Major League Advice

"Mr. Beckett? Do you have a minute, sir?"

The minor league manager had been staring out the window for a good ten minutes, and his players had all noticed. So had the two assistant coaches. One of them mentioned it to the other and suggested they go see what was wrong.

"Nope. Not goin' in there," his fellow assistant said. "He'll work it out."

"I hope so. Whatever it is is effecting the team, so he needs to pull out of it ASAP."

AJ Reddy, with the initials standing for Anson James, was 25 and the starting centerfielder for the Springfield Cardinals, a Double-A (often 'AA'), minor league baseball team located in Springfield, Missouri, a city of around 165,000 people.

He'd been there for three years having arrived right out of college. He'd been good enough to skip the lower levels of the minor league system and made the starting lineup his first year. The smart money was on him moving up to Triple-A in a year or two, but that hadn't happened. And with the end of that third year just six weeks away, it was obvious it wasn't going to happen before the end of the season.

In fact, when he was honest with himself, AJ knew it wasn't ever going to happen. And that meant his lifelong dream of playing major league baseball, wouldn't either.

That was the bad news. The good news was he had a college degree. The other bad news was the degree was in psychology, and there weren't a lot of jobs for people with a BA in that major.

"Yeah, sure. Come in, AJ," the manager said.

Sam Beckett was 43 years old, and he'd also been toiling away in the minors both as a player for several years and now as a manager for eight long years. He, too, had played AA ball, but unlike AJ, he got a shot at AAA and spent two years with the Tacoma Rainiers out in Washington State. But thanks to an ACL tear in his left knee, his dream had died, too. And now he was wondering if there was any hope he'd ever move beyond AA ball, but that wasn't what was eating at him. At least not everything that was eating at him.

"Mind if I close the door?" AJ asked after all the other players were gone.

"It's your call," the older man said.

The outfielder shut it then asked if he could sit down.

"Help yourself," Beckett said, nodding to the chair.

"Sir? At the risk or incurring your wrath, it's pretty obvious something's bothering you. I know I'm just a 25-year old kid to you, but if you feel like talking, I'm not a bad listener."

His manager smiled then said, "Right. Doctor Reddy. That's what the other guys call you, isn't it?"

"Yes, sir. That's right. I mean it's right in the sense that's what they say. I'm obviously no doctor, though."

"Well, Doc, I'm at the point where I'm ready to listen to just about anyone."

The older man smiled then said, "Even a 25-year old kid."

AJ smiled back then said, "Would it have anything to do with feeling trapped at the AA level and thinking that might be some kind of life sentence?"

The manager laughed then told him, "No. I've pretty much made my peace with that. Sure, I still hope I'll get a shot at coaching AAA one day, but after this many years, it seems pretty unlikely."

"Again, it's none of my business, but you know I don't talk outta school, so if there's something else and if you feel like talking about it..."

The manager looked right at him and realized that was true. AJ Reddy was a talented ball player and also one of the most unusual young kids he'd ever met. Intellectually speaking, Reddy was quite possibly the smartest young man he'd ever coached. He was a good ball player with sound fundamentals, but Beckett knew the first year he'd never play major league ball. He was probably good enough to play AAA, but not good enough to produce any real numbers even at that level, and that's what the game was all about.

Like most men, Beckett had no idea which other men were considered handsome because he didn't look at men that way. But he'd heard enough times from women, like his wife, Laura, that AJ was a real 'hottie' to know it must be true. And above all else, he knew AJ's word was his bond.

So while Sam Beckett was pretty sure AJ would never get the call, either, he was more like the younger brother he'd never had although he'd never tell the kid that. Shoot, he was nearly young enough to be his son. And the thought of kids brought him back to reality and why he'd been so despondent lately.

"You know Laura, right?" Beckett said without any further prompting.

"Of course. We all do. You have the team over the first day of Spring training every year," AJ said in regard to Beckett's still very attractive wife.

"Well, I uh, I moved out a couple of days ago."

"Wow. I'm sorry to hear that," AJ told him sincerely.

"Thanks. Anyway, she just turned 40, and she's been wantin' a kid for as long as I can remember. I always assumed I'd be moving up, and that I'd always be on the road, you know, so I kept telling her 'later'. As it turns out, 'later' means now...or never."

"Mind if I ask where you're staying?"

"My little sister just moved here maybe three weeks ago. Nice girl. She lost her husband a couple of years ago and moved back in with our folks. But if you knew our parents, you'd understand why that can't be a longterm solution."

Beckett smiled as though AJ understood. He didn't, but he smiled back anyway.

"So now I'm wrestling with the thought of becoming a father at 43. Hell, I'll be 44 by the time she had it if we were to, you know, start working on that right away."

AJ knew to tread lightly, but he felt like his advice was being sought, so he gave it his best shot.

"I'm no psychologist, sir. I'm also not a marriage counselor. Hell, I'm not even married so you're getting free advice."

AJ paused for effect then said with a smile, "And you get what you pay for."

One of the assistant couches peeked through the small window in the door and the manager gruffly waved him off.

"Go ahead. It can't be worse than this feeling of paralysis. I swear, I have no idea what to do."

"All right. Here goes."

AJ sat up, cleared his throat then said, "I know you still love your wife."

"Hell yeah," Beckett said immediately.

"And I know you know marriage is a partnership and all partnerships require give and take. Nobody gets everything they want while each person is supposed to get some of what they need."

Beckett looked away because AJ had already drilled down to the heart of the matter, and the older man didn't really want to hear it said out loud. But AJ said it anyway.

"For all the years you've been married, Laura's put her dreams on hold for you so you could follow yours. Now I have no way of knowing if you even want kids, but clearly she does. And based on what you've told me this isn't some new thing she just sprang on you."

Well aware of who he was talking to, AJ paused again to give his boss the opportunity to shut him up. When he didn't he finished his thought.

"Everyone's heard the term 'biological clock'. Women are the ones who seem to use the term, and it only makes sense, because unlike men who can um...sire a child at any age...they lose the ability to have children somewhere after the age of 40. Sure, there are exceptions with women having a kid in their sixties, but that's not the point. So it seems to me that Laura's biological clock is likely going off like a jackhammer in her head, and that's making her feel desperate. And since she still loves you, you're the only game in town, so to speak, to make having a baby possible, and that means the desperation is being pushed your way in the form of an ultimatum."

Beckett let out a long sigh then said, "I know. I know. And as much as I hate to admit it, you're right."

He looked right at AJ then said, "Not that you're right. Admitting that is easy. It's the consequence of your being right that's causing me so much grief."

"To use another sports metaphor, it appears the ball's in your court, sir."

Sam Beckett drew a deep breath then exhaled loudly.

"I just don't need this right now, you know?" Beckett said as he looked away.

"Okay, but how much longer can Laura wait until you think the time is right?" AJ asked as carefully as he could.

The assistant coach came back, and this time he knocked on the door.

"Unless you need something else, sir, I'm done," AJ said as he stood up.

"Nah. That's enough for now," Beckett said in a way that let it sound like he'd called the kid in for a pep talk.

"Well, um...thank you, sir," AJ said as he side-stepped the pitching coach.

The Cardinals schedule showed two away games then back to Springfield for a three-game home stand which meant five days in town. They split the away games winning the first and losing the second then returned home and won the first of three.

After that first game which was on a Sunday morning, Beckett asked AJ to step into his office.

"Listen. I uh, I talked with the wife when we got back in town yesterday and kinda told her what you said."

The young centerfielder didn't speak, he just stood there and listened.

"Anyway, she agreed to come over to Elise's place tonight for dinner and..."

"Elise?"

"Sorry. My baby sister. The one that moved here recently."

"I assumed so, but you've reminded me several times what assume makes of 'u' and 'me'," AJ said as tactfully as he could.

Beckett smiled then continued.

"Laura liked what I told her. Which was what you told me. And she agreed to have dinner with me but only if you'd agree to show up. So I was wondering if maybe you'd..."

"Sure. What time and where?" AJ said before Beckett could finish.

The manager grinned, and AJ couldn't remember the last time he'd seen his manager smile like that. He smiled fairly often but not like that.

Beckett grabbed a yellow sticky then jotted down the address and handed it to AJ.

"Six o'clock. I suggested a barbecue, but Laura said she wanted a sit-down meal, so we'll be staying inside."

"Got it. I'll see you then."

AJ turned to leave when Beckett said, "Kid?"

He turned back around and waited.

"Thanks. Seriously. Thank you."

"I just hope this works."

Unlike their major league counterparts, minor league players made very little money. The top players in AAA ball made less than $2,500 a month along with a per diem for meals. Guys like AJ made less than two grand, and only during the months they were playing, and usually got a sack lunch on the bus ride to whatever town they were playing. Everything else they paid for themselves.

Because the money was so bad, most minor leaguers had full-time jobs during the offseason and some had part-time work during the season. A couple of his teammates were married and one of them had a kid, and money was always an issue and put a lot of strain on them.

AJ felt pretty sure he could find a decent job when the time came to hang up his spikes, but so far, he'd spent the off season back home in the Seattle area with his parents. He worked full time but didn't have the expenses of room and board even though he regularly offered to pay. His parents were unbelievably proud of their only child and would have no part in taking his money.

He was sensitive about being 'one of those kids' people talked about who still lived at home in their parents' basement, but until he had a real job, this was a practical necessity. He had his own room, so there wasn't a basement involved, but it was the same room he'd lived in growing up, and that was still a sore spot with him.

The truth was he really liked Springfield. The cost of living was phenomenally high all around the Seattle area and the traffic was insane. If he could say...teach high school...in a town like this, that'd provide enough income to let him get his own place, and maybe, one of these days, settle down and start a family of his own.

He'd done a ton of dating in college which was mostly hooking up, and while he was only 25, he was getting pretty sick and tired of living with a roommate during the baseball season and staying at his mom and dad's during the rest of the year. Teaching wasn't his first choice, but he had a college degree, so it was at least a possibility.

"So where you goin'?" his roommate, the team's second baseman and all-around jokester, asked when AJ came out wearing a decent pair of jeans and an actual shirt with buttons on it."

There was no chance he'd betray the manager's confidence, but he also wouldn't lie to his roommate. He would, however, say less than the whole truth and hope there wouldn't be any follow-on questions.

"Oh, um...Beckett's got a younger sister who just moved to town, and his wife asked him to find someone to drag along to have dinner at her place."

"And you drew the short straw? Sucks to be you, dude. I mean, if she looks anything like Beckett, you better take two bags with you."

AJ had heard the 'two bag' joke so many times it was way beyond not funny. But he laughed anyway then said, "Yeah, good idea."

As he started to leave his roommate said, "Hey, wait. Beckett's like a million years old, so even a younger sister's gotta be like...old. Really old."

"Yeah, well, just count your blessings, bro. You could be the lucky stiff having dinner with her."

"Oh, no. Hell no!" the 23-year old said. "Uh-uh. Ain't happening. Anything over 19 and homey ain't hittin' that. You know what I'm sayin'?"

AJ laughed politely, told him did, then headed out.

As he drove his rapidly-aging-but-still-reliable 2014 Nissan Altima to the address Beckett had provided, AJ found himself hoping this would be a quick meet and greet followed by a short dinner, and find him back in his room before 9pm.

When he thought about his roommate's comment with regard to Beckett's age and the age of his sister, all he could do was hope she was at least a nice person. He had no expectations she'd be 'hot' or even attractive. But she was his boss's sister, and he really did like Laura Beckett, so it was the least he could do especially considering this wasn't a even a fix up let alone a date.

He checked the address again just to be sure when he pulled up to the curb and knew he was at the right place. Seeing the 'Beckett-mobile' was all the confirmation he really needed to be sure, and it was already in the driveway. What wasn't there was the car Laura drove, so now AJ was concerned she might not show up at all, leaving him with hope he might be able to turn around and go home.

"It's just a couple of hours of one night," AJ told himself as he walked up the driveway.

He went to ring the doorbell when Laura opened the door, startling him.

"AJ! It's so good to see you!" she said, hugging him before he could even say 'hello'.

"Laura. It's great to see you, too," he told her when she released him.

"Come in. Come in. I want to introduce you to Sam's sister," she said in perky, upbeat voice.

He started following her inside when she stopped then said, "I can't thank you enough for talking to Sam. He's...he's been so different. And in a really good way."

She turned to face him again then smiled.

"He came over after the game and we talked for a couple of hours. And I mean we really talked. I actually feel hopeful, AJ, and I can't help but think this change is due to you."

AJ only wanted to tell her he hadn't told her husband anything new, but before he could say a word, she threw her arms around him again and told him 'thank you' one more time.

"There he is!" Sam boomed just as his wife was letting go.

He stuck out his hand for AJ to shake.

"Good evening, sir," the younger man said as they shook.

"Come on in. I want to introduce you to someone."

Laura didn't mention she was planning on doing that, and more importantly, it didn't seem to matter. Evidently, she and her husband had had a very productive talk of some kind, and whatever animosity had come between them was gone.

AJ didn't say anything again. He just followed his manager into the kitchen and steeled himself for a middle-aged woman who was twice his size. To say he was surprised when he walked in and saw her would be the understatement of the year.

"AJ? This is my little sister, Elise. Elise? This is my centerfielder, AJ Reddy."

She smiled and said something, but AJ didn't hear a word. The woman standing in front of him was clearly older than he was, but she looked a lot closer to his age than her brother's.

He started at the top and scanned his way down quickly taking in the details he was still struggling to make sense of. The first was—Elise wasn't overweight. At all. In fact, she had an amazing body he made sure not to look at too long.

Then there was her hair. Hair that was nearly black. Not just dark like coffee, but more...raven colored. It was pulled back in a ponytail, but it was obviously soft and beautiful, and although he couldn't be sure, it looked to be at least shoulder length. Her face was a classic heart shape on which either long or short hair looked beautiful, just one more positive feature on this very attractive woman.

Hair that black almost demanded either brown or blue eyes, but hers were green. Not hazel but green. Bright emerald green eyes that caught his eye. Only 2% of the world's population had green eyes, and it was by far the rarest color.

Elise smiled at him revealing two rows of perfectly straight, very white teeth. Having worn braces as a kid, AJ couldn't help but think her teeth were as perfect as his thanks to a very talented orthodontist somewhere along the way. Regardless, her smile was amazing and framed by two very soft, full lips.

"Cat got your tongue?" his manager asked.

AJ shook his head slightly then realized what was going on.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Elise," he finally said.

"You, too, AJ. Sam hasn't stopped talking about you," she told him. "Or Laura."

"Don't believe a word she says, kid," Beckett told him. His words said one thing, but the smile on his face told him something else.

"I don't know, sir. I'm pretty good at assessing people early on, and I'd say your sister seems pretty honest," he replied to his manager while looking at Elise who was smiling back.

"Sam tells me you're the team psychiatrist," Elise said, still smiling brightly.

"Now that one is easy," AJ said with a laugh. "I'm no one's psychiatrist."

"No, but damn near everyone on the team comes to him with their problems," Sam said. "And sometimes even older guys who aren't on the team."

He, too, was smiling, and AJ was now very interested in finding out what had changed so quickly between him and his wife.

"So what you're saying is AJ's the male version of Evan Rachel Wood in the movie Little Secrets," Elise suggested causing all three other heads to turn her way.

"Oh...well, it would appear I'm the only one who's seen it. She's a preteen girl in the movie who...never mind."

Everyone laughed before Laura said, "I don't know about AJ being a male version of someone, but he very well could be a male model."

AJ expected Sam to stop smiling immediately and possibly make some kind of nasty remark. Instead he just kept on smiling.

"I won't argue with that," Elise said to her sister without taking her eyes off the tall, handsome baseball player.

AJ was an even six feet and weighed a solid 185. Like most baseball players, he was in the weight room three days a week. Long gone were the days when only football players lifted weights. Now, virtually all athletes from swimmers to bicyclists did some kind of resistance training. AJ's home run and RBI totals weren't great, but without the extra muscle he'd likely never have even been drafted.

Like Elise, he had very dark hair, it just wasn't black. Elise's eyes were a deep green while AJ's were a bright blue. Both of them had perfect smiles and the kind of lips that were considered very kissable. So while AJ might not agree with the male model comment, he was well aware he was considered a good looking guy.