Ignoring my audience, I focused on what I’d learned in LA. Rhythm was the first step. I needed to be relaxed in the batter’s box and do a routine to get ready to hit. I would make a little circular motion with my bat in preparation. The second step was seeing the pitch. My front foot was down, and I watched for the ball coming out of the machine. Third was separation. This required the hands and front foot to go in opposite directions at the same time. You wanted to end in a balanced and athletic position. Your weight distribution should be 50/50 in your lower half after separation and as you transfer your strength into the ball. The fourth was to stay square. You lost power when you deviated from a straight-on approach. The final step was weight shift and transfer.
When done right, my hitting power rose significantly. Baseball is a lot about sounds. You can hear a good pitch. It starts with the whizzing sound as the ball slices through the air, and then there’s the pop as it hits the catcher’s mitt. Hitting a baseball is the same; it just sounds different when you get all of it with speed and power. The satisfying ‘crack’ as you send a line drive four hundred feet over the center-field fence sounds different from the ‘dink’ of a slow roller.
Moose was smarter than I was. He had a bucket of balls, so when they ran out, he stepped into the cage and dumped more in. He also made some adjustments to the machine and stepped out. It was now throwing curveballs.
Moose just nodded as I got all of the first one. My confidence that what had happened in LA wasn’t a fluke took a step up. When my time was up, I started to pick up baseballs.
“Leave them, I’ll get them later. I want to talk to you for a minute before you work out.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I got a call from USA Baseball. Coach Revilla recommended you, as did Lucas Kite, and Coach Boyd of the Dodgers. USA Baseball wanted to confirm a few things with me, but it sounds like you’ll get an invitation in a couple of weeks. I just wanted to let you know that I’ll do whatever I can to help you. It’s a big deal that you’re going to be invited.”
“Thanks, Coach. That means a lot to me,” I said.
I looked at my watch, and it was time for me to let Cassidy abuse me. It felt good to have Moose support me.
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Chapter 5 – Amateurism Wednesday February 3
We’d dropped to fourth place in the box-office race. An animated movie, Kung Fu Panda 3, grossed $41 million. The Revenant took second with $12 million; Star Wars: The Force Awakens made $11 million; and we brought in a little over $10 million. Overseas, the numbers showed us doing quite well. We were number two in Japan and most of Europe.
Saul was over the moon with the results. They’d upped the estimated box office to $500 million when all was said and done. He said he was getting calls about my availability and wanted me to go full time. I handed the phone to my mom, which ended that conversation.
We’d also started to get strangers hanging out in front of the house. Some were fans who wanted to get a picture taken with me or an autograph. Then there were the ones who wanted something from me. There were a couple of fun ones. One guy wanted me to show up at his wedding as his best man. He said his fiancée was a big fan. The one I did do was for a girl who asked me to do her voicemail message as Stryker. That one turned out to be fun.
Then there were the awkward ones who wanted money for various purposes. Those we called the police on and let Billy figure out if they were legit or not. If they were, they had to fill out a request and send it to Caryn. When the people wanting money figured out that they would have to talk to the police, it seemed to clear most of them out.
◊◊◊
As I walked into school, Tracy approached me with a grin and handed me a good-sized, beautifully wrapped package.
“Megan asked me to give this to you. It’s Jim’s surprise.”
All I could do was look back at her with an evil grin. Jim was so busted, but he would love this!
◊◊◊
Brit talked me into leaving campus at lunch to visit the local Homeless Coalition. Their director was a Mr. Orange. He looked and acted exactly like I would have cast the role for that position: he was in his early thirties, looked overworked, but still eager to help the needy. If he had to work in the real world, they would eat him alive. The good news was he’d found his calling.
“Mr. Orange wanted a chance to meet you,” Brit explained for the fifth time.
I just nodded.
“I take it you’re David A. Dawson,” he said, using my movie name.
“Just call me David. What can we help you with?” I asked, wanting to get this over with.
“Thank you for coming in. I wanted a chance to share with you some of the projects we’re working on. Hopefully, it will help you better understand the homeless crisis that we’re experiencing in the area,” he explained.
I caught myself being cautious but decided to give the guy a break and hear him out.
“That’s probably a good idea,” I said.
“We classify homelessness into three categories: transitional, episodic, and chronic.
“The transitional homeless used to have a job, car, house, and still have debt. The main provider lost their job or suffered some other misfortune, and they’re suddenly living out of their car, or in a tent. Many are women with children, unfortunately.
“Episodically homeless refers to individuals, often with disabling conditions, who are currently homeless and have experienced three or more episodes of homelessness in the past year.
“The final category is the chronically homeless, which refers to individuals who are currently homeless and have been homeless for six months or more in the past year. Three groups fit into this category. The first we call the adventurers. They’re young and looking for life experiences. Usually, they’re homeless from 6 weeks to 2 years. They’ll hop trains, hitchhike, and do nearly anything except take a shower. They tend to bring dogs with them and smoke weed. These people have chosen this condition, and we don’t try to force them to accept help. We get them sometimes when they’re hungry or need to get out of the elements.
“The next group is our biggest concern. They often suffer from some form of mental illness and are in need of structure and perhaps psychiatric evaluation. There is a large population of military veterans in this group. Giving them a place to sleep, a warm meal, and shelter from the elements isn’t enough. We collaborate with many other organizations that specialize in their support. With most of these, it’s a long-term project to get them back to where they’re useful members of society. In most cases, we fail, because they stop taking their meds or decide they don’t want to move on from their current condition.
“The final group is criminals on the run. We tend to call the police if we find any of these,” Mr. Orange said with a smile.
“So, what can we do to help?” I asked.
“We’re always in need of household items. I think your plan to have a drive to collect those is fantastic. If that’s all you do, I will be eternally grateful, and I’ll work with you to make that happen. I was hoping you might help me out with two other projects as well.
“The first is raising funds. We’re in need of transitional housing. I can obtain grants to pay for rent for houses or apartments, but we run into a common issue. We call it ‘Not in my backyard,’ or NIMBY. People don’t want the homeless living in their neighborhoods. People have this perception of the homeless as the guy on the corner begging for money who’s very weird and scary. I understand why they wouldn’t want a group of these guys running around their neighborhood. What we need it for is the mother with small kids who was kicked out of her home by her husband. She needs a few weeks to find a job and earn enough money to put a down payment on a place to live.