[written in impossibly fine print beside the commissioner’s signature on LOT #642a]
To Tommy,
who deflected this foul ball–which would have ended Game 6–from my glove into his own.
Let this ball, which you will forget about in a week, but later remember as an adult and sell for modest profit, stand as a reminder that your “dream” was more important than mine. That even though I survived an abusive father, two knee surgeries, and a broken marriage, you got to catch a baseball in the stands of a team that has never won a title, captained by a player who will almost certainly be remembered as the right fielder who let a child rob the joy from a city that deserved it.
Take pride in this ball. To you, it’s a moment of your young life arising from privilege, and destined to melt into a puddle called childhood—that I’ll see everyday as an oasis I can never reach, as I wander the outfield, wondering if my knees will ever stop hurting.
Vin Berardi is a NYC-based writer specializing in dark, strange, and comic pieces—often at the same time. An acting teacher for 30 years, he hosts The Trilogy Podcast, has a wife named Amy, and a dog named Louise. He reads his stuff out loud to his friends, who respond by telling him to get a haircut.