TJM35

Tommy & Sam spent the day with his family & friends; she was a big hit as far as his family was concerned. Even Charlie Hailey pulled him aside to offer his summation of Samantha. "Li'l Mutt, you found yourself a really swell dame. Let's hope you have more sense than Mutt did & not let Sam slip through your fingers like Jeff almost did with Ginger." Charlie playfully nudged Jeff who was standing a few inches away from him talking to Steven & Jane.

"Shut up, Charlie, you have a big mouth. You know that?" Jeff scowled at Charlie.

Tommy had to laugh at the exchange between Jeff & Charlie. It seems like they have been at odds forever, but deep down you could see they had a mutual respect & bond with each other. Tommy's first recollection of seeing Charlie & Jeff set aside their differences & work together is when Charlie's ex-wife, Caroline, hit Emma over the head & tried to kidnap him when he was 6 years old. Charlie Hailey was always one of Tommy's favorite people. When Jeff would be away on a road trip, Charlie would let Tommy come over & help him paste clippings of Jeff's various successes into huge scrapbooks it looked like Charlie had been keeping since Jeff started playing for the Indians. He even gave Tommy one of Jeff's rookie cards. Charlie had 14 of them he had gotten out of bread loaves back in 1947. Tommy remembered laughing as Charlie explained to him how Jeff bought tons of bread & never did get his card but everytime Charlie got a loaf of bread he ended up with a Jeff Metcalf card. Tommy didn't have the forethought to ask Charlie until many years later why he never gave one to Jeff. Charlie looked at him with that big boyish grin & a sparkle in his eye & said, "Well, Li'l Mutt, what kinda fun would that've been!?"

Tommy turned around and saw Sam talking to his cousin Becky & sister, Susie. He caught the tail end of that conversation. "I can't believe Casey Bradshaw is your brother, Sam! He is really cute, does her have a girlfriend?" Becky asked anxiously. She was a very beautiful girl with all of her mother Linda's looks & charm. "It figures, all the good ones always do!" replied Becky after Sam nodded.

Susan was standing with her back to Tommy. "I can't wait until I can get Tommy to introduce me to that new pitcher, Shawn Gigler. He is a doll & I do not care that he is married."

"You had better never let mom & dad hear you say that, Susan Lynn Metcalf!" Tommy grabbed his sister around the waist & startled her.

"Say what, Thomas Jeffrey?"

"That you could care less about whether someone is married or not, just as long as you can lust after them."

"I said nothing about lusting! I was just hoping I could pick up some pitching pointers for when we have the big Metcalf family game at the picnic in August." Susan proclaimed, batting her eyelashes in a dramatically innocent fashion.

"Nice try, Sis"

Sam's ears perked up when she heard about the friendly game between the Metcalfs. "You all get together & play baseball together? How fun!"

"Not exactly, Sam, we have a great time don't get me wrong. The first year we started doing this was back in 1960. I was 3 years old & the Metcalfs were having a big family picnic at the same park in Cleveland that my dad's rival Arthur Shillib was having his at. Well my dad & Artie, that is what my dad likes to call him, haven't gotten along since my dad stole my mom back from Arthur. Anyway, in the spirit of competitiveness they challenged each other to a baseball game. The only stipulation was every member of the family had to play. We get together every year & play the Shillibs. It is a lot of fun but my dad hates, HATES to lose. Susie here is our pitcher." Tommy explained as he put his arm around his sister drawing her near him.

"Shillib... Arthur Shillib he stopped playing for the Indians in. 1940..8??? Yes, 1948! What was the reason again?" Sam was searching her memory; she prided herself on her knowledge of Indians trivia although Jeff Metcalf had always been her area of expertise.

Tommy was amazed by Sam's ability to remember facts. "He passed the bar"

"& Left to practice law!" Sam finished Tommy's sentence. "Come to think of it, your dad mentioned him the first day I met him at the ballpark when he saw the billboard with Derrick on it. It just didn't ring a bell."

Becky, standing there mostly silent, piped in, "My new boyfriend's name is Derrick, he was really excited about coming here to meet you all but he is running a bit late."