Chapter 12 Chapter Twelve

Most cities and towns in New England celebrate the National Day with fireworks that are as grand as they can afford, and most of the venues are large and spacious sports fields.Not so in Brantown.Of course, most of the townspeople will drive to Concord, the capital of the state not far from the town, to enjoy the Fourth of July fireworks.The records of the town's public square show that the first person to settle in Bolan Town, Isaac.Thomas.Bran, who arrived here on July 17, 1735, was surrounded by hostile animals and natives, so most of the townspeople always gather on this day in the grandstands and PARKING LOT.After dark, rocket-style large-scale fireworks, Roman-style pyrotechnic tubes, and sky cannons of various colors were all launched to high altitudes in the outfield and exploded. Clap again.

Since July 17th is a Monday, the games that were originally scheduled to be played from Monday to Thursday were all held one day in advance, and our game against the Pirates fell on Tuesday night.On Monday afternoon, Bill called and asked me if I wanted to go see the fireworks with him and Eddie.I thanked him but declined the invitation.I ate some smoked beef on rye bread with a glass of skimmed milk for dinner, and when I was done, I went out onto the deck outside, nestled in my favorite recliner, and just as I was about to doze off, the first shot rose into the sky. The cannon exploded in the air, almost directly above the roof.Startled, I looked up and saw a large number of colorful sparks falling slowly from the vortex formed by a tube of white smoke in time.I sat up and watched the brightly colored rockets and shiny fireballs soar upward, one after the other, high into the air in an upward arc that started at the course about half a mile away, towering above me. The pines and oaks shaded it.

After a few minutes, the sight became too overwhelming for me to watch.Rick was fascinated by fireworks when he was almost a baby.From when we lived in Santa Clara when he was three years old and then moved to Denver for two years, every Fourth of July Sally and I would take him to see Fire! .I remember holding him on my lap for the first two years.As he kept jumping up and down, the fireworks rose higher and higher, his big blue eyes were wide open, and even his forehead was wrinkled, and he stretched out his left and right hands to the sky as he watched. His index finger screamed his admiration for the colorful stars and glowing magnesium fireballs that exploded from each soaring rocket, and the summer air was filled with the smell of sulfur and burning charcoal.

I watched the sparks in the sky of Bolan Town celebrating the National Day for maybe 20 minutes.It was probably the longest twenty minutes of my life.Then I went inside, climbed into bed, and hoped I'd never wake up. After each game, the kids on the team became more and more excited. Even though Bill and I kept reminding the players that the Angels hadn't got anything yet, the topic of our championship game with the Yankees had already popped up.Team morale seemed higher than usual at batting practice on Tuesday night, and the kids cheered for Timothy as he arrived at the field in a brand new pair of white Nike baseball shoes with black and red studs.As soon as he saw me he ran up to me and said, "Look at my new shoes, Mr. Harding."

Looks pretty good!How do you feel about wearing it? He nodded eagerly.great.This morning, Dr. Mason took me to Concord and bought me these shoes.To hit the ball well, he said, wearing my old sneakers wasn't going to help. After he finished speaking, he turned and ran towards the outfield, his arms swung enthusiastically, his legs stretched out and his toes landed on the ground, every step he took was like the most graceful runner. Our game against the Buccaneers started off as a full-on pitching game.In the first two innings, neither side could hit the ball out of the infield. Paul.Taylor threw everything he could against hitters, the hardest I've ever seen him pitch.Next, the situation of the game was like the wind direction that can change at any time in our New England area. Todd and the chariot hit home runs one after another, and the scene suddenly turned into a crazy batting contest. As much as seven points down.Paul's possession of the ball was unstable in the fourth inning, and Anthony.Bisso and the pirates led by him immediately retaliated and scored six points. Even so, I let Paul stay on the court, and he lasted until the end of the game.

In the fifth inning, when Timothy walked to the home plate, his teammates began to repeatedly shout: Timothy, Timothy, never give up, never give up!Then their applause got a rhythm, and after a while, the audience at the back of the team's rest area also started to clap their hands, until the entire main stand crowd joined the wave of applause.Everyone is rooting for the little skinny guy and hoping he hits his first hit of the season.He is very hard.Oh, it's really hard work!His momentum in the strike zone seemed to be good, and his swing was smooth, but he suffered a strikeout, and the audience let out a sound of disappointment.

As a result of the two sides' offensive firepower, we won the game 14 to 9 in the end. He leaned against the trunk of an old Jaeger parked next to my car in the parking lot, and he didn't really have to say who he was because I recognized him, but he still I introduced myself. Mr. Harding, he said with a smile, holding out a big hand to me, I'm Dr. Mason.Someone told me my car is parked right next to yours so I just couldn't pass up this great opportunity to hang around and tell you how much I admire you and your courage and how you lead the team The way.Kids always have a way of seeing through hypocritical adults, and it's obvious that the Angels players respect you and love playing baseball with you.

Thanks for the compliment, doctor.Grateful.It is a pleasure to finally meet the legendary Dr. MacCenture, whose name has been admired for a long time.Timothy.Nobel often mentioned you.You are so lucky to have that child in your care. The old man folded his arms, smiled, and replied in a deep baritone voice: Lucky or not, I don’t know.But one thing I'm sure of, that kid is lucky to be playing under a man like you. Doctor, how is Timothy?Sometimes he seems to lose his balance, and sometimes he looks like he's in pain when he runs, but says it doesn't hurt. After stroking his long white beard several times, he answered: he is in good health.It's just a few childish problems.I have been paying attention to his condition, and I even watch every game of yours.

day after day, on every level he laughed.That kid really likes that self-motivating quote, doesn't he?I've only taught him a couple of things, but those two things seem to make him feel positive and cheerful about life, and he's just as positive, even if it hasn't brought him a half-hit.Words of self-motivation are an amazing and powerful method.For many, this can be a miracle cure, and hopefully we can inspire more people to believe in the mystical power of simple words.As long as you use positive thoughts and sentences to adjust your subconscious mind, if you do this, you will have a way to create miracles in your life.Too many of us talk to ourselves all day long, maybe even everyone, so why don't we instill some positive and beneficial words and concepts in ourselves?It's as easy as saying that I can win, that I can get the job done, that I can close the deal, that I can't win, that I can't get the job done, that I can never close the deal.Norman.Vincent.Peel, Kleiman.Stone, Napoleon.Hill, Maxwell.Maltz, along with many other great thinkers, have tried to teach the world this simple trick that will make our lives better.Men and women have used self-affirmation to improve their writing, behavior, and even thinking, and this method has been used successfully for thousands of years.Did you know that even the ancient Roman philosopher Epitides had something special to help us deal with the dreaded bereavement.He said: Never talk about what was lost, but what was returned.Did your child die?Then you have returned him.Is your wife dead?Then you have returned her.He leaned over and patted my shoulder.Keep up the good work, Mr. Harding.I'm really glad we got to talk about this.Then he turned and opened his car door, and I turned to face mine, and couldn't say a word.

Thursday against Sid.The game between Max and the Yankees turned out to be another tense matchup, and we sent Todd.Stevenson took the lead, and the opponent was Glenn, a leader in the team.Goldsden challenged.Neither side had a player on third base until Justin.Nurnberg hit a double between left field and center field, the ball rolled all the way to the wall, and then he hit Paul.Taylor's infield grounder went to third base.Even so, we couldn't send a man back to the plate, so we had to open the fourth inning with a score of 0-0, and it was the Yankees' turn to hit the line.Todd tackled the opponent's first two hitters and walked the third, and Sid's fourth hit a strong fly that flew along the left field sideline and disappeared beyond the fence. We were down by two points in one fell swoop.After hitting a couple of fouls on the next bat, he hit a fly ball to right field when Bill D., who was sitting next to me,West covered his face in his hands and groaned until the audience yelled and almost everyone stood up because Timothy caught the ball beautifully, just as beautifully as I taught him, when he went to When the rest area came jogging, the audience burst into applause.Then he glanced at me and said loudly: "It's nothing difficult!"

In the strike zone, Timothy had little to gain.He hit a few foul balls, and finally the bat swung down and missed.In fact, none of the batters on this team showed firepower against Gusden. In total, we have lost three games against the Yankees this season and won only one. The next day is Monday, by Charles.Barreau pitched for the team, and the result was a 17-5 victory over the Cubs. This victory put us in second place in the league, which means that next Saturday we will play against the Yankees again. League champions.During our big win over the Cubs, Ben.Rogers and Robert.Murphy double-doubled for three hits, and the Chariots added one more homer this season.Now that the team's offensive firepower is blooming, I let Andros, Lane and Noble play the next four innings, and Timothy has two chances to play.He struck out both times, but headed back to the dugout with his head held high.What a special kid! Just as the boys on the team were running into the field for the sixth inning, Bill.West walked to where I was standing and asked softly: Have you heard about Timothy? No.What's up with him? Well, the kids told me Timothy's bike broke down again.The new chain his mom put on for him must have snapped on the way to the stadium today, so I figured he probably left the old bike on the side of the road and ran a couple of miles to get here on time.Have you ever seen such desires? After the game, when we were loading the equipment into the luggage compartment behind Bill's car, Timothy trotted past, and I called him to stop. What's the matter, Coach? Want a ride home? He sighed, grinding his new shoes on the sand.Did someone tell you that my crappy car broke down? right. About ten minutes after we were on the road, the kid yelled: This is not the way home. This is the way back to my house. We are going to your house?Why? Wait a minute and you'll find out.It'll be there in a few minutes. I finally turned the car into my driveway, drove up the incline, pressed the button on the garage door remote, waited for the garage door to open fully, and turned on the lights. Timothy, get out of the car for a while.I want to show you something. He hesitated, followed me into the garage.I walked up to a wall where Rick's new, imposing street rocker red bike hung, suspended in the air on two large braces.I held my breath, stretched out my hand to check the front and rear wheels, and found that both wheels were still full of air, so I was relieved.Then I grabbed hold of the car with both hands and lifted Rick's last birthday present from its place on the wall.I put the car on the concrete floor in front of Timothy and said: Give it to you.No one is using this car, it's just hanging on the wall, and I'm sure if Rick knew you, he'd be willing to give it to you. Timothy's tiny hands slid slowly over the yellow handlebars of the bicycle and down to the dusty but still shiny body.Mr. Harding, it's brand new! Yes, almost brand new. Wow!He yelled, I will take good care of it, I will. I know.Now, it's getting dark, let's put the bicycle in the luggage compartment of my car, and I'll take you home.Starting tomorrow, you can ride this car, okay? He nodded eagerly.This is the first time in my life that I have a brand new bicycle, Mr. Harding! When we parked the car outside Timothy's house, the outside lights weren't on. I don't think my mother is off work yet.Her car is not at home. I took the bike out of the trunk and leaned against the side of the house where the wainscoting was missing. Are you okay at home alone? Oh, no problem, my mother will be back soon.Mr. Harding, do you know what she promised me? I don't know, what's the matter? She said that if we made it to the championship game next Saturday, she would take that day off, and even if her boss scolded her, she would go and see me play.Isn't that great? Of course it's great. She never went to see me play.You know this, right?Maybe I'll hit a hit while she's watching me play. Timothy, I'd love to see you hit, too.Well, let's not forget Wednesday night's game, the final game of the season before the championship game.We're going to play the Buccaneers, and everyone should be able to adjust to the best condition for the tough battle for the championship.do you understand?see you on Wednesday. OK, manager.Thank you, Mr. Harding.thank you. I guess the kids on the team are already thinking about next Saturday's title game against the Yankees, because Wednesday, the Bucs' final game of the season, was abysmal.I had Todd throw the first three innings, and Paul the last three.Taylor took over, so that the two ace pitchers of the team can prepare for the big scene of the championship game, but the performance of the whole team can be described as loose, we barely win 11 to 10, I think the reason is that the Buccaneers this season It has been confirmed that they are ranked third. No matter what the result of this game is, their ranking will not change. After the whole game, it seems that they don't care about winning or losing. Now that we were in the championship game, I put Timothy in for the entire six innings and hoped he would hit the hits he wanted and hit the bases.He did hit a strong grounder that rolled toward the pitcher in the second inning, but the other two at-bats were all down and missed. By the time Bill and I had gathered all the golf equipment and stuffed everything into the trunk of his car, the course and parking lot were pretty much empty.In the twilight, I approached my old friend, stretched out my hand, and said softly: I will never be able to repay you for all that you have done for me. Bill turned his head and frowned.John, what are you talking about? I think at that moment, no coincidence, you came back to my life.You throw things at me, make me worry, make me think, let me have the goal of living, which is the Angels.Just when I didn't want to live anymore, you and this group of amazing kids actually made my life back in my hands.May God bless you. We hug each other and say goodnight.However, as I walked toward my car, about twenty feet away, Bill called me from behind.I turn around. John, maybe they all helped a little, he cried, but don't forget to say thank you to the littlest angel on our team.He taught each of us how to face life, and he taught us this day in and day out. I don't remember how long I sat in the car before I turned the key in the electric door.