Saint Peter at the pearly gates?  No thank you.  Calvin would be staying home for lunch today.

Calvin wondered if perhaps he should have a pizza delivered.  He quickly abandoned this idea as well.  With his luck, the delivery driver would be a psycho who would slice his throat with a pizza cutter.  Calvin double checked to doors to make sure that the deadbolt was engaged.

He quickly ruled out anything that involved the oven.  Ovens were inherently dangerous.  Even if the gas stove didn’t leak and cause an explosion, he was likely to burn himself.  He thought about slicing some cheese, but decided that using a knife would not be a good idea.  Finally, he settled on a jelly sandwich.  He spooned the grape goop onto a slice of bread and took very small bites to minimize the risk of choking.

After lunch, Calvin decided that he would read one of the books that had been gathering dust on the shelf.  A moment later, he realized the danger that paper cuts could cause.  He could easily slice a vein on one of the sharp pages and bleed to death before anyone found him.  He turned to the television for a moment, before realizing the dangers of an electrical device.  His whole house was a death trap.  Calvin gathered up his blankets and pillow and barricaded himself into the safe room in the middle of the house.  Truly, this was a place for him to wait until the danger had passed.  Friday the 13^th was not something to be trifled with.

Calvin huddled in the corner for hours, afraid to make any sudden moves, lest he pull a ligament and become disabled.  As night fell, he realized that the game would be on soon.  He decided to take a gamble.  Calvin slowly made his way to the corner, where a small battery operated radio sat.  He turned the station to 850 AM and waited for the game to begin.

A few minutes later, the station noted the passage of the hour.  “The time is 7:00 PM on Thursday the 12^th of August.”

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

Those 31 words are filled with both patriotism and controversy.  I’m sure that when the Pledge of Allegiance was originally written by Francis Bellamy (a preacher) he would never have thought so much controversy would surround his passage.  Interestingly enough, the “controversial” words (under God) were not added until 1954.  (The original writing was completed in 1892)

The argument stems from the concept of separation of church and state.  The Constitution in the 1^st Amendment reads:

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

The religion portion of the 1^st Amendment has become known to us as the separation of church and state.  When I closely read the Amendment, I have a different opinion than what I did ten minutes ago.  It doesn’t say anything about not being able to mention God which was a big portion of what our founding fathers based our ideals on.  It doesn’t say that we shouldn’t display any historical items that relate back to our patriotic history.  It certainly doesn’t say that Christians (or Jews, or whatever religion) are barred from expressing their religion publicly.  In fact, I tend to believe that it means just the opposite.

The last couple of weeks I’ve read a lot about a Massachusetts school banning the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance.  The principal indicated that it was because they have a diverse group of students and he wanted to be respectful of that.  Rather than allowing the majority of the students to uphold an American tradition, Mr. Skidmore is catering to a small minority of his students by taking away the rights of the majority.  Why not just tell the few that may choose not to participate to NOT PARTICIPATE?  There were over 700 students that signed a petition asking that the Pledge of Allegiance be allowed in this school.  The school also received letters of support for the Pledge of Allegiance from Senator John Kerry and Senator Joe Liebermann.  (Neither of these Senators has a Republican R behind their name FYI).

On March 11, 2010 the 9^th Circuit Court of Appeals made a ruling about the phrase “In God We Trust” as printed on our currency. (http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/03/11/06-16344.pdf)

 This court has two locations, one in San Francisco, CA and the other in Pasadena, CA.  This court is located in the heart of the land of fruits and nuts—“Liberal Land, USA”.  However, this court can even see the common sense and returned an opinion that said two things:

1. The plaintiff (a US citizen that happens to be an atheist) has no standing to sue the government over the phrase.
2. The phrase “In God We Trust” is not a violation of the Constitution because it is a “National Motto”.  The ruling had previously been made in Aronow vs. United States (Aronow v. United States,” 432 F.2d 242 (1970)) that read: “It is quite obvious that the national motto and the slogan on coinage and currency (In God We Trust) has nothing whatsoever to do with the establishment of a religion.  Its use is of patriotic or ceremonial character and bears no true resemblance to a governmental sponsorship of a religious exercise.”

http://www.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2010/03/11/06-16344.pdf

My opinion is much simpler.  If you don’t like what is printed on US money, don’t use it.  If you don’t want to say the Pledge, don’t say it.  However, we’ve become a country of wimps more concerned with the feelings of the minority.  Rather than offend the few we take away rights of the many.  Why?  All in the name of being PC. 

However, we can’t forget our heritage or where we came from.  Why would we give up the values that our country was built on?  We may not have the perfect country, but we’re by far the best one that exists.  Why do liberals keep trying to give up our traditions and values for those from other countries?  Our ancestors came here to get away from other country’s values.  We can keep our values and traditions while allowing others to live here.  I don’t think that if we moved to France, Australia or Afghanistan they would stop flying their flag, stop singing their national anthem or make any religious changes to accommodate our believes and traditions.  Be proud and be an American—a patriotic flag loving American. 

We are still:

•  “one nation under God” and
• “in God we trust”

Squeaky…

I haven’t released a volume of my fiction since January.  With two little ones at home now, it has been more difficult to make progress on the longer story that I try to include as a bonus.  However, I have been making progress lately, and should be ready to deliver a new volume later this month or in early August.  I’m pushing for late July.

Instead of the naming convention I have used in the past (The Fiction of Kosmo: Volume X), this volume will be titled The Victimless Crime and Other Stories.  Not surprisingly, the main story will be The Victimless Crime.  I’ve had a lot of ideas for the centerpiece of the edition before settling on this.  Some of the other ideas may very well make their way into the centerpiece of a future edition.  At the beginning of this story, police are interviewing a man they believe witnessed a crime.  The witness misunderstands the situation and confesses to a murder.  The rest of the story chronicles the efforts of the police department to piece together the crime.  In an effort to be as true to life as possible, I have engaged the services of a former law enforcement officer to serve as a technical consultant.  His assistance has been very valuable so far.

Of course, I’ll also bundle a bunch of other stories with The Victimless Crime.  At this point, twenty six other stories will be included.  The shorter stories have all appeared on The Soap Boxers, but their inclusion in the PDF allows you easier access to them – not to mention the fact that I have proofread them a second time.  The final version will likely have at least 30 stories (including The Victimless Crime).  How long?  I think we’ll be look at 100 pages and around 30,000 words.

I’m also going to make an effort to simultaneously launch the audio version of The Victimless Crime.  There will be three different purchase options –  The PDF eBook, An MP3 Audio book narrated by Kosmo (just The Victimless Crime, not the other stories), and a combination edition that may include a small bonus.  What’s that bonus?  Kosmo doing a very short stand-up comedy routine.  I’m not guaranteeing this, but it’s a strong possibility.

I’m still working on the pricing.  As usual, I’ll try to keep prices low enough for anyone to afford.  Also as usual, regular readers and RSS subscribers will get a discount on the basic edition.

This is the fourth volume of fiction I have released. The combined word count will be around 80,000 words.  This should go a long way toward quelling any doubts I might have about my ability to write a novel.  Essentially, I have created a novel-length work – I’ve just done it one story at a time.

The audio book edition of The Cell Window continues to get good reviews.  If you haven’t bought it yet, purchase it today.  I’ll happily refund your money if you’re not satisfied.

Hot Dog

Joey Chestnut defended his title at the Nathan’s Famous hot dog contest over the weekend – but he was overshadowed by the actions of former champion Takeru Kobayashi.  Kobayashi slipped past security and on to the stage following the contest.  He was arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and obstruction of governmental administration (yeah, I have no clue what this last one is).  He was released after a night in jail and faces a hearing today.

What’s at the heart of this issue?  A contract.  Partipants at the contest must sign contracts witg Major League Eating.  This contract prevents the eaters from participating in contests not sanctioned by MLE.  MLE says that this is to protect sponsors.  Pepto Bismol is a sponsor of the Nathan’s contest.  If the contestants were to compete in a Tums-sponsored even on the 3rd (or 5th) this would dilute the value of the sponsorship.  Kobayashi insists that he just wants the freedom to participate wherever he wants.

The solution to this seems pretty straightforward – allow for a sponsor’s exemption.  If all the sponsors for an event agree to allow a non-member to compete, then MLE would waive the requirement.  This isn’t a completely foreign concept – the PGA and LPGA golf tours have sponsor’s exemptions for tournaments.

I’ve always been a bit fan of Kobayashi’s, but I was very disappointed to see him stoop to this level.  I hope that he and MLE can reach an agreement at some point.

All Stars

The Major League Baseball All Star Game will be played next Tuesday night.  Rockies pitcher Ubaldo Jimenez was named to the team.  Jimenez was rocked for 7 runs against the Giants on Saturday, but escaped with a no-decision and currently stands with a record of 14-1.  Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki was named to his first All Star game, but will be unable to played due to a broken wrist.  Rockies outfielder Carlos “Car Bomb” Gonzalez is on the “Final Man” ballot.  Vote for him, please …

Matt Holliday (formerly of the Rockies and currently with the Cardinals) was named to the National League team, to the surprise of ESPN, who said “One surprising pick was St. Louis’ Matt Holliday. In the first year of a seven-year, $120 million deal, Holliday is batting .209 with runners in scoring position and has 39 RBIs — fourth-best on the team.”

It’s a shame that the dominant provider of sports entertainment would make such a gaffe.  First of all, RBI has long been consider a poor way to judge the value of a player.  The statistic is heavily influenced by the players hitting in front of the batter.  If they don’t get on base, he can’t drive them, in.  The batting average for runners in scoring position hasn’t been ridiculed as much as RBI, but many observer feel that that “clutch hitting” is much more rooted in luck than skill. 

What, then, would I suggest using?  Maybe something like Wins Above Replacement (WAR).  WAR measures a player’s offensive and defensive value, adjusting for their positon and for the value a replacement-level player could provide  (get more info on WAR here).  Where does Holliday rank amongst National League outfielders in WAR?  Yep – first.

I need to preface this article with a disclosure. In the 1980s, I was a cooperative engineer with NASA at the Johnson Space center. After graduating with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, I got a job with one of the companies supporting NASA. I supported both the Space Station and Space Shuttle programs for a total of 12 years. I personally know many of the astronauts, some retired, some still flying missions. In 1995, I transferred within my company, both for career opportunity and finding a safer place to raise my children.

With this in mind, my reaction to the plan to ground the Space Shuttle fleet with no replacement is somewhere between saddened and irate. We, the United States of America, the only country to have walked on the moon, are going to be dependent on the former Soviet Union to have a manned presence in space. What is most annoying is the path that we took to get to this state.

I worked directly on the Space Station plan that was presented to Casper Weinberger, the Secretary of Defense under President Reagan. This plan eventually became know as Space Station Freedom. Through a series of congressional mandates, the cost of this plan grew from 8 Billion dollars to 16 Billion dollars. These mandates included; include our NATO partners, increase the content from Canada and Japan, include Russia, reduce the cost to our European allies, spread the construction to more states, increase the scale and finally, explain the cost inflation.

My frustration with this chain of events is that the administrators at NASA could not speak the truth in front of congress. The reason the cost grew as much as they did was because of congress changing the rules on an annual basis. Sure there was some scope creep due to the complexity of the mission, but a majority of the costs came from redirection. If the NASA administrators had challenged congress, they would have lost funding.

As all of this was going on, the idea that the shuttle fleet was aging and need replace was ignored. The shuttles were planned to last 25 years with 100 missions each. The original fleet was planned to be 4 shuttles, this was accomplished by using Challenger which was not the 1970s plan. We have built 5 flying shuttles, which should equate to 500 missions. The fifth shuttle was delivered in 1990 (first flight 1992) which should have equated to an end of service of 2015. Of course by this 25 year standard, only Endeavor should still be flying today.

NASA never achieved the 4 flights per year per vehicle. The cost performance was also never met. They did exceed the 50 flights before an accident predicted in the early 1970. But beyond these measures, NASA also did not succeed in getting approval for planned replacement, and now the fleet is retiring with no follow on in the near future.

We now have a future where our astronauts are lifted to space in 1960 technology from our former opponent in the space race. A future where a NASA administrator has to say that cutting the budget and removing missions helps the agency to grow and achieve their goals.

There was a time when the United States space program was the cutting edge of technology. As the years passed and the building filled with regulations, that cutting edge was left behind. NASA now used developed technology rather than driving technology. This may be lower risk, but with that comes lower achievement and eventually complacency. Where once men were walking on the moon, now we sit and watch launch pads molder. I wasn’t even there during the hay day. My tenure seems to have been the beginning of the end.

Many will say that depleting our manned space effort will save budget. As a fiscal conservative, I should agree. The pay back on this investment has been so great that I must disagree. The NASA budget is less each year than what the Defense Department “looses”. It is appalling to me that as a nation, we can approve of $1 trillion to bail out failed businesses, with no return, but we cannot find $1 billion to fund an agency that develops and proves technologies that employ hundreds of thousands nation wide. I must ask, where are our priorities? How did we get to this place? I certainly hope that my grand children can watch our nation achieve as I did when I was young. I fear that they will not believe me when I tell them I saw men walking on the moon.

[Update: on March 2, The Supreme Court ruled 8-1 in favor of Phelphs (Westboro’s pastor).  This particular article was written in July of 2010.  An article relating to the SCOTUS ruling will appear on The Soap Boxers in the coming days.]

The Westboro Baptist Church (which has no ties to mainstream Baptist churches) is an organization which spends its time spreading hatred.  The group has gained much of their notoriety for protesting at the funerals of soldiers who have died fighting for their country.  The protesters carry anti-gay signs, which tends to cause a bit of confusion.  A while ago, my wife asked me what the connecion was – since the soldiers, in almost every circumstance, are NOT gay.

Her mistake was trying to apply logic to a situation where none exists.  WBC claims that dead soldiers are God’s punishment for the country’s tolerance of gays.  As someone who is a proponent of equal rights for all, the assertion that the US is tolerant of gays seems to be not particularly accurate.  Certainly, we are not as tolerant as many of our European allies.

This issue has caused me quite a lot of internal conflict.  I am a firm believer that free speech is a very important personal freedom.  However, I also believe that one person’s expression of free speech should not infringe on the rights of another.  While the right to mourn in peace is not granted by the Constitution, it IS granted by the concept of “being a human being.”

I have even gone so far as to wonder if perhaps the 1^st Amendment was in need of some revision.  While I believe that the Constitution is a very important document, I also believe that the founders would have wanted this to be more of a “living” document than it has become.  What’s my evidence of this?  The fact that they made ten changes (The Bill of Rights) before the ink was even dry.  223 years later, the total number of amendments stands at just 27 (and the purpose of the 21^st was simply to repeal the 18^th).

After a bit of searching, I now realize that we don’t need to change the constitution to prevent hate mongers from using it as a shield for their speech.  There is already a restriction in place.  In 1942, in the case of Chaplinsky vs. New Hampshire, the United Stated Supreme court unanimously ruled that this sort of speech is not protected.

There are certain well-defined and narrowly limited classes of speech, the prevention and punishment of which have never been thought to raise any constitutional problem. These include the lewd and obscene, the profane, the libelous, and the insulting or “fighting words” those which by their very utterance inflict injury or tend to incite an immediate breach of the peace. It has been well observed that such utterances are no essential part of any exposition of ideas, and are of such slight social value as a step to truth that any benefit that may be derived from them is clearly outweighed by the social interest in order and morality.

I couldn’t have said it better myself.

Chaplinksy is going to get another test soon.  WBC protestors were present at the 2006 funeral of Marine Lance Corporal Matthew A. Snyder.  Three months after the funeral, the family sued for defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.  A jury ruled against WBC and awarded $10.9 million in damages.  In 2009, an appeals court ruled that the WBC’s action were protected by the first amendment and ordered the plaintiff (the dead soldier’s father) to pay WBC’s attorney fees ($16,000).

Not surprisingly, many people have lined up behind the Snyder family.  Political commentator Bill O’Reilly has offered to pick up the tab, and thousands of others have pledge donations.

The US Supreme Court has granted certiorari to the case of Snyder vs. Phelps (Fred Phelps is the head of WBC) and the case will be on the docket when the Court convenes in the fall.

The list of people filing amicus (“friends of the court”) briefs is a who’s who of political bigwigs, including 43 US Senators and the Attorneys General of all but two states (Maine and Virginia).  It is my hope that the Court will rule in favor of the Snyder family and further clarify and reinforce the thoughts first addressed by Chaplinsky.

While we wait for the decision of the Court, the Patriot Guard Riders are not standing idly by.  Members of this motorcycle organization gather at the funerals of veterans (at the request of the family) and rev their engines in an effort to drown out the protestors.

Editor’s note:this article is being reprinted ver batim from last year. Chestnut did indeed win the 2009 contest and might run away with the title this year – as Kobayashi may be skipping the event.

While most of us revel in the fireworks of the Fourth of July or the backyard barbeque, I for one take in a sporting event unlike any other. It is my favorite hour of television for the entire year. The Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Championship. 2009 ushers in the 94th installment of this major eating event. The contest takes place every year where it all started at the company’s flagship store in Coney Island on July 4. This year will be a fierce rematch of two-time champion Joey Chestnut against six-time champion Takeru Kobayashi.

According to legend, on July 4, 1916, four immigrants had a hot dog eating contest at the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog stand on Coney Island to settle an argument about who was the most patriotic. After ten minutes, Neer Sehgal had eaten thirteen hot dogs and was crowned the victor. The contest has been held nearly every year since, in conjunction with the fourth of July at the site.

To add to the dramatic theatre of the event, there is a weigh-in with the Mayor of New York City prior to the contest. On the day of the contest, the contestants arrive in the “bus of champions” and are announced to the eating stage much like Heavyweight boxing champions are announced in a Rocky Movie. Competitors arrive with props and the list of “eating accolades” which include world record holders in such culinary delights as hot wings, crab cakes, pickled pig’s feet and my personal favorite … mayonnaise.

It will be very hard to duplicate last years event, where Chestnut and Kobayashi wolfed it out bite for bite against one another. Kobayashi narrowly escaped a “reversal of fortune” at the buzzer, ( eating terminology for losing your lunch). After the end of the 10 minute regulation, both were tied at an amazing 59 hot dogs a piece. Next what ensued is one of the most exciting fifty seconds in the history of organized sport. This is way better than Elway’s’ drive against the Browns, MJ’s shot at the buzzer to beat the Utah Jazz, more climatic than Tiger Woods dropping in a long put to send the US Open Last year into a sudden death playoff. Heck I will even say it was better than the 1980 “Miracle on Ice”

I am talking about the monumental yet slightly constipating five hot dog overtime. Chestnut won, but Kobayashi immediately vowed to return to reclaim the Coveted Mustard Yellow Belt which ranks up there with the WWE title belt in terms of prestige.

“Each July Fourth I am thrilled as an enormous crowd gathers in front of the original Nathan’s Famous,” said Wayne Norbitz, President and COO of Nathan’s Famous, Inc. “We value our association with this great American holiday and I appreciate the fans, who come from around the world to witness the spectacle first hand while millions more watch on ESPN.”

Last year, Coney Island authorities stated that 40,000 fans crowded the corner of Surf and Stillwell Avenues in Coney Island to witness Joey Chestnut’s rematch with Takeru Kobayashi. Amazingly, more than one million households tuned in to the contest’s live telecast on ESPN.

To add to the spectacle this year The 2009 contest will be preceded on July 3 by a hot dog bun eating contest, in which three professional eaters will take on three semi-professional eaters..elephants from Ringling Brothers Circus.

Vegas has the Pachyderms as the early morning line favorite.

I for one know exactly where I will be at high noon come this Saturday. Smack dab in the middle of my couch watching the battle for the bejeweled mustard belt…likely while enjoying a wonderful Johnsonville bratwurst and a beer.

Have a Happy and safe fourth of July!

The impact sent the bucket of Gatorade crashing to the floor, covering the concrete with a sticky yellow mess.

Colton Zephyr spun around and directed his venom at a human target.  He zeroed in on his third baseman, Gary Butler.

“You cost us the game,” he yelled.  “You stupid little butthead.”   Zephyr got a firm grasp on the bat and took a stride toward Butler.  As he prepared to take a swing at the defenseless player, three teammates tackled him.

Perennial All-Star Gordon Howard took the lead.  “You’re coming with us, Volcano,” he said as he gave Zephyr a shove back toward the clubhouse.  When they reached the clubhouse, Howard shoved Zephyr into a storage closet and locked the door.  “Stay in there and cool down, Volcano.  Someone will check on you after the game.  Maybe.”

With no further eruptions from Colton “Volcano” Zephyr to distract the team, the Bears clawed their way back into the game before Gary Butler and Gordon Howard hit back to back jacks in the ninth to send the fans home happy.

As he watched his team celebrate the hard-fought win, Skipper McGee headed back toward the clubhouse to take care of business.  He unlocked the closet and marched Zephyr back to his office.  The manager collapsed into a chair on the opposite side of the desk from the pitcher.

McGee thought about the situation for a moment.  A couple of years ago, Colton Zephyr had been a top shelf starting pitcher – a rising star in the league.  Some observers felt that the Bears had achieved a coup by retaining Zephyr at a cost of $90 million over 5 years.  It was a lot of money, but the New York Bombers seemed willing to pony up even more cash.

Zephyr had always been an excitable player, but halfway through his contract, he was becoming a serious distraction to the team.

McGee looked up at Zephyr.  The pitcher glared back at him.

“Colton, my boy, we need to have a talk.  You’re becoming a serious distraction to the team.”

Zephyr interrupted his manager.  “Yeah, yeah.  I’m sorry.  It won’t happen again.  I’ll get some counseling.  Yadda yadda yadda.”

“You’re right,” agreed McGee.  “It definitely won’t happen again with the Bears organization.  The boys upstairs made the decision several months ago.  The next time Volcano erupts, he’s gone.  The Bears are going to sever ties with you.”

Colton Zephyr laughed hysterically.  “Is that supposed to be a punishment?  I get to escape from one of the worst teams in the league!  It’s a guaranteed contract, so you still have to pay me.  Thanks for cutting me loose, Skip.  Just cut me my check and I’ll be on my way to the bank.”

“No so fast,” countered Skipper McGee.  “Actually, you’re going to retire from baseball and forfeit the money left on your contract.”

Zephyr laughed.  “Walk away from $45 million?  Why would I do that?  You’ve been out in the sun too long, Skip.  You’re getting a bit soft in the head.”

“We discussed this with our in house counsel …”

“And the quack lawyers told you that you had a leg to stand on?  Forget it, Skip.  The money is guaranteed and the union will crucify you if you try to steal it from me.”

“We had them review video footage from your previous incidents.  In their opinion, you have committed no fewer than six felonies and a dozen misdemeanors.  If we were to turn the videos over to the district attorney and have your teammates serve as corroborating witnesses, you would be facing some serious time behind bars.  Twenty years was the conservative estimate.  If you walk away from the game and leave the money on the table, we’ll keep the DA in the dark.”

“You can have the $45 million,” continued McGee, “or you can have your freedom.  The choice is yours.”

here.  And now, the conclusion …

My mom came the next morning.  My daughter was already up.  I was standing in the kitchen with my mom and I started crying.  My daughter was standing in the hall looking at me and wondering what was wrong with mommy.  My mom told her that mommy would be alright.  I told my daughter that too although I didn’t believe it.

My husband and I parked in the ramp.  When I was walking across the sky walk and the hall towards the elevator, I felt like I was walking to my doomsday.  I was here to lose my baby.  I told my husband I can understand the blood sugars being good if I wasn’t pregnant, but I didn’t understand how my blood pressure could be so low if I wasn’t pregnant.  Pregnancy causes low blood pressure in the first trimester.  I said I had been sick too, but not like I had been with our daughter.  We checked in with the guy I like at reception.  I could tell he could see what I was there for even though he didn’t say anything.  They must have had my appointments in the computer backwards, but he quickly corrected it so that I had the ultrasound and then saw the OB.  He didn’t say he was doing that, but I could tell from what he did say.  He was friendly and professional, but not quite the same as he had been in the past.

We went to the waiting room to wait to be called by the sonographer.  There was one lady in the waiting room.  I tried watching TV to take my mind off everything.  It didn’t work.  I don’t like crying in public or in front of others, but I broke down and started crying.  The lady ignored me and kept reading her magazine which I was thankful for.  They called my name.

The sonographer had to do a vaginal ultrasound since it was early in the pregnancy.  She found the baby right away and the baby was alive and seemed ok!  I was so happy!  I asked if the baby was ok and she said that she had to take all the usual measurements and dopplers.  Everything looked good!  It was too early to tell if it was a boy or girl.  She determined that the OB had been looking at a cyst or fibroid.  We knew that I had that from the 7 week ultrasound.  Even with my tipped uterus, the sonographer found the baby right away!  We were sent back to the waiting room.  The lady was still in there.  A few more people were in there too.  I called my mom and told her that the doctors were wrong and that the baby was fine!  I saw the lady smiling.  I called my dad to tell him the good news.  I called a friend at work.  She had a sad voice when she answered, but then was excited when I told her the baby was fine.

We went to a room and waited for the OB.  She came in and was so happy that she was wrong and the baby was fine.  She was going to let my OB know.

We went home.  I was so tired, but too keyed up to take a nap.  My mom went home.  My husband worked downstairs.  I took care of my daughter.  My daughter took a nap in the afternoon.  I tried to take a nap, but I couldn’t sleep even though I was very tired.  Even though we received the best news that our baby was ok, I was still shaken at the thought of losing my baby and everything I went through.

I e-mailed my OB also as I had a question if she wanted to see me in 3 or 5 weeks since she was out of town in 4 weeks.  She e-mailed me back and said she was so happy and she almost had tears in her eyes.

This incident still shakes me up and still makes me cry sometimes when I think about it even though everything turned out ok.  I am so happy to have my happy and healthy baby boy today.  My baby boy is 6 months old.  I always wanted children and knew I would cherish them.  I may even cherish my children more due to the hardships I went through to get pregnant with them both, the high risk pregnancy and complications with my daughter, all of the additional tests and things for my son due to my first high risk pregnancy, and this “complication” with my son of walking to my doomsday.