I drove to football practice, and when I got there saw there were some new faces. Guys who had been on the JV team were moving up to varsity. It looked like we would have more depth than we did last year. Yuri and Ty had stepped up and were organizing everything. Alan couldn’t help out this year because he was on the coaching staff, and summer practice was a non-sanctioned event, meaning no coaches.
“Look who decided to show up. Why don’t we show you what the new offense is, and then you can join us in a couple of days?” Trent asked.
“Why don’t we do it like we always do and take turns? I’m sure the JV and freshman quarterbacks would like a chance to show what they can do,” I replied.
Trent’s face turned pink. We both knew he was trying to freeze me out. Good luck with that. Unlike Brad Hope, his daddy wasn’t the head coach. The other players just ignored our byplay and did their jobs.
I had a little rust throwing the ball, and Trent had improved quite a bit. Even so, there was no comparison. I still outthrew him by a wide margin, which didn’t make him happy. I tried to give him some advice, but he wasn’t having any of it. So I gave up and focused my help on the other quarterbacks. They both showed promise and took the coaching well. I predicted that Trent might have his hands full if he weren’t careful, come his senior year.
It felt good to run around in shorts and throw a football. Today was looking up.
◊◊◊
Moose and Coach Haskins showed up, so I quickly changed to practice baseball.
“I have something for you two,” I said and handed them each a box of cigars. They both looked surprised. “I figured a couple of old guys like you would enjoy them.”
“I’ll let the ‘old guy’ comment slide. Are these really Cuban cigars?” Moose asked.
“Yep. I even was able to go to the factory and watch them make some of them. They’re all hand-rolled, and I was told these are the ones that are sought after. I hope you enjoy them.”
“Careful, he’s softening us up for something,” Coach Haskins said.
“Well, I’ve been thinking …”
“Nothing good ever comes from that,” Moose interrupted.
“… that I normally have a personal coach when I go to football camps like the Elite 11. I don’t have anyone going with me to the Under-18 baseball tryouts. I was wondering if I could talk one—or better yet, both—of you into coming with me to North Carolina next week,” I said.
“You paying for the trip?” Moose asked.
“And extra for food and incidentals,” I threw in.
“I haven’t had a vacation in years,” Moose admitted. “I’m in.”
“What if you end up getting through to the next round?” Coach Haskins asked.
“I’d do the same again. And if I go to Monterrey, Mexico, I’d ask you to come along.”
They both smiled at me.
“Set it up,” Coach Haskins said.
The two men had spent a lot of one-on-one time with me, and I couldn’t think of anyone else that I would want there. That is, except for Juan Revilla, the Cubs hitting coach. Well, there was one more: Coach Herndon, our pitching coach.
“Do you think Coach Herndon would want to come?” I asked.
“He just might. I’ll call him and see,” Moose said.
They ran my butt off doing outfield drills. They could tell that I’d been working out, so I told them about Cassidy and Coach Conde. Overall, it was a good workout, and it started to get my head back into baseball.
◊◊◊
Paul had taken the Jeep today so Mom could take Coby and Little David to daycare. She picked up Kyle, Mac, and Nate, along with the boys, for dinner at Granny’s West. That was a lot of car seats. We pulled up in time to help unload all the little rug-rats. It was good that the restaurant was kid-friendly.
“Unca David, Unca David!” Kyle and Mac chanted to be let out first.
Nate was closest to me.
“No!” Mac howled.
I stuck my tongue out at her.
“Mmmm! I’m telling,” Kyle threatened.
“You two know better. Wait your turn.”
I hugged Nate and gave him a kiss on his cheek. He was at the stage where he knew ten times more than he could verbalize, and it frustrated him. He did seem happy that he was gotten out first. At that age, they liked to be made special.
“Are you Uncle David’s good boy? I bet you are,” I said, tickling his tummy.
That produced a screech that about deafened me. Mom gave me a raised-eyebrow look while she dealt with Coby and Little David. I shrugged and put Nate into his stroller, then turned to his siblings.
“Okay, you two, I’m going to set you free, but you have to stay with me. We’re going to go eat, and I don’t need you bothering the other people.”
They agreed, and we all made it into the lobby. Jan was the hostess tonight, and I appreciated that she grabbed Kyle and Mac’s hands to guide them to a back-corner table. If I thought two in our house was a lot, having all five little ones was crazy. We soon had everyone in a high chair.
Mom bailed on me and went back to work for a little while, leaving me with all the babies. I’d gotten Greg’s crew sippy cups of juice and pulled out a toy for Little David. Coby needed to be held.
