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Amateur Baseball Series: the Las Vegas Roadrunners’ Danny Manuel.”
    Danny: “Thank you. I feel like Superman today.”
    Zoom in on logo.
    Silent slow-motion of The Catch.
    Danny voice over: “Just, you know, get it.”
    Ocelot logo to Fade Out.
    It was awesome. I couldn’t wait for everyone to see it.
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    When I got back home Dad and Sal were there to welcome me. A week later, Mel stopped by. Her season was over and school was out, but she was going to play in Japan and Europe over the summer. She was here just for me, and knowing that made me feel great.
    â€œSo,” she said when we finally got a chance to talk alone, “how is all this hitting you?”
    â€œI like it a lot,” I said. “It’s kind of cool to think of little kids looking up to me and stuff. Did you see the commercial?”
    She looked at me a little funny when I said that, but she went on. “Yeah, it’s cool. But what do you think of this ‘arrangement’ with Ocelot? Dad seems happy.”
    â€œYou know, since the TV stuff I’ve been getting mail. Last week some girl proposed.”
    Mel laughed. “Are you going to accept?”
    â€œNo, I’ll wait a while. Consider my options, ya know?”
    â€œWhere is all this going, then, little brother?”
    â€œWell, I talked to Mr. Strauss. We’re doing some more commercials. And figuring out how to make the logo more visible during games. That footage is really valuable for promos if we can show the brand.”
    â€œWow, Danny, you are growing your marketing vocabulary.”
    â€œThank you,” I laughed. “I think. The deal is our team has a verbal contract with Pop’s Stars Sporting Goods—”
    â€œLove that place!”
    â€œYeah. So we wear their logo on our gear. But the lawyers think—”
    â€œLawyers?”
    â€œLicensing guys. They think that as long as Pop’s logo is visible, there’s no problem showing other brands as well. Pop’s is a retailer, not a manufacturer. So we won’t touch his stars, but we’ll use other opportunities for visibility.”
    â€œHey, if you decide to leave baseball, maybe you can go into law.”
    â€œWell,” I grinned, “if I do, law school is paid for.”
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    With all the marketing stuff and our next series of games, I had a big couple of weeks.
    It was crazy busy. With practices and Ocelot stuff I didn’t have much down time. I texted with Kayla in my spare moments. We had a tournament in LA in a few weeks, and I was starting to think about her—to think about us—a lot. Maybe we had a future.
    Future. That was the biggest thing on my mind then.
    â€œYou make your future now,” Mr. Strauss told me. “Perception is reality. You want to play in the pros, get the media talking about you. This is the foundation. People learn who you are, they see you play, and doors open. These days it’s not enough to be good. You need to be . . . attractive.”

CHAPTER 10
    S ince the Palm, the Runners had good news. Nick, our catcher, was back in action. Apparently he was only shaken up in the collision in Palm Springs. We had a couple of practices in Vegas. Then we went up by bus to a weekend series in Carson City. The Carson City Capitals are a good team, especially at home. The plan was we’d play them both Saturday and Sunday afternoon, with a Sunday-night game if necessary.
    On the highway, we were a caravan. The team bus was followed by team family vehicles, some of them big RVs that probably cost more than the bus. Carson’s folks had one the size of a yacht, with a satellite dish on top and a name painted on the back:
Ship of the Desert
. Once we actually had a team party—you’re talking thirty-some people—inside that RV.
    This trip one of the floats in our parade was a leopard-spotted van with an Ocelot logo on the side.
    I think it was when we