A Twist of Fate (Complete)

Ch. 26 - The Yankees

As they walked into the player's entrance of Yankee stadium, Everly felt chills go up her arm.

"Wow. Just being in this place where so many baseball legends have played is such a strange feeling," Brad said in awe, looking around. She could tell how overwhelmed he was about being invited here and now she was feeling nervous for him.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Everly asked, looking at the three different long hallways.

"I'm supposed to meet with a recruiter named Jed Nelson. He was supposed to meet us here by the entrance," he said, looking around. "He's the one I'm supposed to talk to about maybe setting up a tryout. Then he's supposed to give us a VIP tour and take us to meet the players before I join their practice. "

A few seconds later they heard the echo of a door opening down the long empty hallway and a man walked towards them with a big smile. He was a skinny, middle aged man with short, dark brown hair, and he wore glasses and a basic black business suit. He reminded Everly of an accountant or an insurance salesman.

The man smiled and said, "Well I would recognize that face anywhere. Brad Lancaster. It's an honor," he said, shaking Brad's hand. "And who's this lovely lady you brought with you?" 

Everly didn't wait for Brad to introduce her. She put her hand out and said, "I'm Brad's friend Everly. I'm writing an article for the NYU student newspaper about his visit today."  

"Oh yes. Everly Sutton," he nodded. "I knew you were coming but I didn't know you and Brad knew each other." 

"We don't just know each other. We've been best friends since we were seven," Brad corrected him. "And she's almost as much of a Yankees fan as I am." 

"Well, it's nice to meet you," Jed said, shaking Everly's hand with a smile. "You guys can follow me," he motioned with a wave of his hand, leading them down the long hallway into a large conference room with a long, black rectangular table surrounded by black leather executive chairs. All the walls around the room had black and white pictures of the Yankees players and the biggest one right in the center was of Babe Ruth, Brad's idol. Brad looked at that picture for a second before turning and looking at Jed.

"Take a seat," Jed said, pulling out a chair and sitting down. Brad and Everly both sat down on the other side of the table across from him, looking at each other and then back at him.

"So let's chat for a minute Brad," Jed told him, resting his elbows on the table and clasping his hands together, looking across at him. "You hold the national all-time record for home runs and strike outs in a single season for a high school baseball player. You single-handedly won your high school team the national championship. I know for a fact every Major League baseball team's got their eye on you, drooling. Everyone's talking about how good you are and calling you the next Babe Ruth," he said, pointing at the picture of Bae Ruth hanging up behind him. 

Brad laughed, rubbing the back of his neck nervously.  "Yeah well, I don't know about that. I'm flattered but those are some big shoes to fill."

"Well if anyone could fill 'em, it would be you kid," Jed smiled. "I have no doubt about that." 

"So what do you think my chances are for getting a tryout with the Yankees?" Brad asked hesitantly. 

"Unfortunately, with you being a college student, you're not eligible for the draft until your Junior year." 

"I have to wait three years?" Brad asked, looking disappointed.

"Yes, but don't be discouraged. There are things we can do with you until then. As you probably already know, they just changed the rules and college athletes can get endorsement deals now and make money. We can help develop you as a player and build up your brand and image during that time and make you a household name across the country. We want to run a whole Yankees ad campaign capitalizing on this idea of you being the next Babe Ruth, get people excited about baseball again and pack the stadiums. That's why we wanted to get you down here today to practice with the team and do some publicity to build up the hype around you even more."