I changed the name of Cody Johnson to Cody Bellinger, because I wanted it to be a real person. The other players in this chapter are real players. 

As we pull into the stadium, Jessica starts going nuts in the backseat. She is jumping around so much the car is literally shaking. I'm smiling, Tommy is smiling, Trevor is smiling, Jessica is practically screaming for joy, and Tyler? Well, Tyler is scowling. If looks could kill, the whole car would be dead. I don't think he is happy he had to sit in the back seat. 

Tommy pulls the car around by where the players go into the clubhouse. As we walk in, Tommy says hello to people he obviously knows, and by the bags they are carrying, I guess they are players. 

"Did you know the players would be here today?" I ask Tommy. 

"Maybe." He says. 

I hit him in the arm and say, "You're useless." 

"I can't hear you. I'm up here." He points right above my head. 

I stand up on my tiptoe and am about to say that I am only two inches shorter than him, but the words die in my mouth when I see some of the Dodger players. Even though I don't know who any of them are, I gasp, then shut my mouth. I turn to Jessica, and her mouth is open and her eyes are wide. I laugh and reach over. I close her mouth, but it drops right back open. 

"Jessica, close your mouth. Some bug might think it is their new home."

She closes her mouth and swallows. Now we are walking down a hallway in the clubhouse. 

"Tommy, have you been here before?" I ask. 

"Maybe." He says. 

"You are still completely useless." I say. 

"Again, I'm up here." He points above my head again. 

I smack him on the arm and say, "I am only two inches shorter than you."

"Exactly. I'm two inches taller than you." 

I'm about to fire off a smart-ass comment when I see a sign that says "Dugout" with an arrow pointing in front of us. We walk up the stairs into the dugout, the one of the 3rd base side. The Dodgers dugout. 

As we walk out onto the field, I can see people taking batting practice. I know that tonight is second game after Opening Day. The Dodgers are playing the D-Backs. What I didn't realize was that they took batting practice so early. It was just past 2, and the game was at 6:10. 

Anyway, as we watched them take batting practice, I saw who it was. Kike Hernandez. Cody Bellinger. Chris Taylor. Justin Turner. Max Muncy. Joc Pederson. Corey Seager. And some other new players.

Cody Bellinger sees Tommy and walks over to him. The two hug, and he asks what he is doing st the stadium. 

"My dad said we could play on the field when you guys are done."

"Hey guys!" Cody yells. 

They look over at Tommy and Cody, with Tyler, Trevor, Jessica, and I standing off to the side. 

"Wanna help them make a full team to play a pickup game?" 

A bunch of them nod their heads or say yes, and Tommy is smiling. Trevor and Tyler are smiling. Trevor and Tyler walk over too.  

I lean over to Jessica and whisper, "Who said they could play with us?"

She laughs, which draws some of the players' attentions over to us. She smiles, and we walk over to Tommy, Trevor, Tyler, and Cody. 

I stand next to Tommy with Jessica next to me. Cody Bellinger (!!) looks over at me and says, "Is this your sister?" to Tommy. 

Tommy says, "Yeah." 

"She's taller than I imagined." Cody says. 

My cheeks get hot and I feel embarassed. 

"How tall are you?" Cody asks. 

"6 foot 2." I say. 

"Wow." Cody says, then turns to Tommy. "So, are we gonna play or what?" 

"Yeah." Tommy says. "We will start on the field." 

"Who's your pitcher?" Cody asks. 

Tommy turns and points at me. "This is our pitcher." 

"What? Your sister?" Cody says.

"Yep. And you better be ready to get struck out." I say. 

I smile sweetly, then go grab my glove. My glove is amazing. It is Dodger blue, and has pink threading on it. Written in pink is "Taylor #13." It is the perfect amount of worn and stiff. 

I run out to the mound, and turn when someone calls my name. Tommy has a ball in his hand and throws it to me. I look at who is on my team. Tommy is playing 3rd base, Trevor at shortstop, Tyler is at 2nd base, and Jessica is at 1st. I think Tommy said something about no catchers, just the batter would pick it up, and the hitting coach and pitching coach that happened to be on the field would call the plays. Okay, now this was getting real. I notcied that there was no outfield players. But then Joc Pederson, Chris Taylor, and one new player ran out to the outfield. The other team was Max Muncy at 1st, Kike Hernandez at 2nd, Corey Seager at shortstop, Justin Turner at 3rd, Cody Bellinger in the outfield with two other new players, and Walker Buehler pitching. I could feel the nervous butterflies in my stomach as I watched the players line up. 

For me, playing in front of my brothers was okay, but playing in front of other people made me nervous. I was always afraid that if I messed up, it would be because I "was a girl" and not because I messed up. But playing in front of major league players? Who played baseball for a living? I have confidence in myself as a pitcher, but not that much. 

Jessica must see that I am nervous because she catches my eye and winks. She then sticks her tongue out and makes a funny face. I laugh, then turn back towards home plate. First batter up is Max Muncy. My nervousness is even more now. I am a 17 year old girl. I am not fit to be breathing the same air as these baseball players, let alone walk on the same field or play the same game with them. 

But then I pretend that it is Trevor batting, and I am just at the field at school. Deap breath. In. Out. In. Out. I wind up, and throw a fastball right down the middle. He swings and misses. I throw a curve ball that he fouls off, and I throw a 2 seam-fastball that he swings an misses at. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I struck out a major league baseball player. I struck out a major league baseball player! Wow. 

I don't have much time to celebrate because the next batter is up. Corey Seager. I end up throwing him a fastball that he hits for a single. But I strike out Justin Turner (!!!!!!!) and Cody Bellinger grounds out to end their batting. They take the field, and Tommy is up to bat first. He hits a single to the shortstop that gets dropped. Tyler is up next and hits another single, but now Tommy is on 3rd. 

Trevor hits a sac fly that gets Tommy home, and we all celebrate. Next up is Joc Pederson. He strikes out, and Jessica is up. I can tell that the players think she won't be able to hit it far, because they all move up a bit. She responds by hitting a powerful line drive down the 1st base line fair, and she gets to 2nd. Chris Taylor is up next, and hits a pop fly that is caught. That means I am up. I am an okay hitter, but with 2 outs? Not sure how this will end. I foul off the first two, I get 3 straight balls, but on the 6th pitch, I get a fastball right down the middle. I take it, hammering it deep in center field. It drops right in time, getting Jessica home, and me to 2nd. The momentum doesn't last long, because one of the new players bats our last out, and I am pulling my glove on again, ready to pitch. 

This goes on for at least another hour, all of us playing like one big team and not majors vs not. Once I got over the initial shock of playing with and against professionals, I did great. We are in the top of the 7th, and my team is winning 4-2. We decided to only play 7 innings so that I didn't have to pitch a lot. (oh, and the other pitcher as well.)

I have the the number 2, 3, and 4 batters up. The power hitters. Corey Seager, Justin Turner, Cody Bellinger. Corey hits a short hopper to shortstop, but gets thrown out at 1st by Jessica. Justin Turner gets a single. 

Cody Bellinger is up. I throw a pitch on the edge of the zone, and he swings haphazardly. 

I throw two more pitches, one of which is a ball, one a strike. 1 ball, 2 strikes. I throw 2 balls, and he has a full count. I throw a curveball, and he swings, a ball to shortstop. Trevor throws the ball to Tyler, who then throws the ball to Jessica, who steps on the bag a second before Cody does. 

We all start jumping around, and Jessica runs at me. We hug, and I feel myself being lifted up. I'm laughing so hard and celebrating so much, I don't realize the other team lined up for handshakes until they are waiting. 

"Okay, Tommy. Put me down." I say. 

We all give handshakes, like in a real game. All of the players on the other team congratulate me, and I say "Good game." I like the fact that I am the same height or taller than some of them. 

Anyway, after the game, I go over to where I put my backpack and put my glove in it. I feel a tap on my back and I turn, expecting to see Jessica, but instead see a woman dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt

"Taylor Brown?"

"Yes." I say. 

"I saw your pitching. It was amazing. You struck out 5 major league baseball players. Not many high school players, if any, can say that." 

"Oh, thank you." I say. 

She hands me a card. "My name is Amelia James. I am one of the scouts here. This is my business card." She hands me a second card. "This is the card of the head scout here. Tell him I sent you, and he can set you up with a try-out, so to speak." 

"Wow. Thank you." I say, dumfounded. 

"Of course. You have talent. In 5-10 years, I can see you playing at least in the minors. You are good enough. But, keep it on the down-low for now, okay?"

"Yeah." I say. 

"Also, the field needs to be cleared soon."

She walks away, and Tommy comes over. "What was that about?" 

"Nothing. She just told us that we should be off the field soon for the game." 

"Okay." Tommy goes over to Trevor, Tyler, and Jessica, who are sitting on the grass near the dugout. 

"It's time to go. The field needs to be cleared." Tommy grabs his bag and begins to walk away with Tyler and Trevor, when I say, "Not so fast." 

They all turn and I say, "I have a surprise for you all."

"What? What is it?" Tyler asks. 

"I'll get there in a minute. Now shush. I went to see Dad this morning. As you know, the Dodgers are playing the D-Backs tonight. It is 4 o'clock, and there is a game tonight. So, I got Dad to get us all tickets for the game tonight!" I say. 

My brothers start smiling and cheering, but Jessica's face is priceless. She is beaming so big!

"And what's even better is that the seats are right behind home plate, in the second row!"

We all have a few more cheers, then walk back through the dugout. 

Once out of the clubhouse, we go put our bags in Tommy's car. Tommy moves his car to a spot closer to the gate we have to go into. Due to our Dad, we all get to go in very early. We walk around the park, getting food and going into shops before anyone is allowed in the park. We make our way down to where the players are stretching. We say hello to the players we just beat, then go over to our seats. Buy now is it 6 o'clock and the stands are filled. 

I beam as the words before every Dodger game are spoken. 

"It's Time For Dodger Baseball!" 

Wow Guys!!! Over 2000 words in this chapter!! Happy Everything!!

~DodgerLove1302