Chapter 11 Chapter Eleven

Saturday evening, after stocking up on milk, bread, soda, and frozen meals at the convenience store in town, I went for a walk in my backyard, Bobby.Compton and his mowing crew had just mowed the sod for me the day before.Sally carefully planted the pink rose bushes along the sides of the deck this past March, which I thought she planted too early, and are now in full bloom.I pluck off a flower, inhale deeply of its faint scent, and carefully slip the prickly stem into my coat pocket.Then I slowly stepped onto the lawn behind the meadow and explored the wild blueberry bushes.The clusters of wild berries were still light green, with occasional tinges of pink.These wild berries had to wait at least two or three weeks before they could be picked, but even when they were ripe, half a berry couldn't possibly get into Sally.Harding’s own pies, muffins, or supersized blueberry scones, I remember her making scones so big they could be held in two hands and still warm until the first bite.Those memories!I'm stuck again.In life, it seems that someone tried their best to teach us how to remember memories better.There are even a bunch of classes and lectures on memory, but I've never heard of a class on forgetting, and I'm sure such seminars will be warmly welcomed by some.Many people who pride themselves on their ability to recall people, dates, and events may be willing to admit that at some point this blessing has become a curse.

Tuesday night, our Angels sent Charles.Barreau started against the Cubs, a fine left-hander who played nearly four perfect innings.When it was the Cubs' turn to attack in the last five innings, we were up 8-1, and the Cubs scored 12 runs in that half.They got seven runs off Charles, and then I changed pitchers, and since Todd was scheduled to pitch Thursday against the Buccaneers, I put in Paul.Taylor relays.Paul also failed to stop the opponent's offensive. He threw three walks as soon as he came up, and then allowed the opponent to knock out two singles and a double.I blame him for his poor performance, because even though the umpire wanted to warm him up much before we sent him to the mound, I didn't insist.In any case, we let a win that could have been obtained fly away.The final score was fifteen to nine, with the Cubs winning.Our taciturn shortstop squad.Rodgers, who led the team in hits in this campaign, hit two doubles and a single, while Todd hit a home run.Since all the Angels now know very well that Timothy is the only one on the team whose hit count is still zero, so when he hit the field in the fifth inning, every ball thrown by the opponent caused pain to all members. At the end of the five innings, the little man returned empty-handed again.

On Thursday, we face Anthony.The Pirates under Piso's team had a great time playing this day.Todd pitched a shutout and we scored fourteen runs from four Pirates pitchers, at least two runs per inning.According to Bill.The records made by West showed that the Angels knocked out 20 hits in this campaign, but the whole team is more concerned about whether Timothy can hit the first hit of the season.When he hit in the fourth inning, the team dugout was like a megaphone with high-fidelity sound, chanting never give up, never give up, Timothy, Timothy, never give up! , Shouting until the referee standing on the home plate finally called a timeout, walked to the team's rest area and asked the players to lower the volume to a level lower than roaring, so that everyone could hear his voice of calling the ball.As the umpire walked back to home plate, the Angels gave a standing ovation and then resumed cheering for Timothy.He did hit one, hit a strong fly along the right-field sideline, went out of bounds, and missed both swings.As he threw the bat into the dugout and ran to the right field position, Bill beckoned me to sit next to him.

What's up?I asked. Look at Timothy.Do you think he's okay? no problem.Why do you ask this? I don't know either.He looked paler than usual, looking as though he was struggling to keep his balance as he ran from the outfield to the dugout at the end of the last inning.I asked him if he didn't feel well, and he just nodded. After the game, after we and the Buccaneers greeted each other behind home plate, I made a point of chatting with Timothy.Timothy, is the new bike chain okay? He nodded eagerly.Not bad.It's like having a brand new bike. Each word in this answer has its own special intonation, and there are long pauses between words, making it difficult to coherently form a single, complete sentence.

How are you? He nodded again.I'm a little tired.My mom had to go to work early today, and I woke up in the morning to the sound of her preparing breakfast. I patted his head gently.Give me a good night's sleep tonight, do you hear me? He nodded, forcing an incomplete smile.Good night, Mr. Harding. Bill's car parked next to mine in the parking lot.He leaned against his car and waited for me with a worried look on his face.John, Timothy, did you ask any results? I shrugged.He said he was tired because his mother woke him up early this morning, but, I don't understand, his voice sounded weird, as if talking under hypnosis.

Bill sighed.John, I think the most amazing thing is that kid can survive on the court to this day.Over the years, I've coached countless kids in Little League, and if they're strikeouts, no progress, or even mediocre performances, they usually give up after a few games and are less likely to go on because of skill or lackluster performance. Poor coordination and end up embarrassing every game.But this kid is different!He comes to play every day, always working so hard, trying his best, he doesn't want the sympathy of others, not only does he not complain about himself when he fails, on the contrary, he is the one who cheers for every teammate the loudest.What a brave little angel.There is so much we can all learn from him.

There is so much we can all learn from him.After I turned out the lights and climbed into bed, Bill's words kept echoing in my head, over and over again. It was a hot and muggy mid-July afternoon, with massive cumulus clouds overhead, as I arrived in the parking lot of a Little League ballpark to prepare for the big Monday night game against Sid.Max led the Yankees.Up to this day, half of the scheduled 12 season games have been played. The record of our Angels is temporarily tied with the Yankees for the first place in the league. Both teams have four wins and two losses. Four losses. Next to Bill's car in the parking lot is a white pickup truck with red lettering on both sides and the back door: New Hampshire's Leading Television Channel Nine WMUR Television New Hampshire Summer State Manchester.I didn't think much of it, until I walked through the gate of the stadium fence and stepped onto the turf of the stadium, and saw two young guys in blue jeans and sweatshirts, frantically installing a TV camera on a tripod, the lens The dugout towards first base, which is the dugout used by the home team for this game, is designated as the off-field area for the away team.There was also a young man in a dark suit, who was already standing behind the camera, looked up and saw me approaching, and said, "Guys, here he is."The timing was just right.

Mr. Harding, he said, holding out his hand, with a smile on his face, I'm Tom.Round, who works for Manchester's Channel Nine as a sports broadcaster.If you don't mind, we'd like to interview you on the eleven o'clock news tonight.This station has obtained the consent of Mr. Rand, the chairman of your alliance, in advance. Why on earth did you even think of interviewing me?There are hundreds of Little League managers in New Hampshire, and if you want to interview the real standout, he's probably already in the dugout across the way, and his name is Sid.Max.Great coach, loved by the kids.

Well, sir, he nodded, there may be hundreds of Little League managers and coaches in this state, but I assure you, none of them are well-known in New Hampshire and the country. Comparable to John.Harding.I'm sure there are very few people in this audience who don't know how you rose to become the General Manager and CEO of Millennium Infinite at such a young age, until later His eyes were on the ground, he finally forced a smile, and said: Now, it's nice to see a well-known American success story lead a small-town Little League baseball team instead of a Fortune 500 big man. Enterprise, man, is such an incredible story.I'm glad the station found you before any other network!

Well, which John do you want to interview now?Harding?It's John, coach of the Angels.Harding is still the same John who once served as the CEO of the majestic Millennium Infinity, and his tenure was extremely short.Where is Harding? Deep lines suddenly appeared on his broad forehead.Uh both are good!he stammered. Sorry, I do not accept interviews. He didn't seem to hear what I said.It won't take long, Mr. Harding.About ten minutes.I just have a few things I want to ask you, questions that the viewers of this station want to hear from you, like how have you been in the past few months since that terrible tragedy?Also, maybe you could talk about the old Little League, right here on this ballpark, when you were a star player, talk about your era, and compare it to what the players are playing today.

Mr. Round, we're going to work hard on getting ready to play.Thank you and your TV station for giving me face, but my answer is no, you and the staff of your TV station may have to move the camera, just move it for me as soon as possible.As you can see, the kids on my team have already arrived at the stadium one after another. Your interviews here will indeed distract them with unnecessary things.Well, if you want to shoot footage of a football game, you are welcome.In the back stands, behind the backstop behind home plate, you can find a handsome old man named George.McCord.He's the game announcer for this league and I'm sure he'll be happy to tell you where the best spots are for the cameras.I hold out my hand.Nice to meet you, Mr. Round. He stared at me incredulously, his mouth parted slightly.You mean, you don't accept access? I pat him on the shoulder.That's right!Now, please move the camera away so the kids can get ready for the game. It was a tough game.Channel Nine's cameras were set up in the stands behind third base as the Angels and Yankees staged a death-defying battle in which the players performed as if their lives were at stake.In the second inning of the game, our side took a two-to-nil lead, Robert.Murphy hit a triple to send Zullo and Nurnberg home for a score, but the Yankees came from behind in the fourth inning and Paul.Taylor's possession went wrong, the Yankees went down four straight and we were down two to four.The Angels fought hard to score a point in the sixth inning, but still swallowed the bitter pill of losing 3-4 in the end.Tank Kimball finally found his ball picking skills, knocking out two singles and a double, and Timothy hit in the fifth inning with the two on base, a chance to be a hero.I found myself praying silently, asking God to let him hit a hit, even a single, as if God had nothing else to worry about but a small-town Little League game.That night, looking back at that earlier moment, I realized that it was the first time I had prayed to God since the funerals of my wife and children. After Timothy missed the first and second pitches, he missed the next two pitches, both of which were higher than his head, and then he stood with his feet in the dirt. Steady, swing, hit the ball.It was just an infield lob going toward the third baseman, but he finally swung the ball in in the game, and our whole team jumped up, just as Timothy hit the first base bag, Before returning to the rest area with a trot, the whole team applauded.He stopped mid-run, took off his hat, waved at the camera behind third base, and sat down in his old seat on the bench.I watched him very carefully.When he came down the steps of the rest area, his steps seemed to be shaky and he seemed to be panting.Then, when he walked to the bench and was about to sit down, he stretched out his hands towards the bench first, and then lowered his body to lean on it. We got back to good form Wednesday night against the underwhelming Cubs.The hitting lineup on the team should say that every hitter except Timothy managed to knock out at least one hit, and three of them hit full points, three hits for three!Todd tried several new pitches, including a butterfly pitch that his brother used at his middle school baseball game, and it worked so well that I'm sure he would have thrown Another shutout win.Timothy had some good transition passes, but missed four pitches as a hitter.However, he also finally made his first successful catch of the season.It hits well, goes to his right, and he catches it with his new glove up like any major league player.Of course, the success of the kill once again made the Angels cheer in unison, regardless of the players on the field or in the rest area, and Timothy was able to take off his hat again.This kid is so handsome!When he walked into the rest area, he shouted: Day after day, on every level, I am really improving! Now, with only four games left in the season, the Yankees lead with six wins and two losses, and our Angels are second with five wins and three losses.Since the two teams with the best record will play a game at the end of the season for the conference championship, I would be very satisfied if the season is over.Yet we still have four ball games to go, with the 3-5 Buccaneers and the 2-6 Cubs both likely to catch up.We cannot relax yet. As for Timothy.Noble, who has yet to hit base this season, has no games to play.