Don't own, don't sue.
Warnings: yaoi, language, mild violence later on. Bit o'angst.
Out on Strikes: 1?
March 5 MLB. com:
Spring Has Arrived, by Quatre Winner
Tomorrow is the first spring training game at Legends Field and all the buzz is around the Yankees newest rookie, Heero Yuy. Acquired from the Reds on waivers last season, Yuy made quite the impression during the regular season's final week.
On September 21st the rookie, called up from Columbus when Jorge Posada broke his leg in a freak home plate collision, Yuy played the remainder of the regular season and hit .427 in eight games, with three home runs and 15 RBIs.
Yankees' GM Brian Cashman said of Yuy's role: "the kid's got loads of talent and Posada's been eager to help the him come along behind the plate. He can hit already and his defense is, well, I think we all remember what happened when Manny Ramirez hit that foul ball last year. He's earned a spot on the team – he isn't here to tryout, he's here to get settled. I expect he and Posada will split time behind the plate this season and next year…who knows. Posada's already announced that he plans to retire."
Yuy isn't the only new addition to the Yankees. Fire-baller Wufei Chang was acquired from the White Sox. Last year's AL Rookie of the Year and Cy Young contestant, Chang will bring youth to a team of veterans – as well as a nearly unhittable 4-seam fastball.
Of course, the Yankees will be playing their arch-rival, the Boston Red Sox, who have a few new names on the roster as well. Most notable is Duo Maxwell who made a splash during the college World Series two years ago when he hit a game-winning grand slam for Carolina. Last year he and Heero Yuy battled for the AAA batting title and finished tied at .398 each. Maxwell will take over center field, which has been passed around several players since Johnny Damon signed with the Yankees three years ago. Also joining the Sox is Trowa Barton, the side-arming phenom who managed to pitch a perfect game last year in AA.
After disappointing finishes for both teams these last four years fans are eager to see the rivalry extend into a new generation of players. With the snow finally melted, it's time to play some ball.
It was hot and it was March. Even though it was Florida, there was still no excuse for the sweltering misery that suffocated the field.
Duo Maxwell wiped the sweat out of his eyes for the twelfth time is as many minutes.
"I hate Florida. Thank God I'm not playin' for the D-Rays," he mumbled to himself.
"Now batting, Heero Yuy."
Duo grinned as the name of his rival came over the PA system.
"Alright, time to make somebody cry."
He punched his glove and stood on his toes. Duo knew that it wasn't normal to want the opposing batter to hit the ball, but as this was spring training and it was Heero "Death Glare" Yuy, Duo didn't really care. He wanted the guy to hit a nice, long almost-home-run-if-I-wasn't-there-to-rob-you ball to center field. Or anywhere in the outfield – Duo could easily outrun Manny or Nixon to get to the ball.
The sharp crack of Yuy's bat was all the warning Duo had but it was enough. He was instantly off, cleats digging into the soft earth as he sprinted to the wall. He buried one foot in the mat and pushed himself up, catching the ball in the web of his glove and securing it just before he fell backwards onto the warning track.
The fans cheered and even from two hundred feet away Duo could feel the heat of Yuy's glare.
He waved at the catcher and then tossed the ball into the stands before sprinting off the field.
Robbing a home run was great, Duo reflected as he walked to the plate, but rubbing it in was even better.
"Sorry about earlier, buddy, you know how it goes," Duo said as he took a practice swing.
Yuy glared at him but didn't say anything, just settled the catcher's mask over his face and dropped into a crouch.
Duo cleared some dirt on the left side of the plate and adopted his batting stance, cocking the bat high over his shoulder and gripping it tightly.
Out of the corner of his eye Duo could see Yuy giving the signal and tried to ignore the fingers – there was no way he could steal the signs and the sight was breaking his focus. Duo made himself focus of the pitcher -Chang – and held his breath as the Chinese man wound up.
The ball came flying at him, way inside. Way, way, way inside –
Duo grunted as the ball hit him on the leg.
"Son ova –"
"Take your base!" The ump shouted, gesturing to first.
Duo threw his bat towards the dugout and glared at Yuy, who shrugged.
"It's March – his control is still a little off," the catcher explained.
"Like hell it is. That was intentional, you asshole," Duo called over his shoulder as he jogged to first.
Duo took a sizeable lead off of first as Cora came up to bat. Chang threw the ball over to first, but Duo managed to slide back in.
As soon as Chang went into his wind-up though, Duo was off for second, hair flying behind him as he sprinted at full speed.
The throw reached Jeter just as Duo slid into the bag and the ump called him safe. As Duo stood and brushed dirt from his legs he saw Yuy glaring at him across the infield. Duo smiled back.
The game ended in a 6-5 Yankees victory, but the atmosphere in the Red Sox clubhouse was cheerful enough. Barton had pitched three perfect innings of relief and Duo had hit a home run – in addition to his stolen base and a single later in the game.
As Duo sat on the bench in front of his locker, surrounded by reporters and cameras, he couldn't help but laugh. So this was the Big Leagues.
I could get used to this, he thought to himself.
"Duo! Duo! How did it feel to rob Heero Yuy of a home run?"
"Even better than it felt when I hit my own," Duo responded, rubbing a towel through his still wet hair. The gesture caught the attention of another reporter.
"Tell us a little about your hair, Duo. Trying to emulate Johnny Damon?"
"No offense to Damon, but I've been working on this braid since I was in diapers. Still, I guess the hair goes hand in hand with center field, huh?"
"Duo, you and Yuy exchanged some words as you left the field and it didn't look too friendly. Anything between you two?"
Duo shrugged. "Just friendly competition, you know? We competed in college, the minors, and now here."
"There seemed to be a few pitches aimed at your head this afternoon, was that just part of the friendly competition too?"
"Hey, guys, I'm the Red Sox – he's the Yankees. It's as friendly as it can get. Now, if you don't mind, I've got to take my grandmother out to dinner." Duo stood, signaling an end to the interview. One reporter, however, hung back.
Duo grinned as he recognized the blonde.
"Quatre! Hey buddy, I saw your article on smaller blonde shrugged apologetically.
"Yeah, sorry I didn't mention you first!"
"It's no big – at least you mentioned me. The way you were going on, and on about Mr. Death Glare I was starting to wonder, though…"
"Oh come on, Duo, he's a great player."
"Yeah, and he's an asshole. New York can have him."
"He gives interviews like Jeter too – I think they make all Yankees go to some kind of interview school where they train them to be blocks of ice."
"Naw, Yuy came that way I think. So… I saw you checking out Mr. Perfect Game earlier." Duo waggled his eyebrows at Quatre, who blushed and looked around anxiously.
"Shut up, Duo! And I wasn't checking him out, I was merely examining his, um, physical condition."
"Right – and when his towel dropped and you looked at his dick? Explain to me how you're going to work that "condition" into your next article."
Quatre's face turned even redder and he scratched his ear.
Duo laughed at his friend's distress.
"Hey, lemme change and get out of here – you want to meet at that crab place on the beach at, say, five-ish?"
"Yeah, that sounds great. Hey, do you think he'd want to –"
"Q, you are so pathetic. I'll ask him, okay? But he's exchanged maybe two words with me these last two weeks and they were "Go away". But I'll try."
"Thanks! See you in an hour!"
Quatre took off, passing by Barton's locker on his way, and Duo shook his head.
"Hey, you played well today kid."
Duo looked up at Jason Varitek. The big catcher was grinning down at him and Duo, always a loudmouth with a smart comeback, was caught speechless.
His mouth opened a few times but nothing came out. Varitek laughed and clapped him on the shoulder.
"Keep it up, huh?"
Duo nodded eagerly, aware that he looked like a crazy parrot as he did so.
Varitek laughed again and headed off.
"Duo, you are such an idiot," he muttered to himself as he pulled on a t-shirt and khaki shorts.
He stopped by Barton's locker as he left the clubhouse. The rookie pitcher was staring into his glove as if it held some secret. Or as if it was talking to him.
"Um… Trowa?"
The pitcher didn't look up or acknowledge Duo in any way.
"Er…Trowa? Barton? Mr. Pefect –"
"Don't call me that. It was one game and it was the minors."
He still hadn't looked up.
"Right. I'll make a note of that. So, um, once you're done conferencing with your glove, want to grab a bite to eat? You know, get to know each other? They tell me the greenies get to share a room on the road, which I figure means they'll put us together, so I was just thinking that we go ahead and get the awkward introduction phase out of the way and just –"
"Duo, we already share a room here – at that place they call a hotel? Where we've been staying for the past two weeks?"
"Oh, right. Oh – hey, I knew you looked familiar!"
Either Barton didn't laugh much or English wasn't his first language. The pitcher merely raised an eyebrow at Duo.
"So… food? Today?"
Barton shrugged – which could have meant anything from "go away, asshole" to "yes, I'll come but only after we've participated in the ritual first-loss orgy in the showers."
"Right. Need a ride or anything?"
Barton raised an eyebrow.
"You got a rental car for three hours? We do head back to Ft. Myers tonight, you know."
"No, I didn't get a rental. I was referring to a taxi – that thing you pay for and other people drive it for you? Usually they're yellow."
"Give me five minutes. I'll meet you out front."
"Ok, cool." Surprised that Barton had caved so easily, Duo took the steps two at a time as he left the clubhouse and made his way to the front of the stadium.
A small mob of fans remained, baseballs and pens clutched in their hands as they waited for the players to emerge.
By this time most of the players had already escaped, but Duo noticed a few Yankees were still signing autographs – including Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon. Damon saw him and raised a hand in what could have been a wave.
Duo walked over to the Yankees center fielder.
"Nice hair," Damon said as he finished signing a baseball for some girl with pig-tails and a blue NY painted on her face.
"Yours was getting pretty nice, too, before you went over to the Dark Side."
Damon rolled his eyes at that.
"Right, well, I'm sure some rookie'll be saying the same thing to you when the time comes."
"No way, man, I wanna play for Boston till they have to cart me off the field in a wheel-chair."
"So did I – it isn't always about what you want, though. Have a good season."
"Thanks, you too. Well, I mean, you know – don't win too many games or anything."
Damon chuckled and moved through the crowd, shaking hands and signing autographs as he made his way to his car.
Duo suddenly found himself alone in a sea of navy, each fan glaring or hissing at him.
"Why'd you have to go and rob Yuy, huh? What's he ever done to you?" A boy, who was maybe all of twelve, demanded.
Duo looked up and saw Damon, who was looking at him and shaking his head as he laughed.
I was set up. Duo made his way through enemy territory and towards the curb, narrowly avoiding a fistfight with a seven year old in the process.
Duo and Trowa settled into a booth by the window that overlooked the Bay.
"Ever been here?" Duo asked Trowa. The pitcher shook his head.
"They've got great crab legs – plus they keep all their beer at 30 degrees."
Trowa arched an eyebrow.
"See, 34 degrees is the optimal beer temperature – 40 degrees is okay, but a little warm. Here they keep it at 30 so even in the summertime, by the time it gets to your mouth, it's still 34 degrees."
"Oh no, is he giving you the beer rundown?" It was Quatre, just arrived and looking very dapper in a pink button-up and jeans.
Duo mouthed, Is this a date?
Quatre glared at him and shoved Duo further into the booth so he could slide in.
"I'm Quatre Winner." The blonde held a hand over the table, which Barton shook apprehensively.
"Trowa Barton. Are you allowed to do this?"
"Eat? Yes, most of the time anyway."
"No, are you allowed to eat with us?"
Duo snorted.
"Q man eats with whoever he wants. You know that he was offered a position as a speech writer for the President? Well, he turned it down to write for MLB – which is the dumbest idea in the history of the world. Well, second dumbest, letting Pedro go was probably the first. No, selling Ruth to the Yankees was the dumbest, then Pedro, then adopting the DH rule, then Q going to work for MLB. He sort of makes his own rules – plus he's got an in with the soon-to-be rookie of the year, so they kinda let him run free."
Trowa looked a bit shell-shocked by the time Duo was done.
Quatre laughed.
"He does this a lot, you'll have to get used to him – or get used to tuning him out. It works best for me if I try to remember all of the outs recorded in the 2004 World Series – that way I can look confused, angry, and happy at the appropriate places."
Duo glared even as Trowa smiled slightly.
"What! You smile for him but all I get is an eyebrow raise?"
Trowa shrugged. "He's obviously more intelligent than you, he should get some kind of reward."
Duo gaped even as Quatre glowed from the praise.
Duo turned towards his blonde friend, intent on giving him a hard time, when he caught sight of his favorite person in the whole world entering the restaurant.
"Don't look now, but this place just got a bit more crowded," Duo muttered.
Quatre's head immediately snapped around as he zeroed in on the newcomers. Trowa was more stealthy, but he too turned to see who Duo was referring to.
Heero Yuy and Wufei Chang were being led by a waitress towards their booth.
Duo tensed as Yuy caught sight of him.
"I see you bring your pet out to eat with you," Duo said, indicating Chang with a casual wave of his hand. Chang instantly started towards him but Yuy held the Chinese man back.
"I see you brought your fan club. Explains why I have to read your name so often." Yuy glanced over at Quatre and raised an eyebrow. Quatre frowned.
Duo started to talk, but Quatre put a hand on his arm to silence him.
"Duo and I went to school together. So, yeah, we hang out. And yeah, I write for MLB – but I think you'll find that I, of all the sportswriters this off-season, wrote less about him than anyone else. And that's because I have to maintain my professionalism when I'm on the job. But off the job he's worth ten of you any day, so just try and make a snide comment like that again and pray that I'm able to maintain my professionalism – because my column doesn't have to be approved before it goes online."
Yuy's glare became even colder.
"That said, good game today. Both of you. It's nice to see that the Yankees have finally realized you don't have to have an AARP card to be able to play for them. Now, it was great talking to you, but I think our waitress is waiting to take our order."
Yuy and Chang stood for a moment, gaping at Quatre, before they sat down in the booth behind Trowa. Yuy continued to glare at Duo, who couldn't resist sticking his tongue out at the catcher.
"That was… a bit foolish, don't you think?" Trowa whispered after their second round of beers arrived several minutes later.
Quatre leaned towards the center of the table and whispered back, "maybe, but I like to live dangerously."
Duo snorted into his beer.
"Seriously? This coming from you? The guy who wouldn't go to the Olympics with me in China because of the avian flu?"
"It was a valid concern, Duo."
"Yeah, sure. Ah… my victims have arrived!" Duo rubbed his hands together as the server set a platter full of glistening red crab legs in front of him.
Trowa frowned but Quatre didn't bother to hide his disgust.
"Duo, you do realize that the farming practices for crabs are one of the most un –"
"Can it, Greenpeace. I can still hear them cry as they touch the boiling water and I want to savor the moment."
"Duo, you are sick."
"Oh yeah – this one prayed to Jesus, too," Duo held up an impressively large crab claw and split it open, splattering Quatre's face with crab juice.
"You jerk!" The blonde cried.
Across from the Barton laughed, a deep, rich sound that made both of his companions stare at him.
He noticed them looking at immediately stopped.
"What?"
"Nothing," they answered in unison.
March 15th early to call? By Quatre Winner
After eight games it seems too early to be making predictions for the regular season, but if what we've already seen is any indication, the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry is about to be taken to a new level.
The old grudges are back just as strong as ever – A-Rod and Varitek have already had a shouting match. But the newest generation of players seem eager to join in as well.
Yesterday's game was the second meeting between the teams this spring and everything was going well until the third inning.
Chang and Yuy were once again the Yankees battery and, once again, Chang sent Duo Maxwell to first base courtesy of a bruise on his rib cage. But this time Trowa Barton joined in the festivities – delivering retaliation in the form of a wicked curveball that forced Yuy to drop flat to avoid having his head removed.
After a warning from the umpire the pitchers settled down. Until Yuy hit a two-run homer in the 7th and Maxwell a three-RBI double half an inning later.The game was a Red Sox victory, 4-3, but the fans weren't too concerned with who won by the time it was over.
These four rookies have already developed a legion of fans and analysts have predicted that the AL Cy Young and MVP races have already started.
On April 30th the Yankees will play their home opener against the Red Sox, and fans of both teams are awaiting the regular season with baited breath.
tbc
Notes:
Some explanations: Batting average - the number of hits a player averages over his at-bats. So a .427 is like getting 9 hits every 20 at bats; it is also very good. But hey... he's Heero.
RBIs: Runs batted in. This means that the player is scoring other runners through hits, sac flies, etc.
AL: American League. There are two leagues in baseball, the other being the National League. I've put all the g-boys in the AL, though, and we won't be hearing from the NL until the World Series...
MVP: Most Valuable Player
CY YOUNG: this is the MVP for pitchers. Although it is possible, and really rare, for a pitcher to get the MVP.