He sat stunned at his locker. Heart still hammering. He had come in to pitch in relief. Entered a tight game, late. Then it all ended so quickly. So suddenly. Teammates filed by. Stone faced. Offered consoling shoulder grabs. Awkward man-hugs. Whispered support. He’d barely thrown enough pitches to need to ice his arm. But enough to end the game. The texts flooded in. The club’s PR honcho girded for onslaught. She’d already briefed Coop and his wife on what they could expect. For the rest of their lives. This was big. Epic. Historic. What a loss. Devastating. Print media gathered outside, penned in like bulls at Pamplona. Ready to stampede. To trample and gore. The goddamn president was on the line. The usual suspects had already weighed in. Bob Costas. Stephen A. And it went beyond sports. They already had fielded requests from Rogan. And Oprah.
Coop didn’t throw that hard, but his delivery was tricky. Late August cloud cover in the metropolitan area made it an inscrutable sky.
Fans would talk about what they’d seen, well, forever. The finish. Gut wrenching.
Part of pitching, part of sports, was losing. Dealing with loss. But this was extreme. Cruel.
A loss like this hadn’t been seen in 100 years. More. Only once before in the annals of our national pastime. Truly sensational. They always say a trip to the ballpark offers the chance to see something you’ve never seen before.
He ended the game but didn’t lose it. It was a walk-off. Of sorts. Not for everyone.
In 1919, a young man named Ray Chapman dug into the batter’s box. For the last time. Took a deep breath. Also for the last time. Fellow by the name of Carl Mays whipsawed a submarine delivery that found terminus in young Ray’s left temple. They pronounced him so at the hospital, but he was as good as dead. Right there at home plate.
The only on-field fatality in the long history of major league baseball.
Until today.
***
Scott MacLeod is a father of two who writes in Central Florida. His work has appeared recently in various publications, with more forthcoming. His Son of Ugly weekly flash fiction newsletter can be found on Substack at https://scottmacleod1.substack.com, on Instagram @scottmacleod478, on X @ScottMacLe59594, and at http://www.facebook.com/scott.Macleod.334.
