The first few weeks I spent in a delirious fog, being back in the Dam was truly a dream come true. With all the craziness I experienced in Spain, I still had some great times there and will always treasure it, but nothing has ever compared to Amsterdam and now I had a second chance in the paradise city. I saw the coach at one of the baseball games and he told me that Jap was in town and was looking to find me to settle the score. I felt a bit uneasy about this as I had told him at one point the place I used to work and hang out. I would have to be on guard while at work or the Nes, but unless he brought friends ( which I’m sure he had very few of ), he would get more of the same that he got in Spain. With the other side that I feared retribution from, there was better news. I ran into Eric one day and we talked for a while about the things that went down in Spain. He agreed that they had gone to far in how they treated me and that there would be no hard feelings on their part. This was good to hear but I told him I still wanted nothing to do with Duke or his bitch of a girlfriend and that I would not be frequenting the places they went. He understood and we parted with a handshake and that was that. Work was going good and I was getting plenty of hours, but the home front was noticeably tense. The siblings were stuck up squares and did not like an older pot smoking hippie living with them. They were cordial at best and sometimes downright rude, I even think the brother sabotaged my computer one day while I was out, but I had no way to prove it just a broken computer when I returned. After about 6 weeks Etienne comes to me at work and says we have to talk. This didn’t sound good but as I had done nothing wrong, I was not too worried. He told me that the siblings had been complaining about me and wanted me out. I thought the next thing he would say was that they would be the ones leaving but he blindsided me by saying that I would be the one moving out. He told me that I could live in a room at the pool hall. It was a former toilet turned into a makeshift room and at first I felt betrayed. After all when I first returned he had told me that if things didn’t work out with the siblings then they would have to leave, but now I was being made to leave and asked to live in a toilet. Obviously I accepted without any argument, it would have only gotten Etienne mad at me and I didn’t want that so the next day I moved into my very own private toilet.
After a few months and no sign on Jap, I started to feel I may never see him again. Either he was too stupid to look in the places that I had told him about or he really didn’t want to find me for fear of getting more of what he got in Spain. Whatever the reason, I was no longer looking over my shoulder for him to appear. Life started to roll along nicely, I paid off all my debts by December and was starting to really enjoy my room at work. Even though it was once a toilet, it was now a cool room to have as my own. It had a toilet, shower, closet. couch, bed and refrigerator. The club had a full kitchen downstairs that I had full use of, but the chef was a mean prick that didn’t want anyone in his kitchen so dealing with him was a challenge. Having my very own toilet and shower was awesome and the first time in years. Etienne, seeing that my futile attempts to fix my computer were having no results, gave me a computer to use and I had all that I needed in my little room. With the winter coming, it would be nice to live in the same place where I worked, I might not have to leave the building until spring! I was playing on the pool team I had been on before I had left and we were about halfway through the season when it all fell apart. I had long been a critic of the dress code that we had to play by, which was black pants, black shoes and socks, and a team polo shirt. We were not in the top league and it was just silly to have to adhere to a dress code when the only people there were the teams and maybe a girlfriend or two. One day when we were beating the crap out of a team, we see them taking pictures of us and we ask what the deal is? They tell us that they are going to protest the match because my black pants have pockets on the sides and that is not allowed in the dress code. We were in shock and just laughed at them thinking that nothing could possibly come from something as insignificant as that, but when the standings came out the following week instead of a 6-1 victory for us, we see that we had lost 7-0. The league had sided with the other team and decided that having pockets on the side of your pants was a grave infraction and warranted a complete forfeit. I was livid and told the captain that I was through playing in a league with people who wanted to win that way and even more with people who would let them. The ironic thing is that with all the commotion our quitting caused, they scrapped the dress code the following year.
With spring came a new baseball season and with it a new chance to do the one thing in baseball that I had never done…win a championship. The team had come close the year before but fell short at the final hurdle, hopefully I would be able to contribute that extra push to get us there this year. We started the season strong winning our first 5 games, and by mid-season it was looking like a three-way race to the end. We knocked one of the teams out of contention with only 2 games left and now it was between just 2 of us. We had a let down in our second to last game and ended up tying with one of the bottom teams, the league we played in was 2 hour games and if it was tied after that then that was it. What this meant is that instead of giving us a guaranteed share of first, we would now have to win our final game to win the league, if we lost then we would end up half a game back. This was not something we were going to accept and when the final day came, we were all ready for a battle. The game was against one of our toughest rivals, they were only mid-table this year, but had given the team many great games through the years and today would be no different. Our top guy Weeds had an amazing season on the mound and he was ready to go with fire in his eyes. unfortunately the other team had their ace going and he was equally as fired up as Weeds. These guys could not win anything today, but if they could keep us from doing so, then there season would be a success. The game was a pitchers duel with each of them mowing down batters left and right. After 7 innings we were ahead 2-1 and started to get that giddy feeling when out of nowhere the opponents scored 2 runs to put them in the lead. When we batted in the bottom, we were noticeably tense but came right back and put up two of our own to take the lead back. Now all we had to do was hold them for 3 more outs and we would be champs. The first batter hit a dribbler down to me at first and I easily put him out. The second batter singled to center, putting the tying run at first. The next batter hit a grounder to the gap between 3rd and shortstop and our third baseman Ralphie scooped it up and took the only play he had and threw out the runner at first. This put the tying run at second with 2 outs. On the first pitch to the following batter, Weeds threw a wild pitch which advanced the tying run to 3rd. The tension was very thick when the batter hits a rocket that looks like it will go up the middle for a base hit when out of nowhere our short-stop Frank comes diving into the picture and somehow comes up with the ball. He them jumps to his feet and fires it over to me, but he had no balance and the ball is heading into the dirt. I know that this will be the play that decided the game and I draw on every bit of talent I had and reach into the dirt to scoop it out. The joy was instant when my glove comes up and the ball is snuggled deep within and the umpire yells ‘out’. The team erupts like we had just won the championship of the universe and at that moment it felt like we had. It was one of the greatest joys I had ever felt playing any sport and to do it with such a great group of guys made it that much more special. I had now done all that I had ever wanted in baseball and it only took until I was in my mid forties to do it… good thing I kept at it. Like so many times before, life was once again grand.
A Continuing Story About Life On The Run