Yet more mutters came from the room, but no one voiced any dissent.
Yonder Cabrera stood, pushing his chair back in anger, and stormed out of the room. No one said a word about it.
Cespedes shook his head. “I think we’ve all had a pretty taxing meeting. Let’s adjourn here.”
The owners stood, most eager to leave the uncomfortable room as soon as possible. After the mass exodus, only Cespedes, Jared, and Janet Clark remained with Hideki.
“Congratulations, Hideki. I know how much this project meant to you,” Janet said. She looked him straight in the eye, all business. In that moment, Hideki realized this wasn’t personal for her. Her ambition didn’t drive her motives for the vote. She thought she could earnestly do a better job as WBL Commissioner. Maybe she was right.
“I think congratulations to you will be in order soon, Ms. Clark,” Hideki said.
“We’ll see. Thank you for your work. Sometimes, change needs to happen. It can hurt in the short term, but a rising tide lifts all boats, as they say.” She gave a respectful nod and left the room.
Hideki shook his head, standing in awe for a moment. He wasn’t sure what to think, but the sting of his removal had dampened considerably. He looked to his two friends. “Thank you. I don’t know what I’d do without you two.”
“Don’t thank us,” Jared said. “You’re going to have to deal with the jetlag of all those moon trips. We want to see this project succeed as much as you.”
Hideki shook each of their hands. Through the constant changes of seasons, baseball continued on its path. The proverbial fat lady never could sing. At least not while he remained alive to take another swing.
Epilogue
The bat resounded with an echoing crack. Tim Denton, the Luna City Landers’s lead-off man, hustled his way to first as the ball trickled into the outfield. Hideki stood in the front row, just beside the Landers’ dugout. The crowd erupted into cheers. Denton would go down in the record books with the first professional hit on the moon.
It was opening day for the Landers. For now, until Luna could establish a few more teams, they would have exhibition games against various teams from Earth.
Dr. Joshua Gray clapped from his seat beside Hideki. “Doesn’t look like any glitches in the field. The gravity plates are working,” he said. He had instruments in his lap, taking readings from the field. As a consequence, he appeared more stressed than any of the other spectators.
“No, I’d say you’ve done well. You should take some time to enjoy the game.” Hideki kept his eyes in front of him, focused on the play. Real baseball on the moon! The moment filled his chest with warmth. In a lot of ways, this was his baby.
Cespedes returned to his seat, arms filled with drinks, popcorn, hot dogs and other snacks, which he disbursed to Dr. Gray, Hideki and Karen Egli. “Baseball, I swear. It’s wait for something to happen, wait for something to happen, wait for something to happen. The second you go up and get refreshments or head to the bathroom, something happens. Next time you’re getting the food, Hideki.”
Hideki laughed. He’d brought Cespedes with him for the Lunar project, while Jared stayed back in the WBL headquarters, acting as deputy commissioner under the leadership of Janet Clark’s tenure. Early reports had been pretty accurate in predicting who would come out on top of the league. From what Hideki heard, Teluca and Mexico City were still battling each other fiercely in those meetings. Even with the shake up, no one wanted to risk the politics of taking sides to resolve the stadium issue. Some things never changed, but this, the first team on the moon, would change everything.
The next hitter flied out to left field. “This marks the first full inning of Lunar Landers Baseball. Give your team a hand for this milestone, and remember to drink EdgyCola, the official Cola of Landers Baseball, available at every concession stand here in Carl Suzuki Stadium,” the announcer bellowed through the PA.
Tears flowed from Hideki’s eyes. He wished the boy could have been here to see this, but the cancer had overcome him. This stadium in his memory was the best Hideki could do to fulfill his promises.
The crowd went wild.
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The Gravity of the Game Page 7
