It was May 1st when Ray pulled up to Hadlock Park. After finding a parking space, he put the car into park and killed the engine. He angled the rearview mirror so he could see his reflection. Two brown eyes, his hair neat underneath his baseball cap, and his face freshly shaven. Ray checked his watch. It was 4:00. He had to report at 4:45. He took a deep, steadying breath to calm himself, and got out of the car.
As he shut the car door, he looked up at the brick facade of Hadlock Park. Portland had gotten a team thirty years ago, and Ray had been coming to the stadium with his parents since he was a young boy. He didn't remember how old he was when he had come to his first game. His mother would always bring blankets when they came to early April night games, when the temperature was still below freezing and excitement for the season was still new and overflowing within young Ray Garraty.
Back in the 70s, Hadlock Park had been the site of the local high school's baseball diamond, but after the Sea Dogs had come to Maine, the spot was renovated into a full baseball stadium, complete with amenities- three decks of seats, a variety of food options, merchandise stores, a playground in the outfield for kids. Sure, it wasn't as nice as newer stadiums, but for Ray it had always felt like home. And today was his first day of work there.
Ray had agonized over applying for the job. He had seen the ad posted up on Facebook, advertising two job fairs in the middle of January. "Join our team," it had said, and he was certainly interested. But he had let the first job fair pass him by, worrying about what his parents and friends at college would think. Ray worried about what other people thought- he always had. He wondered if he should be doing more with the summer after his sophomore year of college. His father always told him that he needed to get a good internship, so he could build his resume and get into a good graduate school program and get a good job. He worried that all of his friends at the University of Maine would be busy with internships and leave him behind.
But as the second job fair rolled around, Ray decided to go for it. Ultimately, it was his mother's encouragement that pushed him to apply. And after the job fair and his subsequent interview, he had gotten the job. Now, with his training completed and his semester over, here he was, lining up at the employee entrance to the stadium.
As the employees entered the ballpark, they had to go through the same security measures that the fans did. First came the bag check, but Ray wasn't carrying a bag, so he skipped this step. Next, he had to go through the metal detector. On the table next to the metal detector, there was a bowl, into which he put his keys and phone and wallet. After greeting the employee, he stepped through the metal detector.
After gathering his things, he entered the ballpark, showing his ID badge to another employee. "Thanks, sweetie," the older woman said as he passed, and then Ray was heading down a flight of stairs, following the other employees.
Underneath the ballpark certainly was not as glamorous as the concourse above. The floors were made of concrete and the walls were exposed brick, and every couple hundred of yards a security camera watched them from the ceiling. He could see the food vendors clocking in and getting ready for work. The hallway in front of him was full of other ballpark workers- his coworkers, he realized- all heading to the employee locker rooms.
He had been here during training, of course, but on gameday it was different. Ray's whole body thrummed with excitement, but at the same time, he felt like he was going to be sick. He didn't know anyone here, and that thought was frightening. What if they put him in a part of the ballpark he hated? What if they assigned him a job and he didn't know how to do it? Was it possible to get fired on his first day?
As Ray was mulling that over, he had reached the locker rooms. He first clocked in, and then made his way into the men's locker room. There was still over thirty minutes until report time, so the locker room was fairly empty. Ray was grateful for that. He didn't know how he could make small talk with his heart about to beat out of his chest like it was. He put his keys and wallet into his locker, and then headed to the bathroom.
He looked at himself in the mirror, and he looked pale. He splashed some cold water on his face from the faucet, and then stepped back, taking an inventory in the mirror. He had his Sea Dogs hat, his face was shaved, he had his ID badge and name tag, he had his red polo uniform shirt, he had his khakis and a black belt, he had his black shoes and black socks. In his back pocket, he had his employee handbook. Admittedly, he had been studying up on it last night, making sure he knew all the rules and procedures. Ray could do this, and he knew it.
Taking a couple more deep breaths, he left the locker room and headed to the office. There he was met with a blond man looking no more than a couple years older than him. He was wearing a black polo with the team's logo on the right breast, and khakis. He had a green zip-up hoodie on, and Ray could see that he was wearing purple converse. "Name?"
"Ray Garraty," he replied. "G-a-r-r-" He trailed off as the man scanned the list of names he was holding.
"Ray Garraty, you'll be at Gate C," he said, looking up from the list to meet Ray's eyes. He pointed out the location on a map of the ballpark. "Oh, and here you go." He handed Ray a piece of paper. He looked at it briefly before putting it in the back pocket of his pants.
"Sounds good," Ray said. "Thanks." With that, he left the office and went to the stairwell that led up to ground level. He pushed the door open and stepped outside. The sun was shining brightly, though there was still a chill in the air. It must've been about sixty degrees.
Some employees were already gathering, wearing the same uniform as Ray. He knew that most of these people had been working together for years. Maybe he wouldn't fit in. It felt like the first day of school all over again.
As he walked to Gate C, Ray looked to his left and could see the field. Players were warming up, and the grounds crew was raking the infield dirt. In less than three hours, the game would begin. He was walking through a little park, with benches for fans to sit on. The park looked out over the bullpens- where the pitchers for each team would warm up- and centerfield.
Ray sat on one of the benches, pulling the piece of paper that the blond man had given him out of his pocket. It provided information about the game- the Sea Dogs' record, the team they were playing, the pitchers, pregame events, as well as the temperature and expected attendance.
His hunch had been right, it was in the high fifties that day. There was a cool breeze, and Ray wished he had worn a long sleeve shirt under his polo. Some of the workers he'd seen so far had been wearing them.
The estimated crowd size was roughly 15,000. That wasn't bad for a Monday. That wasn't bad at all- the Sea Dogs hadn't played very well this year. In fact, they hadn't been good for quite a while.
Ray could handle 15,000. That wasn't too overwhelming.
He looked up, and he could see workers heading past him, going to their post. He looked at his watch. It was 4:35. Ten more minutes until he had to report.
He saw a lot of people wearing red shirts like him, and some wearing white shirts. Ray knew they were the bosses. Everyone seemed to be chatting and laughing together, like they had known each other forever. There was a boy with dark hair and a scar along his cheek, who was walking closely with a blond boy. The dark-haired boy gave Ray a smile, which he awkwardly returned.
Ray's phone buzzed, and he saw that it was a good luck text from his mother. He grinned before shoving his phone back into his pocket. With that, he stood and made his way to the gate, leaving the bright sunshine of that May day as he stepped onto the concourse.