Meanwhile, Dan had to juggle the 2 kids, so he called Fire and asked if JoJo could ride to the Ball Park with them. Of course, Fire was glad to help. Even though JoJo's game was at 5:00 and Tommy's was at 6:30, the boys always went to both games. They loved to hang out at the Smallville Rec. Department.
Dan explained to Remi, "Honey, we need to go home and feed you supper."
"OK Daddy."
Dan smiled, and thanked God for his two kids.
The Wildfires pulled up at the Smiths at 4:30. Fire honked the horn, and JoJo ran out of the house. However, half way to the car, he did a 360 and headed back to the house for his all-important glove that he forgot.
When JoJo got to the car, Tommy said, "You got everything, Bro?"
"I do now! I bout forgot the ole Trusty Rawlings!"
As Fire began to drive away, he said, "JoJo, I'm sorry to hear about Samantha's aunt. How's she doing?"
"Thanks, Mr. Wildfire. She is doing remarkably better. Mom's Prayer Team prayed for her, and I believe it worked!"
"Praise the Lord!!!" Fire said. A few years ago, he would have never uttered those 3 words.
Tommy changed the conversation. "How you think you'll play today, JoJo?"
"Well, I don't mean to brag, but I would be scared if I were the Dodgers!"
Tommy laughed. "Ha! You got that right."
JoJo turned the tables, "So how you going to do today, Tommy boy?" (In his best Rocky voice)
"I feel a double and a triple coming on!"
"I hear ya!" The boys gave each other a high-five. It was a new thing. In the past, everyone just gave a regular five, slid skin, or a handshake.
Tommy said, "I see your wearing your red sanitary hose that you got at the Champs House!"
The Champs House was the cool sports shop that the boys frequented at least twice a week.
"I like your gold ones, my friend!" JoJo returned the compliment.
(In 1976, baseball players wore sanitary socks underneath their stirrups. Since the beginning of time, everyone had worn white sanitary hose, but not the guys in Smallville. Well, at least the "cool ones."
As they entered the SRD Complex, there were a few players form the Dodgers (JoJo's opponent) and the Expos (JoJo's team), plus SRD Coaches Jones and Daniels. Fire told the boys he would be back around 8:00 to pick them up.
As Tommy and JoJo walked up, JoJo started cutting the fool--right off the bat.
"Well, if ain't ole Ty Cobb,"--referring to Thomas Randolph.
"Hey, Pumpkin Head!" Thomas fired back.
This would be a foreshadowing of the mood for the evening.
The guys loved teasing each other as much as playing baseball, and that was a lot!
When JoJo's game started, Tommy would hang around the park. There were other kids to talk to, plus he had to get his arm warmed up just right! During Tommy's game, JoJo would hang out at the ball park as well.
"Play ball!" Umpire Sydney Truffant said. Sydney was also a coach for the SRD. There were no "volunteer coaches" in those days. The SRD Staff did everything: coach, keep the book, and umpire. It just happened to be Sydney's turn to umpire for that night.
The Expos got the Dodgers out easily---3 Up and 3 Down in the top of the first inning.
JoJo was the lead-off hitter for the Expos. He would love to have been a home-run hitter, but he was a singles-doubles hitter. Sure enough, the first pitch JoJo saw, he slapped it into left field for a single. Right away, JoJo began talking smack.
He told the first-baseman, Joel Langston, "Rag-Arm better bring more than that if he wants to get me out!"
Joel succinctly said, "Shut Up, JoJo!"
Pony League rules were quite different from Little League rules. First, the field was bigger. Next, you could lead off base as the pitcher came set for his delivery to the plate. All of this led to players stealing bases much more easily than in Little League. JoJo was one of the best base-stealers in the League. Sure enough, on the first pitch he was gone. The next pitch, he stole third. After a foul ball, JoJo stole home on the fourth pitch.
As soon as JoJo touched the plate, he looked at the catcher, "Sad" Mellow and said, "That was easy!"
Sad didn't say a word.
The game was dominated by the Expos. JoJo ended up with 3 singles and a walk in his 4 unofficial at bats. He also had 10 steals and scored 4 runs. The final score: Expos 22; Dodgers 0.
JoJo was not a good sport! He told Tom Champion, the Dodgers third baseman, "You guys stink!"
Tom fired back, "If that umpire could see, we would have beat y'all!"
Jose Lopez told JoJo, "You got a BIG mouth."
JoJo responded, "Guys, I am just funning."
The Dodgers walked off in a huff.
The crowd for Tommy's game was sparse. JoJo played in the park for a little while. He threw the ball with his teammate, Eric Dixon, until Mrs. Dixon came to pick up Eric. After that, JoJo got bored, so he walked over to the game. He stood at the fence, and began ragging players. At first he was talking quietly.
"What a swing! Too bad you missed!"
"Striiiiike 3!!"
Then, JoJo decided it would be more fun if he allowed the batters to hear his commentary.
Kevin Sams came to bat. He was not the best hitter in the league, but he always tried.
JoJo didn't care if he was trying or not. He began, "Hey, hey batter---SWING!"
Which is exactly what Kevin did, followed by a look towards JoJo.
"You looking at me? Is he looking at me?" JoJo, as usual, used his Rocky voice.
After Kevin struck out, Sydney, the home-plate umpire told JoJo to cut it out, without looking in JoJo's direction. That curtailed JoJo for the rest of the inning. However, in the bottom of the third, Tommy came up to bat.
JoJo in a cat-call voice, "Tommy Boy..."
He did this after every pitch, until Tommy got a hit.
Once again, Sydney told JoJo, "I told you to cut it out, Smith!" This time he looked right at JoJo.
Something about being called "Smith" didn't sit right with JoJo.
He thought to himself, What is Syd, the Squid going to do to me anyway!
JoJo turned up the heat. The next batter was a small boy named, Randy Rewis. The boys just called him Runt. Since Runt was only about 4'2" tall, his pants were almost at his ankles. However, to match his uniform, Runt had blue sanitary hose on. Now, only a small part of the sock could be seen, which opened the door for JoJo.
In a loud voice, JoJo said, "HA, look at those socks! Oh wait--I can't see them. HaHaHa!"
JoJo was so pleased with himself. It was a euphoric moment!
Until....Sydney had a belly full of JoJo's nonsense! He took off his mask, and shouted, "JOJO SMITH, YOU'RE OUTTA THE BALL PARK!!!!!!!!!"
It was as if time stood still. All the fellers were laughing at him. Sydney's face looked like a cherry--kinda frightened JoJo. It was almost like a dream, but JoJo started walking away from the field. Honestly, he wanted to go somewhere--he was totally embarrassed. He never heard of anyone getting "thrown outta the ball park." Sure, "thrown out of a game." Where would he go. He knew Fire would not be there until 8:00. That was 45 minutes away, so JoJo found a dark place in the Parking Lot and just walked around. He didn't understand how one of the classic, most-fun times of his life evaporated because of 6 words!
When JoJo woke up the next morning, he didn't remember much of the night after getting "kicked outta the Ball Park!" He just knew he was still embarrassed!!
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