Saturday was finally here. This ball game was gone to be special. It was the Yankees against the Red Sox and it was the final game of the playoffs. The beer was being iced, the pizza ordered, and I had taken the phone off the hook so not to be disturbed.
I was pumped. My mom was picking up the pizza when she went out and would deliver it later. She wasn't going out just to pick up the pizza, she would have if I had asked, but she was going shopping and it was on her way. She had insisted it was the least she could do and she wanted to visit for a minute. I got the peanuts out, the chips, and I grabbed a beer. Since this game was special I even bought the good amber colored beer in the bottle instead of the piss they serve in the cans. I did not have to go out again till the game was over. This was going to be my time.
The first inning was not very exciting and after it was over, the score was still 0, 0. At the top of the second, the Red Sox's got a hit and eventually got a man on base before the Yankee's retired the side. The Yankees were batting when I heard a knock on the door signaling Mom's arrival with the pizza. Mom wasn't very tall and stood only 5'6" in her stocking feet. She was relatively average in weight, a brunette, but she was pretty by my standards, but definitely not a supermodel by any means.
"Hey Mom, thanks for delivering the pizza, want to stay and have a slice?"
"No, I really need to go shopping. So how is the game?" She asked as she surveyed the room eyeing my big screen TV that took up a lot of wall space in my meek apartment.
"The game is still 0, 0, but the Yankees will soon show the Red Sox what they are made of. You got a favorite team?"
"Well I do not follow baseball to much, but I think I like the Red Sox. Aren't they that team from Atlanta?"
"No Mom, gees, women and sports. The Red Sox are from Boston and the Braves are from Atlanta. You know, Georgia, that state below South Carolina."
"Don't make fun of your mother when she is delivering your dinner. O.K. OK, so I don't know where the team is from and what is wrong with women and sports?"
"Nothing Mom, I just thought you were more knowledgeable in the sport. Want a beer?"
"I shouldn't, not now. I do not need to drink and drive. I can't afford to get a DUI."
"Mom, you're not going to get a DUI from one beer, well I am going to have a slice of pizza before it gets cold, sure you don't want some? Why don't you sit down and have some, I can't eat the entire thing by myself."
"I can stay only for a minute as she settled on the couch directly in front of the TV. So where are your friends?"
"Bob and Pete both called today to tell me they could not make it, and Margie didn't want to come. So it is just me, and you, if you stay."
"How are things going with Margie? I know you haven't been seeing much of her lately."
"I don't know, she is on again, off again. Maybe I am not handling her right, or maybe she has another boyfriend she is seeing when she isn't with me. Sometimes I just don't understand her."
"Mmmm, I am sorry. Maybe we ought to talk about this. I mean I am a woman and I can possibly give you some insight. On second thought," like she just realized she was hungry, "I think I will have a piece of pizza."
She got up and grabbed a slice and put it on one of the paper plates I had on the counter. "Want something to wash it down with Mom, a soda, water, or beer?"
"How about I split a beer with you ok? I really don't need a full one."
"Sure Mom" I poured her some from my bottle into a glass I had brought over to use that was on the coffee table. As we took our first tastes of the pizza, we sat almost in silence as our eyes both wandered to the TV and watched the game.
"So Mark, when was the last time you and Margie went out?"
"Ahhhh, lets see, a couple of weekends ago, we went to a movie."
"Did she spend the night?"
"Mom, that's personal, but if you must know, no. I wanted her too, but she left right after the movie."
"Well honey, maybe you will need to find another woman, I really don't know at this point. So why is that guy walking to the base? He didn't hit the ball, and can't they throw him out, or tag him?"
"Mom, it is called a "Walk" and that is because that Red Sox pitcher doesn't pitch so well. He threw the Yankee batter 4 pitches that were outside of the strike zone. So the batter can walk down to the base, and it counts as if he had hit the ball."
"I think that pitcher is doing just fine, look at that number 93MPH, and he is sure is cute."
"Mom, it may be fast, but it is not accurate, and that is what counts. Cute does not make him a good pitcher."
"Well I bet you the next one he throws will be accurate. It will be a strike,"
"Ok, when the next batter gets up if he throws a strike I owe you, I do not know what I will owe you, but you win. OK?" I said boldly.