The Flying Saucer All-Stars--Short Story-- Part 2
The Flying Saucer All-Stars
This is a short story I wrote a few years ago. It is available on Amazon for 99 cents. It would eventually be rewritten and become my picture book Baseball and Aliens. The whole story is about 5,000 words, too long for a blog post, so I am breaking it up over a few.
In part 1 Ray and his friends, the Bombers were playing baseball when a flying saucer landed on their field and a being named Darvin appeared from the ship and challenged Ray and his team to a baseball game.
“Baseball?” Asked Ray.
“Yes, baseball,” Darvin replied.
Ray looked at his teammates. They looked back with their eyes wide as saucers, their mouths hanging open. Ray kicked the dirt. “So you think you can play?”
“Yes. We can. We are very good. We are traveling team and looking for other good teams to pay. And if you beat us you are allowed to join the interstellar little league.”
Ray looked at his team. Gary’s eyes were wide and bright, and he nodded his head vigorously, and slowly and silently mouthed the word “yes”.
“Okay, that’s what we get. What do you get if you win?” Asked Ray.
Darvin looked around. He saw their bicycles leaning up against the tree.
“We’ll take your bikes. We don’t see a lot those where we are from. It would be fun to bring those back.”
Ray turned around and looked at his teammates who were silent. They went into a huddle.
“We can’t lose our bikes! I would be in so much trouble! We can’t play them!” Whispered Charlotte. Some of the others agreed. They nodded their heads.
“Are you guys nuts!” exclaimed Gary. “We aren’t allowed to play in our own local little league. Here we are allowed to play against an alien baseball team.” Gary paused, “Alien. Baseball. Team.” His eyes were wide.
“We can always buy a new bike,” said Dale.
“Not all of us can buy a new bike!” said Charlotte.
“Alien. Baseball. Team.” said Gary again.
“Good point,” replied Ray.
Ray turned around and faced Darvin.
“Yes. We’ll play you.” Declared Ray. Charlotte and a couple of other players whined their disapproval. Ray ignored them.
“Who will call balls and strikes?” ask Ray.
Darvin pulled out a silver disc and laid it down behind the plate. Another Striker ballplayer grabbed a bat, a second one squatted down behind the plate. Ray and his team cleared out to see what was about to happen. Darvin threw the ball over the plate. The batter didn’t swing. From behind the catcher arose a hologram of an umpire. The hologram yelled “strike!” An image appeared in front of the umpire showing where the ball crossed the plate. A replay in 3 dimensions.
Darvin threw a second pitch, this one just outside the plate. The umpire yelled “ball!”
Gary’s mouth dropped open, “I gotta get me one of those!”
“A holographic umpire,” Sam spoke in awe.
“How will we know to trust your umpire computer?” asked Ray.
Darvin looked at Ray and tilted his head, “Do you always trust your human umpires?”
“You gotta point!” Ray nodded his head, clapped, and said “Yes. We’ll play you. Since you’re obviously the visitors, you bat first.”
Ray took the mound, and the eight other players ran to their positions, Gary at catcher, Robbie to first, Rachel went to second, Sam at shortstop, Greg ran to third, Craig in left, Dale in center, and Charlotte took her position in right.
Gary ran out to the mound, and gave a ball to Ray, “Look out for Ray guns.” And he ran back.
The leadoff batter for the alien team was lean, had long blonde hair that stuck out from underneath his cap. He blew a pink bubble and it popped.
“They even have bubble gum!” Gasped Robbie.
Ray threw the first pitch. The batter swung and fouled it back behind the backstop. “Hey batter! Hey batter!” Yelled the outfield. The Strikers just sat and watched. They didn’t say a word. Ray leaned back and let the next one fly right down the middle. The batter swung and a loud crack echoed throughout the field. Ray looked up, the infield looked up, and the outfield looked up. The ball left the field deep over the left field fence.
Gary came to the mound and handed Ray another ball. “Luckily we brought more than one this time.” Gary blew a huge bubble and let it pop. “I think he’s a fastball hitter.”
Ray glared at him. “Just give me the ball.”
Gary pounded his mitt and ran back behind the plate. “Hey! Batter! Batter! Batter! Go on, this guy has got no stick!”
The batter looked at Gary, confused, waved his bat and turned to look at Ray. Ray let threw the ball, it started at the batter’s head, but then it broke away. The batter swung. The ball landed in Gary’s mitt.
Strike one.
The infield chanted. “Hey batter! Hey batter!”
Ray took the ball and stared down the batter. He threw. The batter swung, and the ball went straight up into the air above the catcher’s head. Gary flung off his mask and caught the ball. Sam, the shortstop, turned to the outfield and put one finger in the air. “One away!”
The next batter had blonde hair, blue eyes, and looked very athletic. Ray threw two curveballs that the batter fouled away. With his fingers Gary indicated he wanted a fastball inside. Ray nodded and threw as hard as he could. The ball was inside, very inside. The batter fell backwards and hit the ground. The Strikers stood up in unison from their bench, looked at the batter on the ground, and then looked at Gary. The entire field was suddenly silent. The Bombers didn’t know what to do. They looked at the aliens and then at each other.
“Are they going to shoot us with ray guns?” Sam whispered to Greg at third. Greg was frozen, his eyes popping out of his head.
At second base, Rachel shifted from her left foot to her right foot. “Get ready to run!” She whispered to the infield.
Then the batter stood up, brushed himself off, and yelled, “Let me see the next pitch!”
The aliens silently sat back down in unison.
Ray took the ball, went into his windup, and threw a curve to the outside part of the plate. The batter swung hard. He missed. Strike three.
“Whew!” said Gary, he threw the ball back to Ray.
The next batter strode to the batter’s box. Ray stood tall and stared into Gary’s mitt. Gary gave a signal for the next pitch-a fastball, low.
Ray threw. The crack of the bat echoed for miles. Ray felt a breeze go past his face. He turned around to see where the ball went. “Where’s the ball?” shouted Ray.
At second base, Rachel held her glove up. “I have it!” The batter stopped and kicked the dirt. The rest of the Bombers cheered and patted Rachel on the back as they ran back to the bench.
The Strikers took the field. “Let’s go Rachel!” Shouted her teammates. Still excited about her catch, she grabbed a bat and ran to the plate.
Darvin stood tall and stared into the catcher’s mitt. The Solar System Strikers were silent. They were focused.
She stared back at the pitcher and twirled the bat over shoulder. She blew a bubble and let it pop. The pitch came in right above her knees. She swung and missed. The Bombers cheered her on. “Let’s go Rachel! You’ve seen his first pitch!”
Rachel fouled off the next two pitches. She stepped back into the batter’s box. The ball came in fast, but right down the middle. Rachel sent it right back up the middle of the infield and into the outfield. She stood on first base with a single. Her team cheered. Darvin showed no emotion.
Sam, the shortstop, came to bat. Rachel took a lead at first base. The pitcher threw a curve ball. Rachel took off running for second base. The catcher quickly took the ball and threw it hard to second base. She slid in. Her foot hit the base and then the second baseman tagged her. “I am safe!” She yelled. She looked around.
Darvin stood over Rachel. She stared him down. He stared back. He put down a silver disc, and a screen appeared floating in midair, just like the holographic umpire. On the screen was Rachel sliding into second base.
The entire Bombers team stood up, froze, and stared at the floating screen.
Darvin, ran the video of Rachel sliding into second several times.
“Look they keep showing Rachel sliding into second base, and they have different camera angles!” Ray exclaimed.
“Where are the cameras?” Gary looked around the sky trying to find the cameras. “What can they see?” Gary’s eyes grew bigger.
The Strikers were now all standing around second base. Rachel stood among them, with her hands on her hips, holding her own.
Darvin glared at the screen and then at Rachel. “Safe!” said a voice from the hologram. The team roared from the bench. The Strikers ran back to their positions.
Sam picked up his bat and went back to the batter’s box. Sam swung at the next three pitches. He had stuck out. “It’s alright Sam! You’ll get them next time!” Clapped his teammates.
Dale, the centerfielder, came to bat. Dale was tall. He crouched a little, and swung his bat around his knees as a he waited for the first pitch. The pitcher stood tall, leaned back, and threw. Dale swung and there was a loud crack of the bat. Rachel looked up and sprinted for third. The pitcher looked up in disgust. The centerfield ran back until hit the outfield fence. The ball sailed over. A home run. The team cheered, and greeted Rachel and Dale at home plate. They were now winning 2 to 1.
Ray batted next. He missed three consecutive curveballs. He hung his head and sat down on the bench. Gary patted him on the back, “You’ll get him next time.”
Craig came to bat next. He hit the first pitch deep to centerfield. The centerfielder ran back to the fence, and grabbed it. The team moaned. The third out. The end of the first inning.
For the next four innings, no one scored. Ray gave up a single in the second inning, and a double in the third, but still kept the other team from scoring. Robbie hit a double in the second, and Charlotte got on with a surprise bunt in the third, but neither was able to score.
The team took the field in the top of the fifth. It was getting dark. Ray looked at Gary, “We’re going to need to break-in and turn on the lights.”
Darvin raised his hand, “Don’t worry about it. We got this.” Suddenly the three lights underneath the spaceship got a lot brighter, and everyone could see clearly.
“Man, I gotta get me one of those,” said Gary looking up into the sky as bubble gum popped over his mouth.
The batter came to the plate. Ray could see a pony tail from underneath the baseball cap. “She went down swinging last time she was up,” Ray said to himself as he dug his spikes into the ground. Ray looked into Gary’s mitt, went into his wind-up, and threw. The crack of the bat was loud, and Ray didn’t even need to look. The ball went over the left field fence. Craig, in left didn’t even move, he just looked up at the ball in disbelief as the ball carried over the fence. The game was now tied 2-2.
Gary trotted to the mound. “Well, I guess she likes first pitch sliders.” He handed Ray a new ball and trotted back to home plate.
The next batter hit the second pitch to the gap between center and leftfield. He ended up on second base. Suddenly there was a runner on second base and nobody out. Ray wiped the sweat from his forehead. “Alright Ray! You got this!” Shouted Rachel.
The batter swung at the first pitch and popped it up. Ray called it and caught the ball. The runner stayed on second – one out.
The next batter batted from the left side of the plate. Lefties made Ray nervous. Ray quickly threw to fastballs low and inside. The batter didn’t swing at any of them. Ray was now behind in the count. The next pitch came in low and away, the batter reached out and sent it to left field. The ball landed between Craig in left and Dale in center. The runner on second took off sprinting for third. Craig picked the ball up and threw it home. He was too late the runner scored. Gary immediately threw to second as the batter noticed Craig’s mistake. Rachel caught the throw and tagged the runner, but it was too late. He was safe. The score was now 3-2. Once more there was runner on second, this time there was one out.
Gary walked out to the mound. “Are you okay? We can always bring Craig into pitch, and you go to left field, if needed?”
Ray looked at Gary and growled, “Gimmie the ball and go back behind the plate.”
“Yes Sir!” Gary donned his mask and jogged back to his place behind home plate.
The next batter stood in the batter’s box. The batter’s hat was slightly skewed on his head. Ray sent the first pitch in. The batter didn’t swing. Strike one. Ray looked in for the sign for Gary.
He sent the pitch low and inside. The batter swung and the ball made a line drive for first base. Robbie dove to his right, the ball glanced off of his glove, and into the grass of right field. Rachel darted toward the ball, grabbed it, turned around and realized she had nowhere to throw. The batter was standing at first base, and the runner was crossing home plate. The score was now 4-2.
Ray bent over and wiped his forehead with his cap. He stared at the ground and then kicked some dirt in the air. Gary didn’t come to visit the mound, he just sat waiting for Ray to back into his position.
“Okay guys let’s get two!” Shouted Rachel from second base. The shortstop took a step back to be in position.
Gary stood up and instructed the infield, “We’re going to second if there is a ground ball!”
Gary squatted back down into position. “Come on ground ball,” he whispered to himself. He pounded his mitt and looked at Ray. Ray stood up, pulled his glove with the ball close to his chest. He looked over his left shoulder at the runner on first, then looked back at the batter. He went into his windup and threw the pitch. The ball came in around the batter’s knees, the batter swung and the ball bounced toward Sam at shortstop. The runner at first put his head down and was sprinting toward second base. Sam charged the ball scooped it up, turned, and threw the ball to Rachel. She caught the ball, stepped on second base, turned and saw the runner barreling down at her. She closed her eyes and threw the ball toward first base. The runner ran into Rachel, but she heard the pop of the ball hitting Robbie’s glove at first base, before she hit the ground.
No one cheered. Robbie threw the ball down and began running toward the bench. Ray hung his head as he trotted toward the bench. Being two runs down against a good team, a team from outer space, was a tall order to overcome.
To be continued...