Free Las Vegas Gold by Jim Newell

rafters for the first Gold home game. It helped that the Oakland A’s were the opponents for this historic game. The crowd seemed to approve of the entire structure of the new stadium; fan comfort had been a high-end priority in the building design. The roof was open on the bright spring day. The pre-game entertainment, with all of the usual fanfare, pleased the fans, and now they were getting impatient for the game to begin.
    The fourth starter, Connie Armstrong, a strapping, 24 year-old left hander, had drawn the pitching assignment for the home team. His 16-5 record the previous year with the National League Cardinals could have qualified him to be the ace of the staff, had Tabby O’Hara not taken over that position. But as Willie Fontana had told his pitchers several times, a six-month season was bound to have changes in the pitching rotation, and who was number one and who was number four really was not an issue. Armstrong took his warm-ups and was ready for the first Oakland hitter. The game was underway with the first pitch, a forkball that went for ball one.
    That batter eventually flied out to left. The second struck out, and the third grounded out as Tubby Littleton came up with a dandy play at second, running far to his left toward right field to throw the runner out at first. Danny Johnson led off for the Gold with a long fly ball to center. Porter Kipping followed with an infield grounder for a single, even though the shortstop momentarily bobbled the ball. Then he died there when Diego Martinez struck out on a wicked three and two slider he couldn’t catch up with.
    The game remained scoreless until the ninth. Armstrong had stayed until the middle of the eighth, when he tired and loaded the bases with one out before Willie took him out and sent in Freddy Greeley to make his initial appearance. He walked the first batter he faced, and Molly instantly pulled him for Jimmy Brandon who got the next A’s batter to ground into a round-the-horn double play, third to second to first. Las Vegas came to last bats, trailing 1-0. DH Horace Mayhew was the lead-off batter. The veteran had had a disappointing series against Seattle, coming up empty in eight at bats. He made up for it this time when he drove the first pitch over the right-field wall into the Oakland bullpen. Mayhew was followed by first baseman Jerry Lyons, who followed with the same thing, except his first homer of the season went into the Gold bullpen behind the left field wall. He was greeted at home plate by the entire bench, and the players from the bullpen were running across the field. Back-to-back home runs in the ninth in a walk-off game sent the crowd home happy.
    The Gold remained undefeated in four games. Molly’s protests continued. Once again, she protested that an umpire, the first base umpire in this case, was out of place to make a proper call. “You can’t call what you can’t see,” she told him, stomping back to the dugout before he could make up his mind whether to throw her out. Red-faced, he decided not to make that decision. The episode made the fourth protested game in a row. Umpires around the league fumed and began to study the rulebook.

9
    Tabby O’Hara got a phone call late that evening. He had almost forgotten the gravelly voice on the other end of the line.
    â€œHello, Tabby. How’re ya’ doin’?”
    â€œWho’s this?” he asked, to give himself some time to compose an answer to the question he knew was going to be asked.
    â€œHey—y’ain’t forgot your old pal Pat, have ya’?”
    â€œNah, I remember. You’re wastin’ both your time and mine. Don’t bother callin’ no more.” And he hung up the phone. When it rang again, he ignored it for the first 15 rings, then he picked up the receiver long enough to stop the ringing, and then hung it up again. Evidently, Trenowski, for that’s who the caller was, got the message,