“What do you mean by ‘that guy’? No one has said anything to me,” Dave said.
“How do I explain this? Do you have an uncle or family member that when they show up, everyone wants to avoid them?” I asked.
“No, not really.”
“How about someone at school?”
“There’s this guy who stares at me in the shower after practice. He also seems to show up at parties and stuff. Everyone feels uncomfortable around him,” Dave admitted.
I resisted the urge to say, ‘You can’t say that.’ I was sure stalkers had feelings too.
“Okay, that’s not the example I had in mind, but you may want to get a restraining order,” I suggested.
Dave stared at me, not saying a word, so I decided to just tell him.
“People are sick of you always judging them.”
“What do you mean? I’m only trying to point out that what they’re saying could be hurtful. I go to a Christian school, and many people don’t realize the hurtful stuff they say about Christians. They think we’re just a bunch of ignorant religious fanatics.”
I got a glimpse of why Dave was the way he was. He’d been picked on to the point where he decided he would right all the social injustices of the world. The problem was, he was doing exactly what he was upset about others doing to him. It was one of the biggest issues humans have had throughout history: persecuting people because they didn’t think like you did. While Dave was pointing out hurtful speech and only had the best of intentions, he was quickly becoming someone no one would listen to or want to be around.
“Dave, before our country was even founded, and for a long time after, people fled Europe to avoid persecution. Our constitution gives us the right to free speech, even if we don’t agree with what someone says. I respect that you believe in letting people know how you feel. But just because you have the right to say something doesn’t mean I have to agree or to hang out with you.
“I’m going to give you a piece of advice. You don’t have to prove to everyone that you’re right all the time. To do that, you have to show them they’re wrong. If someone told you that everything you did was wrong, would you want to spend time with them?” I asked.
“You mean like a coach?” Dave asked with a straight face.
I snorted and then began to laugh. He had a point.
“You got me there. Man, pick your battles. The team wants to like you, but you’re pushing them away by always telling them they can’t say something. I would bet they already realize what they said was inappropriate. They’re just being guys and cracking on each other. My guess is that it’s getting worse because they’re starting to do it just so they can see how you’ll react.”
“You really think they’re doing that?” Dave asked.
“I guarantee it. Even I do it sometimes,” I admitted.
“I still think it’s wrong.”
“I know you do, and sometimes I do too. Tell you what, I’ll make you a deal. You slow down on telling them they can’t say stuff, and I’ll have a talk with the team about respecting you and how you feel,” I said.
“That’ll just make it worse. It would be like my mom going to talk to a bully on my behalf.”
That image hit a little too close to home.
“Do you want to talk with them instead? I’ll be there to support you,” I offered.
“Do they really think I’m ‘that guy’? The one no one wants to be around?” Dave asked.
“I’m afraid so. The problem is, the coaches have noticed. If you don’t turn this around, we’re not getting the team into the final forty, because you won’t be on it,” I predicted.
“Have they said something to you?”
“No, but I’ve had word get back to me that they’re concerned about team chemistry and that they’re worried you won’t fit in. Why don’t we turn that around? I’ve heard some other comments about our teammates that they need to work on. Why don’t you help me get them up to speed, and we work together to get the whole team in the final forty?” I suggested.
“I’d like that. My sister seems to like you, and she’s a good judge of character.”
“Speaking of M.E., why are you dating her only friend?” I asked.
His face suddenly colored.
“I can’t help who I like. It’s not like I started dating Kelly to hurt my sister. I know how socially awkward she is. And, by the way, it means a lot to me that you’ve taken the time to be her friend. It’s just that one day I suddenly realized that Kelly was who I wanted to date.”
“Does Kelly feel the same way?” I asked.
I could see that pissed him off.
“Why wouldn’t she?” he snapped.
I just raised both eyebrows.
“Sounds like you have some doubts. If that’s the case, the two of you need to sit down with your sister and make things right. There are plenty of fish in the sea, but your sister only had the one friend. It’s not fair to her.”
“I’ll think about it,” he conceded.
◊◊◊
Dave and I talked for another ten minutes about everything Bob had shared with me. Some things we couldn’t fix in the short time we had, but others were more awareness and concentration issues. Those we felt we could help with. At the very least, we could tell the players what was thought of them. You couldn’t fix something if you didn’t know you had a problem.
Once we finished our conversation, Dave and I walked over to see Coach Kingwood.
“Would it be okay if we pulled the team together for a quick meeting?” I asked.
I’m sure he was surprised that it was the two of us asking.
“Just don’t take too long.”
I waved everyone in. Dave started us off.
“I want to apologize if I’ve come off sounding like a jerk, telling everyone that they can’t say certain things. It isn’t meant the way David says I sound when saying it.”
“We know, man. It just gets old after a while,” Daz said.
“I’ll try to do better. If I get to be irritating, just tell me,” Dave said.
Everyone looked at me, and I shrugged. Bob would fill them in.
We then talked about what had been overheard. Dave and I switched off when we talked about each player. They took it well and saw that Dave was trying. I expect that would go a long way toward repairing some of the hard feelings he’d started to cause.
“What about you two? What did the coaches say?” Allard asked.
“They thought I wasn’t being a team player, and that if I kept it up, I wouldn’t make the cut. David’s right. I want to see all of us make it, and I plan to follow his lead,” Dave said.
“What about you, big shot?” Trent asked.
“They said I suck at pitching and should leave it to you guys,” I said to get a laugh. “They also said that ice cream is for winners, and they expect us to be eating ice cream after this game.”
That was a cue to get back to work.
◊◊◊
Tonight’s game was against United. They were the only other team that had won all three of their games so far. Moose told us that their first four batters were all very good and that their right fielder was great at the plate, but a poor fielder. He also said their catcher didn’t have a great arm, so he thought we could steal on him.
Coach Kingwood decided to send in our closer, Kale, to start tonight. Of all the pitchers, he’d thrown the fewest number of innings, so he got the honor. The plan for tonight was to see how far Kale could go without tiring him out too much. Coach Kingwood warned the other pitchers that they might each have to come in for an inning or two. That was a problem all the teams would be having, with so many doubleheaders in back-to-back days.
We were the away team and came up to bat first. Joe, our second baseman and a California kid who went to a tech high school, led us off. Joe’s scouting report said he had a good on-base percentage. A lot of that came from him being patient and having a good eye for drawing walks. He waged an epic battle with United’s pitcher. It took fifteen pitches before he finally got ball four and could take first base. Many innings never saw that many pitches thrown in total.