Page 22 of Batter Up!

Penelope looked relieved, “Are you sure? I am so sorry. I told you in my interview I would be reliable.”

“And you have been,” I said with a very serious tone. “Go take care of your child. You have my number, so if you can’t come in tomorrow, just let me know.”

“You really are the best boss!” she said and gave me a big hug.

I went back into my kitchen with an extra kick in my step because I was excited I found someone to work for me. I began organizing my pantry shelves, and I got really excited to use my brand new label maker. I spent the next few hours organizing and labeling everything.

On Opening Day in 1907, the New York Giants faced off against the Phillies. When the Giants fell behind, fans began flinging snowballs onto the field, forcing the umpire to call a forfeit.

SMACK! The sound of the ball going right into the middle of my glove was still my favorite sound. Well, maybe my second favorite sound after hearing the sounds Red made in the bedroom. I had to shake my head as I threw the ball back to Ivan, who was currently on the pitcher's mound.

“You two are looking really good together,” the pitching coach, Jason Snyder, said from behind me. “I was worried about how the language barrier would be, but I had a feeling the two of you rooming together would help.”

“Thanks, Coach,” I said while I lifted up my mask and gave Ivan a head nod. “We definitely vibe together. He’s really good. Definitely the hardest thrower on the team but don’t you dare tell Dixon.”

Coach Snyder laughed. “I wouldn’t dare.” He looked at his watch. “McAlister’s team meeting is in a few. We better head in.”

I nodded and waved Ivan over to head down to the locker room for our head coach’s meeting.

A lot of the guys were already sitting on the benches, so Ivan and I sat down next to Cooper and a few of the other pitchers.

“Well, team, tomorrow means Opening Day for our brand new team. We are a young team other than Stone, Cruz, and of course we have minor league veteran Dominic Anderson,” Coach Mack said. Dom got up and gave a little bow. That got some laughs. “We might not win all our games, but I know you boys are going to do your best. I was told by other MiLB coaches not to get attached to any of you because my dream is that you don’t last in this league very long. I hope to see all of you in the bigs someday. But while you are here, I do expect you to give 110%. If you don't, there are tons of other players out there dying to play ball. Now, our social media manager, Lucy Adams, has a few words to say.”

“Hi, gentlemen,” Lucy said with a bright smile. “It’s good to see you guys again, and it looks like you’re ready to go.”

She was young and cute with big blue eyes and curly blonde hair. A few of the guys were definitely checking her out, even though she had been around all week. She had been taking videos of our practices and had interviewed us for social media content, asking us random questions like favorite food, favorite music, and favorite baseball player. One favorite question she asked was, “If you had a sister - who on the team would you not let her date?” Everyone on the team has answered with “Cooper Dixon.” Even Cooper said he wouldn’t let someone else's sister date him. It was social media gold.

“I don’t know if you guys have noticed or not, but there’s a new bakery opening tomorrow to coincide with Opening Day.” A couple of the guys shook their heads. I had run past the business and knew what she was talking about because of the construction work and frequent deliveries, but I hadn’t realized it was going to be a bakery. “Well, the owner and baker herself reached out to me. I guess she’s a big baseball fan and wanted to make you guys something special. She has made a cake that she’s calling her “Raptor Cake.” It’s blue like our mascot, Rally Raptor, with a chocolate peanut butter filling since you can buy peanuts at the ballpark. She wanted the Raptors themselves to have the first taste of the cake.”

I could hear several of the guys making appreciative noises. We didn’t eat things like cake very often in order to stay in shape, but this was a special occasion. I didn’t say anything, but because of my nut allergy, both to peanuts and tree nuts, I couldn’t eat the cake.

“She also made a few peanut-free cupcakes in case any of you are allergic to nuts or don’t like peanut butter. She even said she has a separate kitchen for allergy-free baked items, so no worries about cross-contamination.”

I couldn’t believe a baker would go to all that trouble without knowing if any of us were allergic. I would definitely be stopping by to try more items and thank the baker.

Dominic Anderson, our second baseman, stood up and walked over to the cupcakes. “I don’t have a peanut allergy, but I do have type 1 diabetes. Do you know anything about the sugar and flour used?”

“She actually said it was safe for that, too, and she used a sugar supplement, so it's diabetic-friendly as well.”

“They will probably taste like cardboard without all the good stuff,” one of the relief pitchers said.

I took a big bite of the cupcake and groaned, “Nope, it’s amazing.”

Lucy grinned at me, and then said to everyone, “She didn’t ask for any publicity or anything, but I wanted to give her a shout out. If you guys could all take a picture with the cake and send me some selfies or your thoughts on the cake, that would be awesome.”

We all crowded around the cake that said “Happy Opening Day Raptors. Good luck this season!” in red writing. We took some pictures, and then some staff members cut the cake and handed out pieces of the blue cake. Dominic and I took some videos and pictures together, talking about how amazing her special cupcakes tasted. We thanked her for the thoughtfulness and said how we would be visiting soon

“Those were the best cupcakes I’ve ever had,” I said as I finished off my second cupcake and walked over to hang out with my roommates.

“That was really good,” Hayden agreed, and I had to laugh at the fact that his tongue was now blue. “I wasn’t sure about blue cake, but it works.”

“She’s probably an old lady with blue hair,” Cooper said with a laugh. “But if she baked for me like that all the time, I’d get down on my knees and propose to her.”

“I’ll definitely be stopping by her shop and getting stuff for my family that’s in town,” Antonio Walker said.

“That’s a great idea. My brother is in town with his best friend, too. I’ll have to get them to stop there. He has a major sweet tooth.” I said.

“Ok, guys, after you have your cake, come back in here. I have posted the Opening Day roster,” Coach Mack announced after whistling loudly.

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