Demotion

Okay, today is Fiction Friday as you probably assumed. The countdown is at nine days until the Vermont Chargers hold a power soccer clinic at the University of Vermont. The Phillies will do better than they did last night. Now that I've said all that, on with the story.

"Hey Joe, Skip wants to see you."

As these words came out of the mouth of our pitching coach, my heart sank. Somehow I knew that this wouldn't be a happy talk. Why did I feel that way? Well I had been pitching badly, and since I was always aware, for good or for the bad, of my rearview mirror, I knew that there were a few guys in AA who were racking up wins and strikeouts.

I stepped away from my locker and walked across the room. Of course all my teammates knew where I was headed. Some of them probably didn't want me to go, some of them were probably ready to ship me to the farthest away team they could find. I didn't really care about them though; I just didn't want to take that step back. After working so hard to make AAA, one step away from the big leagues, I was about to be two steps away. But I knew that I had to open that door and face the music.

Photo by salvez on Flickr