part 4

finally i found myself on the mound, in control. i looked at the ball for a moment and realized i held more than a baseball in my hand. i held the destiny of this game, perhaps even my career as a pitcher, in the palm of my hand. for the moment, i held fate in my control. the catcher gave me the signal for a fastball. "no." i thought, "boring." i shook my head. curveball. "no." i thought, "still boring." i shook my head again. the catcher dropped both of his hands in confusion and just looked at me. i stared back with determination. there was only one way this scene would work, and a fastball and a curveball were not the way. i needed to be a hero. i decided right then and there to go for the gusto. i would shake off every sign the catcher gave me until he gave me the craziest pitch i knew how to throw. it was some kind of sidearm/slider thing that i had some limited success with in practice before and one of the coaches commenting on how great of a pitch that was. however, by the time i had shaken my head four or five times i heard the coaches yelling at me from the dugout, "what are you doing?!", "just throw the ball!!"