Chapter 05

Draft and Discussions

The day of the draft arrives and Mo, like many others, is sitting down to watch the event on television. He was invited to the event but he declined because his family is visiting him for the week. They’re all gathered in his lounge room to watch the draft on television.

A top flight pitcher is the first pick by a team in need of pitchers. The second pick is for the best batter in the draft. All are waiting to see who’s third when Mo’s new cell phone rings. He still has his old one but this is a new one he bought last month. He has a big grin when he answers the phone, listens for a moment, and says, “Yes, Sir, I accept on the provision we can come to terms on the contract amount.” He waits a moment, and replies, “I think we need to talk about it some more, but those figures are in the right range, Sir. Please send me an email with the full details and feel free to say I accept your kind offer.” It’s clear to his family he’s just accepted a contract of some sort. A moment later he’s announced as the third pick of the draft’s first round. Pandemonium breaks out when everyone yells while his step-mother gets out drinks to celebrate. Mo’s family has a good party.

Half an hour later Mo is reading an email with the contract they’re offering him. There are a few aspects he doesn’t like, and some he does. He does a lot of research and he emails back with a date to meet to talk about the contract from the dates they listed as being suitable to them.

Thursday of the same week Mo is in a room in another city talking to the management and coaches of the team who drafted him. They’re surprised he doesn’t have an agent with him to negotiate for him.

After the introductions Mo starts the talks with, “Have you looked at my proposed contract yet? I left all of the bonus schedules as you have them but I propose a variation in the annual rate and signing on bonus.”

The team manager replies, “Mister Walker, I understand the figures and what you’re saying, but I don’t understand why?”

Mo grins while saying, “Please call me Mo. Look, let’s get down to the realities on this. You offer a four year contract with a signing bonus of seven million dollars with an annual salary of four and a half million dollars plus bonuses as per the schedules. That’s a total of twenty-five million for the contract before bonus payments. Yet we all know I’ll be in one of the development teams for the first year and on a lot less than the four million. It’s because of this you offer the signing bonus. It’s also possible I can be in a development team for two or three years. With the way your contract is written you can save a lot of money by delaying bringing me up into the Major Leagues. That eventually affects my overall pay plus what I can ask for when we renegotiate. I also know you have some good deals for more income next year and the following years, but are tight on available money this year. While I can invest the bonus to get some good money on it over the coming years.”

The head coach says, “I think we all understand that and the figures. What we don’t get is why? What does this do for you, and for us?”

“I checked. This management has a reputation of delaying a player’s début in the Major Leagues so they can save on total salary payments. Well, I’ve set this up so what I get, other than bonus payments, is the same as if I was in the development team for just over a year and then brought up. If you choose to leave me in the Minor Leagues for another year I get the same overall money as if you brought me up into the Major Leagues. It’s that simple. You don’t save money by sitting on me much longer than a year. I accept the formula you have for the ’cost of living,’ despite it not matching anything in my studies. It’s close and not enough different to be of a concern to me. After sitting in the Minor Leagues for a year and a bit the contract should be just over twenty million plus bonuses. With six million on signing and three hundred thousand every month for the four years I get twenty million four hundred thousand over the life of the contract, and there’s no affect on my direct income based on what club you have me play for. You get to make a big saving on the contract and signing bonus.”

The senior staff all look at each other for a moment and then they ask Mo to leave the room so they can discuss the contract. Several minutes later they call him back in to talk about the contract some more as it’s clear they don’t like how he’s set it out, but they can’t come up with a really good argument against it because, on paper, it saves them four and a half million dollars and it means they have to pay him only six million right now. What they don’t like is it guarantees they pay him the full contract amount over the four years regardless of what they do with him. Their original offer gave them room to end up paying him a lot less if they left him in the Minor Leagues for a couple of years. The only way they get a better value out of Mo is to call him up to the Major Leagues this year since he gets paid the same regardless of the league he plays in.

The discussion goes back and forth until Mo says, “Look, if you hate my contract so much we can easily leave it be. I can go back to college for another year or two of studies and look at things then.”

This is a big worry for the management because that means they get nothing at all by picking him in the draft. One of the ways the franchise management has of making money is to select good players in the draft, sign them up big, then sit them in the Minor Leagues for a couple years before selling them off to another club for more than they’ve paid the player to date. This works well when something happens to give a club a need to get another player with specific skill sets at short notice due to injuries in the season. However, Mo’s contract virtually wipes out their ability to make money on any such deal. In the end they agree to Mo’s terms and they sign the contract without checking all of the terms of the contract Mo changed from their offered contract. One key term is he has the contract written for forty-eight months and not four seasons, as is usual. This error by Mo makes a difference to when the contract expires, and, for some unknown reason, it’s not rejected by the Commissioner.

After the signatures, distribution of copies, and Mo has confirmation of the signing bonus payment to his account they shake hands. While shaking Mo’s hand the team owner says, “I don’t know why your agent didn’t get here today, but who do we speak to if there’s anything that comes up in the future?”

Mo grins as he says, “Me! I’ve a degree in business management and a law degree, so I’m qualified to be an agent. I may register to work as an agent when I stop playing.” The meeting breaks up after that with the stunned corporate managers not happy with Mo’s business acumen.

Life in the Minors

On Monday morning, as he was directed to on Thursday, Mo turns up at the stadium of the AAA team affiliated with the Major League Baseball (MLB) team he’s contracted to. It’s so close it’s an easy drive there for him, but not close enough for him to be able to commute to it from his condo each day. He has an option to live in, free of charge, what they call ’The Bunkhouse,’ which is a sort of basic group hotel on the grounds and is owned by the club. It costs him nothing to live there and have his meals at the club’s cafeteria, so he does that. The menu isn’t great so some days he does have a meal at one of the many nearby restaurants.

The first day is signing in and being checked over by the medical staff. The team is on the road and due back in three days so they see no need to ship Mo up to the team. He spends the time with the training staff on hand doing fitness and general skills training.

The team arrives back and Mo is busy training with the team. The head coach tries him in every fielding position and he’s happy with what he sees. But Mo isn’t that happy. He knows he’s not really up to speed for this level of competition so he works hard to get fit and ready to be a contributor to the team. For the next three weeks all he does is train, practise, and watch the rest of the team play games. Whenever they’ve a few days off in a row he drives home to his condo, but they’re rare events. However, they do get the occasional afternoon off. Most of the afternoons he has off sees Mo getting more batting practice with the pitching machine set for high speed fast balls so he can get used to tracking it at that speed. However, he wants a machine faster than the club has and he can’t find one to buy.

One of the first things Mo is taught is the man he’s used to calling the head coach is officially known as the Team Manager in the professional leagues and the players all call him Skipper or Skip instead of coach. It’s another piece of baseball etiquette for him to learn.

Wednesday of the fourth week of his time with the AAA Club Mo is on the bus travelling to a set of games. He’s on the roster but not in the line-up. However, during the first game that all changes when the left fielder is hit with a pitch and he has to retire as injured. The regular relief is already on the DL (Disabled List) with influenza so Mo is up now.

During the game Mo doesn’t make any errors, but he doesn’t make any of the spectacular plays he’s used to making. The game is just that little bit too fast for him right now. But it’s not as far ahead of him as it was four weeks earlier, so he’s catching up to the speed for this level. He can see and track the ball at the faster speeds they play at this level with no trouble while his reactions are fast enough for this level of play, but his muscles aren’t up to the speed needed when covering a lot of ground out on the field. It’s taking time, but Mo is building up his muscles to be able to play well at this level and the next level up - the Major Leagues. It’s just taking a while to properly develop the extra muscle in a way that’ll stay with him for many years to come.

From that day Mo is in the game in one capacity or another. He’s a utility player who’s improving with each game so they keep him in to take the opportunity of giving some of the other players a short rest for a day or two while Mo plays their position. He likes playing and he enjoys being paid the game bonuses so there’s no complaints from him. Also, the team manager likes the capability to rest some of his players before they get too worn out.

Tough Plays

The Saturday of Mo’s sixth week with the team they’re in a close game with an old rival club when the relief pitcher in for the eighth inning takes a hard hit ball in the guts. He’s hurt, but he keeps the ball off the ground so the batter is out, and the pitcher is too! That’s the third pitcher on the DL and the Bullpen is getting a bit short, not that it was all that long to start with. Their best relief pitcher was traded last week and their lead pitcher was called up as well. Thus the team has a real shortage of pitchers at the moment. While the trainer is busy checking the pitcher the manager says, “The only pitcher we’ve got left we can put in is Max, and these guys will hit him for homers all day. Damn!”

An assistant coach says, “Boss, if you really don’t want to send Max in we do have one other option.” The manager and pitching coach both frown at him. He adds, “I was checking the sheets on the rookies the other day and I noticed Walker has done some relief pitching in high school and at college. Not much, but good stats for what he has done.”

The pitching coach says, “They can’t hit him about the field any worse than they can Max. He just doesn’t have the speed or control for these guys yet. By this time next year Max will probably be OK, but right now he still needs work.” After a few more words the pitching coach walks over to Mo and asks, “Think you can pitch to these guys?”

“Coach, I don’t have a fast ball worthy of the name, but I do have some fun balls that’ll make life interesting for them. But I’ll need a few pitches to get over being on the mound here. So please give me a dozen of so pitches before deciding if you want to yank me.” The coach nods his agreement and he heads over to tell the umpire of the change while motioning to the dugout to send another fielder out.

Because Mo is coming on to replace an injured pitcher he’s given some time to throw a few balls and to talk with the catcher. They’ve not worked together before so Mo says, “I’ll put every pitch in the zone. I want you to place your glove where you want it. If I like it I’ll shake it off, if I don’t I’ll continue to stare. Signal whatever you want with your free hand, but I’ll ignore it. That should confuse them. Don’t worry about where the ball is on the way in as it’ll go to where you indicate.”

The catcher laughs and says, “Mo, those have to be the strangest set of instructions I’ve ever had. But you’re right, it’ll confuse them because I’m having trouble understanding them too.”

“Good, Pedro. If they crowd the plate I’ll do something that should make them back off, but the ball will still be aimed at your glove. OK?” A nod is his reply. They both move to their places and they get a few more balls to throw before the umpire gets the game started again.

The batter crowds the plate and Pedro hold his glove on that side, but Mo simply continues to stare until the fourth spot is the top of the zone on the side away from the plate. Mo shakes it off and gets ready.

Mo takes position with his right foot on the front of the Pitcher’s Rubber, his left foot is a bit in front and across his body while the ball is in his right hand and held behind his right leg. He looks around the field to check the bases. He was taught to always check the bases so he does as that means he’ll never forget to check them. Mo leans back while twisting his body in a clockwise direction. His body explodes forward and turns while it unwinds as his left foot goes well out in front of him. His hand comes out and around level with his chest as it flies toward the plate until he’s at full extension forward when the ball leaves his hand.

The manager and pitching coach watch the ball on its way to the plate. It’s slow, in the dead centre of the strike zone, and looking big and fat for a hit into the stands. The manager is about to speak when the ball is only a few feet from the plate. But he keeps quiet when it takes a wicked curve up and away at the same moment the batter swings to knock the ball over the stands. There’s a clear gap between bat and ball when they pass each other just in front of the plate. The umpire calls, “Strike one,” while the batter is still spinning around.

Turning to the pitching coach the manager asks, “What the hell do you call that pitch?”

While laughing the pitching coach replies, “A strike!” A short break, and he adds, “I’ve never seen a ball cut like that, so late, before. But that’s damn slow at only sixty-five miles an hour.”

“Slow or not, it’s effective.”

Everyone gets ready for the next pitch. The batter doesn’t crowd the plate, instead he overhangs it while he glares at Mo. Pedro is slow to move his glove about while waggling his fingers. Mo shakes him off when his glove is in the top of the middle of the zone.

Mo’s body action is just like before, but this time the ball is further to his right and heading straight for the head of the batter. However, it’s slow enough the batter has time to throw himself backwards out of the way. In doing so his bat comes up and it strikes the ball to deflect it up a bit and toward first base. Pedro is able to jump that way to catch it.

The umpire calls, “Out!”

One very angry batter gets up from the ground and he starts to move toward the mound. Mo simply smiles and raises one eyebrow. That’s it, the batter races for the mound with Pedro and the umpire in close pursuit of him. Not wanting to get another kick in the ribs Mo races at the batter, but at the last moment he jumps to the side to race past him. Mo heads for the dugout while both teams clear the benches. He makes a point of grabbing Pedro’s arm when he goes by and Mo drags him to the side while saying, “Keep out of it! We need you on the field.” Seeing Mo and Pedro head away from the brawl the other fielders now avoid the fight. By the time the batter stops to turn around to chase Mo the umpire is up to him and yelling at him. The batter is very angry because Mo just made him look a fool three times in a row. He pushes the umpire aside as he heads toward where Mo is near his team’s dugout. Just then one of the players who’s resting this game reaches the batter and tackles him. The opposition team players arrive from their dugout. Soon there’s a dozen or so players in a brawl halfway to the mound.

Mo and Pedro stand against the fence at the dugout and watch the fight. The rest of the active fielding team members join them. Mo looks down into the dugout and asks, “Coach, can you pass us up some cool drinks, please?” The two assistant coaches still in the dugout grin. One starts grabbing bottles of drink and they both pass them to the players.

While passing drinks the coach asks, “Why not get into the fight?”

Mo grins as he replies, “I hate getting bruises. They hurt. If some fool wants to sit out a game or get a fine, that’s their choice. I don’t want to do that.” The coach nods as his way of agreeing with the sentiment.

It takes the coaches and umpires several minutes to stop the brawl and sort out the players who threw punches. Mo’s team has two players ejected from the game, both were in the dugout when it started, and the other side has three players ejected: their closing pitcher, the second baseman - the batter, and the relieved starting pitcher.

Mo takes the mound and he only needs three pitches to get the third out of the inning. Three curve balls: one out, one in, and one up.

Batter Up

Bottom of the eight and Mo’s team is up to bat. First batter hits a single and gets on base. The second hits a fly ball that’s caught. Third gets a single and now there’s two runners on base. Mo is up to bat. Their coach calls time and he goes out to speak to the pitcher. The catcher joins the pair near the mound. Mo doesn’t like the looks of this.

The umpire lifts his mask and quietly says, “This is professional ball and not amateur ball like high school or college.” Mo turns to look at the umpire, and he looks vaguely familiar. “These guys get paid to play here. So, if they’re dumb enough to do something stupid the coach tells them to do it’s OK to make them pay and not the coach.” Mo frowns. “My younger brother told me about you, Walker. At this level some coaches think it’s OK to go for a player. Having a player out for a game or two will do the coach more harm than a ball in the guts. Just don’t give me a good reason to be sure it was deliberate!” Mo nods his understanding and goes back to watching the discussion. After another half minute the umpire gets them to go on with the game by walking toward the mound

They get set, the ball is pitched. Mo takes a step forward and to the side to get out of the way of the ball aimed at him. He grins when the catcher has to run for the ball. By the time he gets the ball and turns to throw it both of Mo’s team mates are so close to the bases they just stole it’s a waste of time to throw for a fielder to tag them. Now there’s no ’force play’ situation because the runners are on second and third.

The next pitch comes in. Again it’s aimed at Mo, but this time he steps back and he hits it hard at the ground just to his right of the pitcher. He takes off for first base and the other two runners take off too.

The pitcher moves to his left. The ball hits the side of the mound to bounce up and away at a sharp angle to head about midway between first and second base. The second baseman first moves to his right to back up the pitcher, now he has to turn to go back to his left. The centre fielder and right fielder both move in.

John had a bit of a start at third base and he’s quick to reach home plate. Mark was in the same situation and is fast closing in on third. Nearing their coach close to first base Mo says, “Wave Mark home!” The coach grins and waves for Mark to keep running past third to home. The ball passes by the second baseman to land near the right fielder who scoops it up. Mo rounds first and he heads for second.

The second base fielder turns and heads back for his base. The right fielder tosses the ball to the second baseman. He reaches the base and he stands there waiting to tag Mo. Mo skids to a stop mid-way between the bases, he turns to look at first base. The first baseman is on the base with the right fielder moving in as well. But Mark is most of the way to home. Mo heads to first and he watches the ball fly past him. He stops and heads back to second. He goes back and forth a few of times before they close in and tag him - out! So he’s out, but with two runs batted in.

Mo walks into the dugout to hear the team manager says, “Nice sacrifice, Walker. Those two runs have tied the game.”

They both watch the next batter, one of their worst, strike out on three pitches. Thus making the sacrifice out for the two runs really worth it.

Ninth Inning

Mo takes the field to pitch the ninth inning. The first batter comes out and he crowds the plate while staring at Mo. His feet are just in the batter’s box but his body is angled forward with his chest over the side of the plate. Mo calls time, walks to toward the plate, and when he gets close enough he asks, in a loud voice, “Ump, can you make him clear enough of the strike zone so I can at least see where the catcher is?” The umpire simply shakes his head while Pedro walks over to Mo. He arrives to be told, “While he and others crowd the plate like this I’ll aim at the bottom corner of the zone nearest them. Make sure the ump knows my aim point.” Pedro nods and he goes back to have a quick quiet word with the umpire while Mo walks back to the mound.

The umpire calls, “Play ball!” So Mo pitches the ball. It comes in at the middle of the zone, the batter leans in further, then the ball drops and curves toward his knee. It passes just above his knees and just on the inside of the plate for a call of, “Strike one!”

The batter edges closer to the plate while Mo gets ready for the second pitch. This one is slower and almost at head height. The batter grins and leans in, but he loses his grin when the ball drops like a stone when only a few feet away to cross the plate just below his chest for the umpire’s call of, “Strike two!”