Another Time Another Place and Other Short Stories

Brady was a fit thirty two year old. His sandy hair was cut short making his broad forehead look larger than it was. His gray eyes were clear, and always looked as though he was about to ask a question. A thin stubble of beard made him look older.

Aside from what the fans and others liked or knew about him, he d lost the love of the game be played since grade school. This was going to be his last season. He d made enough money to start a small business, and he wanted out while he was still in one piece.

By the year 2010, the game of baseball had changed dramatically. Strikes by the players during the early nineties had caused the beginning of a decline in attendance. Other changes added to the lack of attendance.. The ability of more cities to sponsor hockey teams, and to build arenas for so-called professional wrestling drew a certain element of high paying fans. Clever television advertising for more physical action sports drew more fans away from baseball. The high cost of top players couldn t be sustained by some teams. This caused once good teams to lose fans because of their low standings. Attendance at baseball stadiums began to fall off, slowly at first, then picked up steam as more hockey; basketball; soccor; football, and wrestling began appearing in more cities. Many cities recognizing the lack of attendance, shrugged off attempts by owners of baseball teams to get new franchises. High schools and colleges downplayed baseball, and almost stopped the game until a change began to take place among the few remaining professional teams early in the new millennium.

In the year 2004, baseball teams were being bought out by a multinational firm headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio. Globex International was going to change baseball, and make it profitable again. Some owners were against the new concept, and didn t like giving up control they had over their respective teams. In time all of them went along with the new buyout idea. The owners had some control since they were all stockholders. Those that could manage well continued on as before, but if you couldn t manage well, Globex replaced them with their own managers.

Each team purchased advertising from Globex. Ballparks; sports gear; television rights; tickets; concessions; players; team logos and anything else connected with the teams were owned outright or controlled by Globex. The corporation had no competitors, except other sports. Rules could be changed with little or no opposition. Clever commercials and other forms of advertising lulled fans into thinking the new rules were for their benefit.

A scientist, working for Globex, had developed a new baseball. A Baseball that would change the game, and entice a certain type of fan in large numbers. Traditional baseball fans were of no concern to Globex. The new baseball was called the "Sixty Second Ball" by the fans. It was both simple and deadly at the same time. The ball was brought into play by a man dressed in black. He carried a small black box that held the balls until they were needed. At the beginning of each game the crowd would chant for the man in black. He would open the box, take out a ball, and hand it to the home plate umpire. The rules were simple. As long as the ball was held in the hand of anyone, players or umpires, nothing would happen. The ball had to be held in a players non-gloved hand to stop the count. Once the ball was in play, and nobody was touching it, the countdown of sixty seconds would begin. The fans would cheer, and count the seconds whenever the ball was free. If the ball was in the air, or on the ground at the end of the sixty seconds, or had just landed in the glove of a player, the ball exploded.