Another big thank you to Blackrandl1958 for her editing and patience.
"Stee-rike three!" Umpire Billy Golden cried out in his booming baritone to end the top half of the third inning at tiny Admiral Fetterman Field in Pensacola, FL, home of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos, Double A affiliate of the Miami Marlins.
By orders from above, Scout Sam Kasper was in his usual seat at "The Admiral" to check on the progress of the Marlins' No. 1 draft pick of two years ago, Davie "Golden Eagle" Boyd. This was the second trip the scout had made to Pensacola this season. Seems the big club was hoping that last year's bonus baby would be up to "The Show" by September, and they trusted the opinion of no one more than Kasper, who had been scouting for them for 18 years.
Boyd, hitting a solid.286 with 12 homers and 36 runs batted in through the middle part of June, was so far justifying the $1.75 million bonus the Marlins had paid him when they signed him last year, Kasper thought. The 6-4, 240-pound 24-year-old could hit for average, hit for power, field his first base position and run like the wind, Kasper thought, making him perhaps one notch down from the potential of the Angel's Mike Trout, who most people acknowledged as the game's greatest player.
Boyd oozed confidence as he swaggered up to the plate as the third batter of the inning for Pensacola. His long, wavy blond hair trailed out from underneath his batting helmet; his large biceps and triceps filled the short sleeves of his uniform.
Virtually all of the women in the tiny ballpark sat up straighter and paid more attention to the batter. Home attendance was up this year, particularly among women.
Kasper had his pad and pen out to record the at-bat and his observation of it. He might have been the only man in the ballpark to be paying more attention to the batter than the women.
With the bases empty and one out, Boyd ran the count full, then took a 96 mile-per-hour fastball over the wall in left field. The ballpark erupted in cheering. Kasper was scribbling furiously while grinning from ear-to-ear. It was on his recommendation that the Marlins made Boyd their top pick.
Boyd added a run-scoring single later in the game as the Blue Wahoos won 4-2. Kasper wrote some more notes in his pad and then headed for the Wahoos' locker room to talk with Boyd and the Wahoos' manager.
Alyssa Graber and Traci Strickland were sitting in a corner table at La Scala, an upscale restaurant, each eating a piece of cheesecake and drinking a shot of Galliano. The two 30-somethings were well-dressed and seemed to fit in well with their surroundings.
Davie Boyd and Arturo Gonzalez were completely out of place the minute they walked in. They had gone to the restaurant to celebrate that afternoon's victory, and were shown to a table in the middle of the restaurant.
"Ooh, I'll take that blond specimen over there," Traci said, indicating Davie.
Alyssa followed Traci's eyes to the pair of ballplayers.
"Oh, please. The two of them probably haven't read a book between them since 'Sally, Dick and Jane'. Ten bucks says they both order burgers," Alyssa said.
"Deal. You know them?" Traci asked.
"I only know that they're two members of the local baseball team. Your fantasy boy there is their bonus baby. Got a big deal to sign."
"Hmmm. Good looking and rich. That's always a nice combination," Traci said, a slow smile spreading across her face as the pair of athletes looked over at the women.
"Doesn't it bother you that they are probably young enough to be... our kid brothers?" Alyssa asked.
"I don't want to buy one, just rent one for a while," Traci said as she flashed her perfect white teeth in the direction of the players.
"Would you look at that?" Davie gushed to Arturo. "A pair of MILFs just waiting for some company."
Davie, as the player with the big contract and the bonus, was buying as he usually did when he went out with his teammates. He called the waitress over and asked her to take two more drinks to the women at the corner table.
"You do know that both of those women are married, and the one with the shorter hair is the wife of Mayor Richard Strickland?" questioned the waitress.
"That's okay," Davie answered. "I just want to buy them a drink, not rent one for the evening."
The waitress smiled and did as she was asked. The players watched the waitress deliver the drinks, then tipped their own drinks at the women. The women tipped their drinks back.
The players ate their burgers while watching the women talk.
"Damn boy, aren't you already fucking that cute little blonde thing?" Arturo asked.
"What's your point, Artie? We're fuckbuddies, not married. Besides, there's nothing better than married pussy. I'm teaching Blondie how to fuck, but I'd bet those MILFs could teach
us
how to fuck. They've been fucking for years, and my experience says that right about now they could use some strange."
"I didn't realize you had a degree in MILFs. My hat is off to you, Professor."
Both ballplayers chuckled.
Alyssa was the wife of a banker. She was 36, with long blonde hair, a pretty face with blue eyes and a curvy body. Her partner at the table was 35, with shoulder-length dark brown hair, small boobs but a round bubble butt under her slightly too-tight, slightly too-short skirt. The mayor's wife knew she still had what it took to get a man's attention, and wasn't as shy about showing it off as the mayor would have liked her to be.
"By the way, you owe me $10," Alyssa noted.
The players finished their burgers before leaving to approach the women's table.
"Would you two like some company for a while?" Davie asked.
"Who do you have in mind for us?" Traci sassed.
Davie only missed a short beat with the response. He was a skilled pro at back and forth with women, and recognized Traci's response as the first salvo. He decided Arturo could have the quieter one.
"Well, since you're the one with the saucy tongue, I was thinking of myself. Arturo here is more of a gentleman. I think he would be good company for your friend. By the way, I'm Davie. Arturo and I play for the Blue Wahoos, the Double A baseball team in town."
"I'm Traci and my friend is Alyssa. I guess we can do some intelligent conversation for a while, if you can manage that. Arturo looks like he can handle that... maybe he can cover for both of you."
"Wow. Ouch," Davie said.
The four enjoyed each other's company for a second drink and about two hours. Before they split up, Davie asked for and got Traci's phone number.
"Did you really just give him your number?" Alyssa asked incredulously. "You do remember you are a married woman?"
"A little flirting, maybe a little more, won't hurt anybody. I can tell he's a player. I'm just going to play along with him a little," Traci laughed.
"As long as you know what you're doing," Alyssa commented.
Heading off in the other direction, Arturo asked Davie, "You tossing Blondie to the curb?"