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We were back home facing the Lakeland Tigers. The Tigers had one of the worst records in Florida at 32-51.
Our Saturday game was rained out, leaving us with a Sunday double header. I spent the day icing my arm and listening to Westmoreland rib me mercilessly about Cheryl.
"What is with that girl? I swear, she jumps from ballplayer to ballplayer like a rabbit hopping through a field."
"Don't knock it til you try it, James."
"Don't tell me you.....Oh for crying out loud!"
Westmoreland was one of our oldest players at 26. While he didn't have the passion of Sandy Alomar, he did have a better knowledge of the game.
Don't anyone tell Sandy I said that.
It was 85 degrees and cloudy when we took the field at one in the afternoon for the first game of the Sunday double header.
The makeup game as it were.
I snuck into the bullpen wearing sunglasses and a fake Fu Manchu mustache. And not in my uniform.
A couple of the relievers snickered and one pointed to the bleachers.
There was Cheryl. In a flowery bikini top and cutoff shorts.
It should be noted that the girl was a looker. She knew what she had and picked out bikini tops to enhance it.
And a lot of the guys on the team would give it a go.
A lot of them already had.
If they weren't telling tall tales.
So why had she set her sights on me?
"Forbidden fruit," Githens told me. "She sees you as a challenge. A mystery she can't quite solve."
There was no real mystery.
There was a girl in Texas who I wasn't going to ever let down.
The win streak came to an end in the opener. The Tigers were victorious 2-1 as we stranded the tying run at third to end the game.
Then the rain came down again and the second game of the double header was moved to Monday.
Once again, it was cloudy and 80 degrees as we played the afternoon game.
The offense came alive for Vince and put a crooked number up in the first inning.
It never was a contest after that. We totaled 13 hits and won 8-3.
Vince got the complete game victory, allowing the three runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven.
That night, we finally got the second game of the double header in.
David James was not very good and the Tigers put four runs up in the second inning.
Every effort to come back was squashed by our own decision making as we had four guys caught stealing in the game.
Sandy laid the blame on that squarely on our manager.
Lakeland won the second game 5-2.
I wondered how long Sandy would remain in Miami. I had a feeling he would be headed to the South Atlantic League before the season was over.
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