The DH by John Feinstein

Author:John Feinstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2016-09-06T04:00:00+00:00

The day wasn’t entirely lost as far as Alex was concerned. It was the first weekend of the major league season, and the weather was brisk—an announced fifty-nine degrees at game time—but it was sunny, and the view from the press box was spectacular.

Even sitting in the third row, where there were ample empty seats, they could see the entire field perfectly. They also had a great view of the Philadelphia skyline since the afternoon was as clear as a newly cleaned windshield.

Alex kept score, the way he always did when he went to Fenway Park with his dad. Bryce Harper hit a mammoth two-run home run in the first inning—already his third in only the fifth game of the season—but that was all the scoring for the Nats. The Phillies got home runs in the fifth from Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera, then scored again in the sixth on a Stephen Strasburg wild pitch. That was enough. The Phillies won, 3–2.

Alex didn’t have any real feelings for either team, but he enjoyed seeing the home team win, if only because he really liked the ballpark. There wasn’t much talk among the group during the game. All of them were into it, and Matt and Christine, born and raised in Philadelphia, were intensely involved in pulling—quietly—for the Phillies. Stevie had explained that the rule about no cheering in the press box was taken very seriously.

Alex had heard about the rule from Christine in the past, but she had told him that at high school football games there were always a few people who cheered anyway. Not so in a Major League Baseball press box. That was fine with Alex because it allowed him to focus more closely on the game without the distractions of people jumping up in front of him.

They stayed until the last pitch and then walked quickly back to the car. Since the media lot wasn’t that far away, they were able to beat most of the traffic back to I-95.

They made small talk in the car, most of it centered on whether the Phillies could break out of their doldrums in the coming season. Finally, as Stevie wheeled the car into the school parking lot, Matt changed the subject.

“Hey, Stevie, thanks for setting the whole day up,” he said. “I don’t want you to think I’m not going to think about what Harper said or about what you guys told me Harrison said, either.”

He paused. “It means a lot to me that you guys care about me—even if I’ve been a bit of a jerk this spring.”

They had pulled into the spot next to Matt’s car.

“Don’t underestimate yourself, Matt,” Jonas said. “You’ve been a complete jerk this spring.”

He was smiling when he said it, but everyone—Matt included—knew it wasn’t just a laugh line.

“I know, Jonas,” Matt said. “I’ll try to do better.”

He popped out of the car with a wave goodbye. As Stevie pulled over to the bicycle rack, Christine asked the question that was on all their minds.

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