Home Run: A Novel Read Online Free PDF Page A

read Young Life and $10,000 . He did his part, pointing their way and thanking them.
    I’m just a humble servant, and I do this all for you.
    That’s of course how he wanted to appear. A meek and humble player who made seventy-four thousand dollars per game. A clean twelve million per season.
    As Cory pandered to the crowd, something strange happened. The pitcher stepped off the rubber and threw the ball to third base. The basemen caught it and tagged the base, and the third-base umpire signaled an emphatic He’s out !
    An appeal? For a moment Cory wondered if this was some kind of joke. Were they doing this for show, as part of the Father’s Day celebration?
    There’s no way I missed third base.
    The crowd began to show their displeasure as the image of him rounding third played on the JumboTron.
    No freaking way.
    The shouting and the madness around him went away for the moment as the fury inside of him began to swirl around. Everything suddenly turned red and upside down. Losing control, being unable to do anything, standing there stupid and helpless and out of place …
    A feeling he’d had his whole life.
    “Are you outta your mind?” he yelled at the umpire.
    Suddenly logic and control ceased to exist.
    Cory forgot where he was, forgot the cameras surrounding him and everything else. He just knew he was furious and couldn’t take anything anymore.
    He wasn’t sure how long his hysteria lasted, hurling out curses and insults as the umpire threw him out. Soon he was surrounded on all sides by teammates holding him back, trying to calm him down.
    One of them was his manager, but Cory didn’t care.
    He didn’t understand. Just like the ump and the rest of the world.
    Nobody understood Cory’s pain and rage.
    It should’ve been a home run. God knows he should’ve been safe. For once he should have been safe . But once again something had been taken away from him.
    He wanted to break everything around him.
    He wanted to take the baseball and make the umpire choke on it.
    Ross dragged him off the field and made sure he got into the dugout. Cory didn’t want to look at anyone. He was done. He just wanted to get out of there and leave this stupid game behind him.
    The first thing he saw was the Gatorade cooler, which he wished was the umpire’s fat head. Cory kicked it and sent it tumbling over, with several guys jumping out of its way.
    The booing around the field continued as his cursing in the dugout just got louder.
    A little thing like neglecting to touch third base had managed to get him out.
    It was unfair. It was stupid.
    Cory grabbed a handful of baseball bats, taking them back out onto the field and throwing them in disgust. He heard Ross’s voice behind him and knew the batting coach was trying to calm him down. But nothing was going to calm him down. Not now.
    Don’t you dare touch me or tell me what to do.
    He jerked back, ready to shove Ross away from him, and suddenly he felt something crunch under his elbow. Then he heard a muffled wail and saw the kid in the Bulldogs shirt, holding his nose as it gushed blood.
    Oh no.
    The screaming and booing suddenly stopped as if someone had unplugged a stereo. For a second he stood there, wondering what the stupid kid was doing there in front of him. Wondering where he had come from. Cory started to go help him, but Ross and a trainer and a couple of other guys swarmed him before he could do anything. He started to object, but they grabbed him and made sure he was heading to the clubhouse.
    Cory Brand was definitely done for the day.
    He pried the hands off his uniform and tried to go back to see if the boy was okay, but the guys wouldn’t let him.
    Now the booing and yelling was intensified.
    Suddenly Cory felt like he was part of the visiting team. Suddenly he felt like he was back in LA with all those fans who hated him because he’d beaten them so many times.
    I didn’t mean to hit him. It was an accident.
    He was forced to go to the locker room by