t was five minutes before midnight and the bottom of the ninth inning and I was about to break a promise I was a batboy for the Pine City Porcupines When I took the job I promised my parents I would try to be home by ten o’clock and would never work past midnight That’s just too late for a boy your age Dad had said But there had been a rain delay and the game started late The Porcupines were tied with the Attica Finches 3 3 If the Porcupines didn’t score here the game would go into extra innings
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I’d also made a life-long promise to my uncle Rick that I would never leave a baseball game before it was over Uncle Rick took me to a game when I was six The Porcupines fell behind by ten runs and I wanted to go home If you leave early you might miss a thrilling comeback he’d told me You might miss a walk-off home run Never leave before the last out Chad I won’t I told him and I meant it The Porcupines ended up losing that game but they did get a grand slam in the eighth inning We would have missed it if we hadn’t stuck around Tonight there was no way to keep both promises unless the Pines scored really soon Victor Snapp’s deep voice boomed over the speakers Now batting the designated hitter Sssssammy Sssssolarisss Victor Snapp had been the announcer for the Pine City Porcupines since before I was born He was my idol I wanted to be a baseball announcer when I grew up Come on Sammy I shouted Sammy was the best hitter on the team He swung at the first pitch The ball sailed into the outfield The Finches center fielder ran after it It’s a gapper said Victor Snapp He said that whenever a ball got between two outfielders My heart nearly leaped out of my chest The ball hit the fence and rolled back toward the outfielder Sammy took a big turn at first base then stopped
