I Throw it Away By Not Throwing it Away

VOLUME FOUR: PAPA'S GOT A BRAND NEW DEATH

THREE MONTHS LATER

We were two outs away from a Junior Varsity State Championship when I saw the face of Death and blew the game.

It was the bottom of the 9th and we were nursing a 3-2 lead. The stands were packed with friends, parents, teachers, and random high school junior varsity baseball fans from all over the region. Even though we were the away team, we were rocking the joint. We had folks standing, screaming, applauding, stomping their feet, and just being obnoxious in general. Knowing that my family--Mom, Stepdad Larry, and my sister Veronica--were somewhere in the stands making as much noise as anyone else gave me a warm fuzzy feeling and I was soaking it up along with the rest of the team.