The Final Chance

by Ryan L.

Charlie Martum is a 19 year old student at the University of Virginia. His passion is baseball; his life revolves around it. Every day he goes out and practices, especially pitching. He was raised in a family with two other sisters, and a mother and father who weren’t too wealthy. He lived right outside of D.C, with his family, in a small apartment. His whole family was from Boston, which is why he is a huge Boston sport fan. His favorite team of his favorite sport is the Boston Red Sox. He has always dreamed of playing for them. Martum isn’t just a great pitcher; he is a star.

Martum is a top college recruit. One of the best recruits that the MLB has seen. Martum is a closing pitcher. The closer is a pitcher who comes into the game during the last one or two innings and shuts out the other team. If a team doesn’t have a decent closer, its chances of winning those close games down to the wire go down. Martum isn’t a pitcher who blows saves every now and then; Martum rarely has blown saves. He is so good that huge numbers of MLB recruits come to his games at UVA just to watch him close a game, usually only one inning. UVA is one of the top teams in the country, and the fact that Martum is their best player is pretty stunning.

In his sophomore year at UVA, the team makes it to the college world series. They have to face a really skilled team, Florida. In the final inning, they are up by one run. They only need three more outs to win the college world series. Martum comes into the game and shuts them out, and Virginia comes out victorious. While everyone is celebrating on the field, a thought runs through his head: This will be his last college game for UVA.

*****

Later that year, his life changes majorly. As he sits waiting at the MLB draft, his father tells him that the Red Sox are in need of a solid closer. His eyes fill with excitement and he can’t wait any longer. The Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey steps to the podium.

“In the MLB draft, the Boston Red Sox select Charlie Martum.”

He zones out. He just stares at the table while his family comes and hugs him and tries to tell him to go up to the podium. He hugs his family back, and walks to the podium where Tom Yawkey is waiting. He gets up there, shakes his hand, and puts on his new Red Sox hat. His whole life he has been a diehard Sox fan, and the fact that he gets to play for them is beyond him. In his eyes, it can’t get much better than this.

Fast forward to his third year in the majors, after two years of struggling. 7-7 in the final game of the World Series. In the bottom of the ninth, if Martum lets up a run, the game is over and the Red Sox lose the World Series. Martum throws his first pitch and the batter swings and skies one deep to left. Into the crowd. Game over; Red Sox lose 8-7. Martum’s heart drops and he sobs off the field while the Cardinals’ dugout sprints on the field and celebrates.

After that game, the team has a pretty long meeting about what is happening outside of baseball world: World War II. Coach starts talking about how someone might be selected for the draft at random. He says it isn’t his choice, and they might get out of the draft without losing someone. But there is a possibility that someone could be picked. “We’re going to cross our fingers.”

Later that day, Martum gets a letter from the manager.

Dear Charlie,

I was just informed that you have been selected to serve in World War II. You are one of the many players in the MLB that have to serve in Europe to fight. I know you don’t want to, but that is how the draft works. There will always be a spot for you to close for us; don’t worry about that. Worry about coming back healthy and take care of yourself. Sorry, kid.

Signed, Coach Cronin

He drops the letter out of his hand, and stares at the ground. He tries not to cry, but it is very hard for him. He has wanted to be a baseball player his whole life, and nothing else. He didn’t expect for this to happen. Questions flow through his head like no tomorrow. What will his parents think? Will he come out of this okay? Will he still be good at pitching? Will he still be the closer for the Red Sox? He can’t answer any. He reads the letter again, lets out a huge sigh, and goes to bed.

*****

Charlie is a soldier fighting in Germany. He has a basecamp with no one he knows at first. He’s lonely, and he’s scared. It is looking pretty ugly. Almost everyone thinks he is weird, except his one friend he met, Trevor. Sometimes Charlie does these missions where he will spy out enemy land. Unfortunately, these missions are very dangerous. He and a few others are the only ones who do the missions. One of the other people with him is Trevor. They are really good friends: they eat together, they do work together, they sleep in the same tent, and they protect each other. Even with Trevor, Charlie still hates working here and he wants to go back with the Red Sox more than anything.

World War II-era bases

About three months into serving, the unthinkable happens. The camp leader asks Trevor and Charlie to do a secret mission: He wants them to kill the leader of a neighboring enemy base camp, without causing a commotion. Charlie completely refuses; he is scared that he will mess up. He really doesn’t want to, but he doesn't have a choice. They get all their bags, and they head out for the ten mile walk to the enemy camp.

“Whatever happens at the camp, just be safe,” Trevor says to Charlie.

The camp is in sight, and they are ready to find the leader. Trevor is a sniper, so that is how they are going to kill the guy.

“BOOM!”

A huge boom goes off. It almost sounds like a gunshot. Charlie frantically ducks and looks around for Trevor.

“Trevor, we need to get out of here!”

No response. Charlie shuffles through all the plants looking for Trevor, and all of a sudden he finds him. Charlie collapses to the ground, and he can barely breathe.

“TREVOR!”

He jumps on top of him and feels his heart. Trevor isn’t breathing. He looks right into his pale eyes. Trevor has been shot by the enemies. Charlie can’t stay there for much longer, or else they will find him as well. He gets back to his camp, and informs the leader about what happened. He looks down, and after a long pause he tells Charlie to go back to his tent. Charlie refuses to do any more missions, even when the leader forces him. He just wants to go home.

As his flight back to the United States touches down, he notices a familiar face waiting at the airport. It is Coach Cronin. They go back to the field, and on the way back Coach informs Martum that the Red Sox have made it all the way to the World Series by beating the Brooklyn Dodgers, Chicago Cubs, and New York Yankees in the playoffs. Now they are down to one team, the St. Louis Cardinals. “We leave for St. Louis in a week, so make sure to get plenty of pitching in before we go.”

The plane ride to St. Louis, the car ride to the stadium, the warmups before the game; everything is being taken seriously. Even with all the stress, the weather is almost perfect. Mid 70’s, sunny, no wind; it couldn’t get much better. After six stressful games, the Red Sox manage to tie up the series 3-3.

This is it, series tied, winner of this game takes the crown of the MLB. Martum’s dream might come true: he might win a World Series with the Red Sox. Coach Cronin calls a team meeting before the game

“This is it, boys. This whole season comes down to twenty-seven outs. With everything this team has been through, we need this win. Let’s go take the field, and bring this home.”

They take the field, with Martum waiting in the bullpen. After eight stressful innings, the Red Sox are up 1-0. Coach makes the call to the bullpen, and tells Martum to start warming up to save the game in the final inning. Martum doesn’t want to. He doesn’t want to be the one who messes everything up.

The coach giggles and says, “Good one, kid.”

“I’m not kidding, Coach.”

And everyone just stares at him. “I hope you’re kidding, Martum. After all the work we did to draft you as a Red Sox, and all the work you did in the Army, you don’t want to close the World Series for us? You have to trust me, kid. I know you don’t want to pitch, but you have got to trust me. All of your teammates need you to pitch. This isn’t up for discussion. Sorry. Go get loose.”

I’ve been waiting forever for this moment. I might get drafted to the MLB. I can’t even imagine myself pitching for a major league team. And to think for the slightest second that the Boston Red Sox have me in mind as a closer is stunning. If I get drafted by the Red Sox, I will do whatever they ask for.

“He was right,” he thinks to himself. “I was drafted to this team to be a closer, and I am going to be a closer. Let’s do this.”

He goes out and takes the mound, up 1-0. He looks over at the Cardinals’ batters, and they look huge. “It’s going to be a tough inning,” he says. He gets ready to face the Cardinals’ batters. First batter up, he hits a single to right. No big deal. Second batter comes, he hits a grounder to shortstop. He dives, throws to second base, then throws to first. Double play. The next batter comes on deck and he is tall. 6’5, 240 pounds. He comes up to the plate and bombs one deep to center field. It bounces off the top of the wall, and he gets a triple. The Red Sox can’t let the runner on third base come home, or else the game goes into extra innings. The batter comes up, and he glares at Martum, and it seems like it takes years for him to step into the box. He wants a fastball, so he throws it and it comes in for a strike. Second pitch goes in the dirt for a ball, and the third pitch is outside for another ball. He needs to throw a strike. He comes down the middle with a fastball. The batter loads and rockets one down the left field line, barely foul. This is it. One more strike, and his life is basically complete. He feels like his heart is beating at 1000 beats a minute. He gets the call from the catcher and he and Watson smirk at each other. They both want his favorite pitch, the knuckle curve. He throws it at his head. The batter jumps and falls out of the way, and it comes in inside. The umpire calls it a strike. He just watches the batter hit his bat on the dirt. All of a sudden, he has people jumping on him.

“That was for you, Trevor.”