Thrown By Love Read Online Free PDF

back of them. He imagined for a moment what it would’ve been like to meet her in a different world, on a different stage, in a different game—a game where they played on equal ground. She’d been born into a part of the game he’d never belong to, a world of big money and power. In that world players had the power of their bodies and their performance, but that was as far as it went. Any guy who thought differently was fooling himself.
“It’s a pretty big story to teach in one semester,” he said, attempting to shift to safe ground once again.
He imagined she was pretty well schooled at avoiding uncomfortable conversations; she must face them all the time. But he knew when someone didn’t have their guard up—he’d learned to look for it. If a hitter didn’t have his guard up, Scotty could strike him out every time. For some reason, she wasn’t at the top of her game. Her defensiveness only made him want to delve deeper.
She fingered her cookie. “It’s a pretty big story to teach in a lifetime. I just try to hit the most pivotal moments, try to pique their curiosity, try to shake them awake. It’s fun.”
“I have a theory that baseball and the universe are alike,” he said, testing the waters. It was a pet theory he’d been developing—who better to try it out on?
“You’ve got my attention. Sports analogies could ramp up the cosmology department ratings.”
“You’d do better with a departmental football team,” he teased. “You could call them the Stanford Supernovas.”
She laughed. “You haven’t seen the guys in my department. Or the women. Bocce ball is more their style. Or water ballet. Nothing requiring brute strength.” She sipped at her mocha, her eyes glittering over the top of the cup. “I want to hear your theory.”
“Okay. But remember, you asked .” She had, but he didn’t need any prodding. Inexplicably he wanted to tell her every damn thought in his head. He shook off the urge and focused.
“The playing field’s a great place to start. It’s perfectly designed with the bases exactly ninety feet apart. The distance works seamlessly with the human ability to throw and run. If they’d made it ninety-five feet, no one could steal. If they’d made it eighty-five feet—we’re talking five feet here—even I could steal a base. And it works the same way for the location of the pitcher’s mound. Sixty feet, six inches from the hitter.”
He crumbled a bite off the cookie and popped it in his mouth.
“I need to look up who figured that out,” he said before taking another bite. “But it’s the magic number. You see, just a bit closer or just a bit farther and the game would break down—just like the strong nuclear force or the expansion rate of the universe. Just a tweak in either direction, making one stronger than the other—too strong and the universe would collapse in on itself, too weak and the universe would’ve evaporated—and it wouldn’t have congealed into galaxies and stars. It would’ve dissipated like the fizzle after a fireworks display. The baby would’ve just burned out and floated away.”
“I love it!” She smacked her palms on the table. “You have no idea how long I have tried to find a good analogy for the knife-edge balance of the forces in the universe.”
The enthusiasm in her smile made his gut tighten. This wasn’t forbidden territory, but whatever had just happened between them sparked an unfamiliar feeling. It was a rare person he could talk science with, but he had the unsettling feeling that what he felt had nothing to do with science.
She sipped her mocha and looked at him over the rim of her cup. “I never thought of it before, but baseball’s a great way to introduce time and space. First off, it’s a timeless game, even though it’s all about timing. I mean, according to the rules, a baseball game could go on forever.”
“They’d have to bring in food.” Scotty laughed. “Maybe baseball’s just a little slice of