This is part of a broader story about how two lost adolescent sweethearts are reunited. Here, they're spending the weekend together and come across this unusual old man while at the Field of Dreams in Iowa.
Each day, someone brought him out to the field. He was an old man who could no longer see, but while the years had taken their toll on him, robbing him of his vision, he still came out each day to mimic old sports announcers and give play-by-plays to imaginary games.
On this day, he was an old Cubs' announcer, calling something that announcer had never called.
"Gabby Hartnett, stepping to the plate. Two out, nobody on, bottom of the ninth and we're tied 5-5," he said, channeling an old Wrigley Field sportscaster. "C'mon Gabby, get something started. Stay tuned, we'll keep you up-to-date on what happens after today and any playoff information as it becomes available. Brown winds and fires. That ball's pretty well hit, deep to left, back, back…. HEY! HEY! HEY! HEY! Gabby Hartnett has just smacked a solo home run over the left field fence and the Chicago Cubs have won the 1938 National League pennant! WOW! What a wallop!"
Richard and Melanie chuckled at the old-timer before looking out on to the field. Melanie spotted a woman sitting next to the old man and sat down next to her.
"I'm Jack's granddaughter," the younger woman said. "Grandpa's eyes aren't that good anymore, but we bring him every weekend. A lot of people like is old calls."
"Whose bats are those over by the backstop?" Melanie asked, a mischievous grin crossing her face.
"They're here if somebody gets a game up."
She walked over to the backstop, picked up a bat, handed it to Richard and then motioned for him to go to the plate. As he embarassingly walked over to home, Melanie went back to the stands and whispered something to the granddaughter, who relayed it to her grandfather.
"Go on, take a few swings," she then called to Richard, who sheepishly complied.
"Joe DiMaggio stepping in, with a runner on and a man out in the eighth," said the old-timer, making like Mel Allen.
"Get a hit Joe," Melanie cooed.
"Wow, there's some brunette down the third base line cheering on Joe," the old man said.
Richard smiled, took a swing and started charging down to first base.
“Aw Marilyn,” he thought to himself. “Do you have to wear the dark-haired wig?”
Richard called time, went back to home plate, grabbed the bat and walked over to the bleachers.
After handing the bat to Melanie, he whispered something into the granddaughter’s ear and she relayed it to Jack.
“You’re up,” he said to his companion.
Melanie strode to the plate, took a few swings for practice and then took a swing. Two tries later, she connected. Richard races around the bases and slid into home plate, eluding a throw from the outfield, only to see Melanie trotting around the sacks, rounding third and heading for home.
“Al Kaline has just hit a tremendous shot over the left field wall,” Jack declared. “Putting the Tigers ahead of the Cardinals here in this 1968 World Series.”
Richard looked up at Melanie, shrugged, then got up and started laughing.
“You were supposed to be Charlie Gehringer.”
“Who?”
“Charlie Gehringer, the Mechanical Man,” Jack chimed in. “Played second base for Detroit in the 1930s. You were supposed to stop at second!”
Richard put his arm around Melanie and started to walk off the field.
“You better keep him honey,” Jack called out as they left. “He sounds like he knows his baseball.”
My father used to have his ear to the radio listening to those play-by-plays that were sometimes made more dramatic by fiction until television allowed everybody to see the ball sometimes in grainy black-and-white. In fact, Dad often had one game on the radio and another on television at the same time so that he could keep track of both games.
Kevin Costner is on to other projects but that movie caught everyone's attention. I'm not the ball fan that my father was, but I have been to some rather slow and uninteresting games with the Astros here in Houston. I also had a good friend in Herb Morrison (the Hindenburg) with one of those broadcast voices that were so easy to listen to. He worked for WLS in Chicago and may have covered baseball along with breaking news.
Crystal Reed thought she had met the perfect man. Instead she finds herself entangled in a web of obsessive love and dark secrets, a world that has become tainted by deception and treachery.
The Matchmaker:
Angela Calminetti, mother of five, New Age practitioner and gifted psychic and telepath, is proud of her family ties and does everything she can to make sure that all of her younger siblings are as happy in love and marriage
