Alec was worried. He needed to get to his dad right away. He wasn’t sure how the waiver wire worked. Did it operate on the first-come, first-served principle? Or did the team lowest in the standings get preference when two teams wanted to take the same player listed on the wire?
His dad would know. Joel might as well. What he didn’t want was for anyone to know was that he and Tanner had had a hand in arranging for Tanner’s name to go on the wire. He figured he had to be careful. If he suddenly started asking questions out of left field—like, ‘Hey, Dad, who’s on the waiver write today?’—which was something he’d never done before, and then his dad saw Tanner’s name—no, that didn’t bear thinking about.
He didn’t think he and Tanner had done anything, well, not really bad, but maybe just touching a line they hadn’t really crossed, not really, but he did need to be cautious.
But maybe Joel could ask about how the wire worked, or find some other way to mention the waiver system.
Joel was at home. Joel’s father hadn’t seen much of him lately and wanted to talk to him about that. Alec called him and told him about Tanner going on waivers. “You have any idea how we can tell Dad to look at the wire and not seem suspicious?”
“We don’t have to.”
“Whada you mean? He’s probably on the list already. Some team will beat us to him!”
“There’s no hurry. In a case like this, a whole lot of people get involved because of the big money they have to consider. Anyway, when anyone’s time is up on the list, three days I think, the team lowest in the standings gets first shot. But just because you’ve put in a claim for a player, that doesn’t mean when crunch time comes that you’ll actually take him. You could have changed your mind. So even if we’re not low team on the totem pole right now, he might still fall to us.”
“How can you be so calm? And why don’t we have to tell my Dad to watch the list?”
“Because teams look at it every day. Every team does. He’d look at you funny if you reminded him to do something that’s automatic with his job. What we should be thinking about is how to get him to take Tanner if he has the chance.”
“How do we do that?”
“You’re the idea man. Figure it out!”
Which Alec did.
««« »»»
When Hubbard came home for dinner, he was surprised to find only Alec there.
“Where’s your partner in crime? No falling out already, is there? I like Joel.”
“Yeah, I can see that. I hope he likes me better than he does you! Anyway, his father wanted to spend some time with him. He’ll probably show up tomorrow.”
“Fine. You’re coming in with me in the morning, aren’t you?”
“Sure. Oh, by the way, I got a text from Tanner today. You’ll never guess; he’s being sent down.”
“Yeah, I know. I saw his name on the waiver wire.”
“Really? Does that mean he’s available?”
“Yeah, to any team that wants to make that commitment. It’s a big deal. Lots of money involved—and roster space, which is also important. With Tanner, there are concerns about his ability. This isn’t an easy decision.”
“So you’re not going to do whatever it is you need to do to grab him?”
“I didn’t say that. Right now, we’re considering it. The boy has great potential, but he’s been getting hit hard lately. I need to figure out what the problem is and if it’s correctible, but I can’t tamper with him.”
“Hmmm. Well, can I ask him and then tell you what he says?”
Hubbard had to think about that. After a minute, he said, “You can’t ask him that directly if the reason you’re doing it is to relay the information to me. But if he volunteers what his problem is, then you tell me you think such and such is the problem? That makes it iffy, and I don’t like being iffy. I wouldn’t be tampering directly, but, it would make me uncomfortable. Look, if you talk to him, and he responds, it would be like her was just letting off steam to a friend. But it still doesn’t feel right, and you know me. You’re just like me. There are some places, some times, when we just don’t cut corners. What and how we feel about ourselves is important. One of our most important things.”
“When is the selection announced?”
“A player stays on the list for three days, and at the end of that period, the teams who’ve selected him are called in ascending order. When one agrees to take him, then it’s announced. They have to make the decision when they’re called. In other words, they have to have decided before that.”
Alec was feeling better about this now, even though it was still very uncertain. He’d just have to find a way to do what he had to do to get his dad to claim Tanner; it had to be entirely aboveboard. How, he didn’t know yet, but he’d figure it out. “I’ll call Tanner, see if he wants to bare his feelings about being sent down. Maybe he’ll mention what his problem is on the mound. If it’s something that’s not too big a deal, would you take him? Would Mr. Henry be willing to pay what would be needed?”
“He’d probably want to check with Mr. Ruggles, but they almost always go along with what I want. If Tanner’s problem is temporary, or fixable, he’d be a tremendous get for us. If I say we want him, I’ll be surprised if they’d veto it.”
“I’ll find out what’s what without breaking any rules or crossing any ethical lines. I’ll fill you in if I can.”
“Great.”
After dinner, Alec rode back to the ballpark with his dad. They sat in their box and watched the game. The Otters, under their new manager, looked different, more spirited. Jersey got a double the first time up, then promptly stole third. The crowd roared. “This is what we want,” Hubbard said. “The crowd was sitting on their hands before. Now they’re into it; they’re with us. Tell Joel he’s resurrected our season.”
“You’d already made the decision to bring Jersey up from the minors yourself.”
“You don’t need to tell Joel that.”
««« »»»
Alec texted Tanner that evening when he knew he’d be in the hotel. Alec: «Call me at home on a land line. ASAP»
Two minutes later their house phone rang, and he snatched it up. “Where are you?”
“In my hotel room.”
“Then this call is going through the hotel switchboard. Can you get to a phone which would be private.”
“You’re really going cloak and dagger with this business,” Tanner laughed.
“It’s only your career and happiness I’m thinking of. Go to another phone.” Then Alec hung up.
Ten minutes later, the phone rang again. Alec was ready. “Where are you?”
“King Street Station. They have a whole row of booths. Nobody uses them because everyone has a cellphone. I used my credit card. That’s okay, isn’t it?”
“Probably. I found out from my dad that you’re on the wire. I asked if he’ll pick you up, and he said it would depend on what problems you’re having and if they’re fixable. He said there was too much money involved to just take a chance without more knowledge. He also said I wasn’t to ask you what the problem is, so I won’t. But I figured out how to get around that that makes all this open and clean: what I’ll do is tell him the Angels told you that you were tipping your pitches and you had to work on your delivery after being sent down. They said they’d bring you back up when you’d fixed it.
“I think I can get away with telling him you and I had wondered if tipping was the case, and when you threw to me, I saw that your footwork was slightly different on fastballs than on curve balls. When I was catching you, you tried changing your mechanics slightly—your footwork specifically—and found doing so didn’t present any problems at all. You told me you weren’t going to change anything in games because you were afraid you might lose control and hit someone, but in all the time we worked with a new delivery, your control was fine. You said you felt no stress in your arm. Said your speed was the same. The change you made was infinitesimal and actually gave you more movement on your fastball. But you hadn’t tried it in a full game yet.”
Alec could almost hear Tanner smiling. “That ought to do it. It’s better than what I could ever have come up with. And as you say, the Angels figured out what the problem was all by themselves. We already knew, but we hadn’t told anyone, so we’re okay, too. When will we know if the Otters own me?”
“The wire time’s up the day after tomorrow. We should know then.”
“Fingers crossed.”
“Yep,” Alec agreed. “Fingers crossed.”
««« »»»
The time for teams to learn who’d be awarded Tanner’s contract ended at four PM. Alec and Joel were both in Hubbard’s office with him waiting for the phone to ring. They’d be informed of what team was getting Tanner whether it was the Otters or someone else.
Alec had passed on the news that Tanner was tipping pitches and had already found a cure. Hubbard was very on-board about getting him.
Four o’clock came and passed, and the longer it took to get a phone call, the more unsettled everyone became.
When the phone finally rang, Hubbard answered, listened to a brief message, then hung up. “Boys,” he said, “we didn’t get him. The Twins have a worse record than us. Only two other teams besides us were interested: the Marlins and the Blue Jays. We were second on the list to the Twins.”
Joel looked like the sky had fallen on him. He dropped his head. “I was so hoping . . .” He covered his face with his hands.
Alec was shaken, too. He’d had all kinds of thoughts about what the three of them could do when Tanner was an Otter. Now, Tanner would be even farther away than when he was in Anaheim, and with the Twins being in a different division, they’d have many fewer games together than when he was with an AL West team.
“So that’s it?” he asked. “There’s nothing more we can do?”
Hubbard saw how disturbed the two were. He himself was sorry to miss out on a quality starting pitcher who was a pretty sure bet. He thought for a moment, then said, “I can try something. Doesn’t hurt to try.”
He pressed a button on his intercom and asked Mrs. Gonzales to get Dan Brinkley for him. “Brinkley’s my equal with the Twins,” he told Alec. “He’s a good friend. This is a cutthroat business, and there’s almost no one you can trust implicitly. Dan and I started together, working as scouts for the Padres. We’ve both moved to different teams a couple of times in different capacities, and they were always upward climbs. We kept in touch. Dan and I trust each other, which is rare.”
“Dan’s on line one,” he heard from the intercom.
He picked up his phone and pushed the blinking button after putting the call on the speaker. “Hey, Dan. Congratulations. You snagged a guy we were looking at.”
“Yeah. Might cost me my job. Huge risk, and the Twins are very careful about spending money. If Simmons is good, he’s great, but he’s fallen on hard times recently, so it’s just a guess. A gamble. My job might well be on the line if this doesn’t work.”
“Oh, God, Dan. If it’s that bad . . . look, let me suggest something. Your team needs more than just starting pitching, and with Simmons you’ll be paying a ton for that, and right now he’s an iffy proposition. Another idea might be to bring in a couple of good prospects. You’re rebuilding anyway and highly rated prospects could fill existing needs. Going that way, you would save the big bucks that’re due Simmons, and it would cost a lot less since the prospects would start with the league-minimum salaries.
“If you want to minimize risk, that might be one way to do it.”
“What are you saying, Hubbard?”
“What I’m saying is, I was going to take the risk you’re now taking on Simmons; I’m still interested in him, and we might be able to come up with a mutually helpful trade. You’d be cutting your risk; going with prospects your risk would be negligible, and the money issue would go away. I’ve got several majors-ready guys you could choose from and we could hassle over.”
“Man, you don’t know how tempting that is. I’d say Simmons has only a 50/50 chance of being the real deal. Which makes me ask, why are you so hot on Simmons? It makes me curious.”
“Don’t tell anyone this, Dan, because if they knew I was making a move for sentimental reasons, I’d be laughed out of the game. But the thing is, when the Angels were here recently, my son happened to meet Simmons. The two hit it off, became friends. Then Simmons’ brother somehow got into the mix. Simmons told them he was homesick for Portland and missed the people he knew here. He said he was lonely and had no friends on the Angels. My thinking is, maybe being back home will be good for him. Maybe he’ll settle in better at home, be happier, and it’ll have a salubrious effect on whatever problems he’s having.
“But it’s more than that. This is part of it. I have two boys in my office listening to this conversation, and they look like their favorite pet was just hit by a car. They just heard Simmons won’t be coming here. I’d like to find a way to cheer them up.
“But hey, I agree with you that Simmons is a risk—all pitchers are—but I think he might work out okay. He’ll be with different players and have a change of scenery. That sometimes makes a difference with a young player.”
“How will it look, though, if he does turn things around and I traded him away?”
“You know me, Dan. The best trade is always a fair one. Everyone gains that way. So, for insurance, if Simmons is able to pitch as well as what was originally expected of him, I’ll give you another prospect, and in fact let you choose one from any minor league team we run.”
“You know, doing this would certainly save me some sleepless nights. The Twins don’t like spending money, and they don’t like bad judgments. They’re averse to risk. They play everything so close to the chest that my hands are tied most of the time. I’ll tell you what. Draw up the papers naming the players involved and the final bonus offer you just mentioned, add just how Simmons has to perform for you to allow me to choose that final man, sign and fax them, I’ll sign and send your copy back and we’ll have a done deal.”
“Thanks, Dan. Two boys here are suddenly jumping up and down with smiles that won’t quit. I love seeing young teenagers act like they’re eight-year-olds and it’s Christmas morning.”
««« »»»
“I have to call Tanner.”
They were still in Hubbard’s office, the call to the Twins having just ended. “Alec, don’t be impatient,” his father cautioned. “The league likes to approve trades, and sometimes they nix them. This needs their approval; I want it put to bed and all hitches avoided before we say anything. Tanner might do something, and the wrong person would hear and . . . it’s simply better to let this play itself out.”
“But Dad, he has to be despondent, hearing he’s a Twin. Hearing he won’t be coming home.”
“Yeah, I understand. I guess . . . but, no. I advise you not to tell him he’s about to become an Otter.”
Both boys left the stadium, happy but impatient, and they were worried about how Tanner would receive the news he was going to the Twins.
“We have to tell him,” Joel said.
“I think so, too. We’ll just have to make sure he won’t give it away. I don’t know how good an actor he is. You know, I think I have an idea. We’ll make the call when we’re at home.” He called Cal and the two boys were whisked from the stadium to Alec’s house. There, Alec phoned Tanner, who picked up.
“Hey, Alec. Thanks for calling. I have bad news, though.” He sounded distraught to Alec.
“I have news, too, and it trumps yours. I know you were selected by the Twins. I know more than that, that a trade is being worked on. It might happen, it might not; things are sensitive till everything’s finalized. But I wanted you to not give up hope of being an Otter. “This is important: you can’t let on to anyone that you know about this as it almost certainly would kill the trade. It’s still iffy, but I’d say it’s more likely to work than not. I didn’t want to keep it from you ’cause I’m sure you were feeling as bad as we were. You just have to do your part now—you know nothing other than you’re headed to Minneapolis.”
“Wow, that does give me hope. Okay, I’ll make sure no one knows about the possible trade. Thanks so much for telling me. I was feeling—well, probably just what you were feeling. Is Joel okay?”
“Here, ask him yourself.”
He handed the phone to Joel, and the two brothers spoke for a while.
Hubbard came home for dinner a few minutes later. “Coming to the game with me tonight?”
“Wouldn’t miss it. I’ll see if Joel wants to come, too; if so, we can pick him up.”
They did bring Joel with them. The Otters won, 7-3. Jersey Rolf got two more hits and one more stolen base. He already had his own cheering section near third base.
Alec saw his father had his binoculars on Jersey. “I’d like to meet him, Dad. I’ll bet he’s having a problem making friends. The only players on the team his age, or about his age, only speak Spanish. Tanner was isolated like that in Anaheim. It was one of the reasons he wanted to leave. Maybe we could invite Jersey to dinner.”
“General Managers don’t invite players to their house for dinner.”
“Well, maybe they should. You’re always going on about team togetherness, being a family,” Alec said with a challenging tone, but with an element of teasing, too. “Why not include the manager and GM in that family? And in this case, it’s even more warranted because of Jersey’s age. He’s probably as lonely off the field as Tanner was. What’s the problem with this?”
“I don’t know. I just know it sounds really strange. But I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask. He can always say no if it’s strange for him, too.”
“Thanks, Dad. And with tomorrow an off day, it would be the perfect time for it. He probably will be at loose ends all day and be really pleased that you thought of him. And he’ll get to meet Joel and me. Ask him tonight.”
“Please ask him tonight?”
“The please was implied.”
««« »»»
Jersey accepted, both shocked and happy. New to the big leagues, he didn’t know how tight the hierarchy would be with the players. He’d expected no engagement at all between players and anyone above the manager. This invitation told him a lot about the organization, and it was all good.
He was surprised to find two boys not much younger than he was when he arrived at the Rafferty house. The four of them sat out on the back patio with soft drinks and talked before heading to the table.
Mr. Rafferty welcomed him and, again to his surprise, didn’t ask anything about baseball and how he was finding playing against seasoned pros. He asked him how he was settling in, whether he’d made any friends yet, whether he’d had a chance to explore Portland at all and whether there was anything he needed. Hubbard mentioned that there were many little restaurants all around the downtown area that he could try. “They aren’t big fancy places but more like regular houses; they only have a few tables, but the food is eclectic and usually outstanding. It’s a feature you don’t find in many big-league cities. In some ways, Portland is like a small town.”
After that, it was the boys who did most of the talking. They were very friendly and animated, and Jersey took to them right off. Maybe the fact they not only told him they were boyfriends but that they did so with one of their fathers sitting there listening—well, he could tell he wouldn’t have any personal problems with the Otter management.
The boys seemed more interested in him as a person rather than as a baseball player. Teens he’d known never were that way. They wanted to know about playing.
One of the first things Alec asked was about his name. “I’ve never heard that name before.”
“I grew up in New Jersey, and I learned the rather pronounced accent kids there have. In the minors, someone stuck the label on me and it stuck. I don’t mind. At least they didn’t pronounce it ‘Joisey’. When I get to know people, well, maybe in some cases I’d rather be called by my actual name, but it’s not necessary.”
“What’s your real name?”
“Terry, or really Terrance, but I like the shorter version. It goes with my last name better, I think. Terry Rolf.”
After Hubbard asked a question about his parents and Jersey had answered, Alec said, “You won’t have any problems on the team because of being gay. And this is a fairly liberal city. Oregon is pretty conservative outside the big cities, and in some places is anti-gay. But not here or in Eugene. You’re from Nevada, aren’t you. Went to UNLV? Why there instead of a school back east? Anyway, I’d guess Nevada isn’t as conservative as many of the western states.”
“My parents moved to Las Vegas, so I went to school there and could live at home, which saved tons of money. As for being harassed as a kid, I never got much of that.” Jersey smiled, thinking about it. “I escaped all that because times had changed and I hadn’t come out till my senior year in high school. I was kind of a star baseball player, and because of that I was popular, and coming out didn’t seem to cause much fuss at all. If I encountered any negativity, it almost always was from adults.”
“We’re still not out,” Alec said. “Matter of personal choice, I guess. You felt the need to be yourself and that you had no reason to hide it.” Alec shook his head. “I guess I’m a little scared of confrontations, and Joel used to be too shy. Not so much now, but being shy, your coming out is just something you avoid as long as you can. Joel still doesn’t want to.”
“You’re both so lucky to have found someone this early. I still haven’t had any relationships at all, but my body’s telling me to get a move on. I’ll have a better chance here, I think, if I’m able to hang on. I heard this city had the first gay mayor in the U.S. It’s gotta be a good place to go boyfriend hunting.”
Joel finally spoke. “We’ll be on the lookout for someone for you.”
Jersey laughed.
Posted 16 April 2025