Big League Dreams Ch. 05

*

I survived the roving coach job, actually finding it fun, and it made for a lot of nice homecomings with Allison. To its credit, the team gave me back the job with her team, promoting my replacement to AA. My first season back was successful, not only on the field where I began to feel comfortable as a coach, and with Allison. When Hal asked if I wanted to move up a level and coach AA, I declined. He didn't understand why Al and I liked this team so much, but I knew we had somewhat different reasons, so I stayed for another year.

And that's how I found myself as a participant in one of Allison's best promotions ever, on a comfortable May evening where summer's heat was just hinting at its full force. She invited couples from the area to get married, on the field, before the game—the couples got free tickets, but the wedding guests had to pay the relatively cheap cost of an A league ticket. After the game, all of the happy couples and their guests were able to partake in a free reception in the stadium, with all costs paid for by the sponsors (although Allison, Terry and I chipped in some, to make sure it was great for everyone). And we also set up a private reception for our own guests in the stadium club.

The 10 other grooms who took us up on our offer were spread around the infield, while I stood near home plate, in my uniform, at Allison's insistence. Standing behind the plate was Marlon Richards, a genial umpire, who was also an ordained clergyman, dressed, again at Allison's insistence, in his game uniform, but without the protective mask.

The PA system started playing the wedding march, and then the announcer introduced each bride and wedding party, as they entered the field from the first base dugout. When I was the last unaccompanied groom on the field, the announcer, with some fanfare, introduced the team president, Allison Pullman, accompanied by the team chairman, her father Terry, who came out of the third base dugout. Terry was, apparently uncomfortably, dressed in a vintage baseball uniform, and Allison wore a white, figure hugging suit that vaguely looked like a baseball uniform. It had actually taken both Terry and me to convince her not to put the team name on the front.

Marlon was miked up, and performed the service, ultimately directing everyone to kiss, and ended the ceremony by yelling, "Youuuur Married!" to much laughter.

We even shot off a few fireworks, more for the noise than the spectacle, because it wasn't dark yet. We left the field to the cheers of the wedding guests and early arriving fans.

After the ceremony, I kissed Allison under the stands, as she went off to the executive box to watch the game, while I walked into the home locker room, to the cheers of the players and coaches, as I prepared to coach my pitchers.

Yes, it was our wedding day, but we knew going into our relationship that our lives would, for the foreseeable future, be governed by the rhythms of the baseball season, the game that we both loved, which had given us both enormous pleasure, and ultimately each other. We both lived out our childhood dreams, and looked forward to living our grown up dreams, together.