#baseballstories

Edna Ferber: "When is a ball player not a ball player? Above the storm of facetious replies I shout the answer: When he's a shoe clerk." https://americanliterature.com/author/edna-ferber/short-story/a-bush-league-hero

After nine innings, the game ended and the dome slowly poured out. Men in dark blue jump-suits with wide yellow brooms began running as fast as they could down the aisles, sweeping up the bags boxes cups shells and souvenirs ahead of them. In the nose-bleeds, the guy who had to carry around the sodas finally sat down and had one for himself. Mom came down the stairs holding tight to the railing, watching her feet as they moved.

“You boys ready,” she said looking like she just woke up.

“Did you see his catch?” my dad asked.

I held open my glove to show her the ball.

“You caught a homerun ball?” she asked, smiling with a squinted eye and leaning forward.

“It was a foul ball.”

She stood straight up and shrugged.

“Oh. Just the same. Just tell everyone it was a homerun ball. That sounds much better. That sounds a lot better.”

She swished her hand sideways and leaned forward. 

"You can bring it to school in the fall. Bring it in for show-and-tell. You tell everyone there was a homerun and you show them the ball. We should sit it up on a shelf somewhere.”

“But it was a foul ball.”