~ Chapter Twenty Eight ~

"The throw to first is in time, and that's two outs.  Next up is catcher Lenny Krazelton.  He's already 1-1 with a walk on the day - taking advantage of the playing time he's gotten since starting catcher Kevin Richardson was placed on the fifteen day disabled list with a strained right knee."  Niehaus reported.  "Team doctors are saying that Richardson shouldn't be out for more than a week, but Buddy Williams was left with only one catcher on the team, so Richardson will be out for the next 12 days and the Mariners called up Jason Richards from Tacoma.

"Krazelton swings at the pitch and fouls it down the third baseline.  Here on the 31st of July, just hours away from the trading deadline, we're getting news regarding a trade made by the Mariners front brass.

"The pitch to Krazelton - and he hits that one hard into the gap in left center - it bounces to the wall, and Krazelton will pull up at second with his second double of the evening."

Niehaus paused.  "And the Mariners have made a trade.  The Mariners have traded Scott Martin to the Toronto Blue Jays for starting pitcher Robert Grant.  The Blue Jays also receive a player to be named later in the deal.  The best of luck to Scott with his new team."

~*~

"You don't understand!"  AJ yelled at Lenny in the clubhouse, stomping his foot on the carpeted floor.  "It's the principle of the thing!  Haven't you ever seen a TV game?  Do you have any idea where those cameras are positioned?"  He flung himself onto his stool and crossed his arms, sulking.

"Center field."  Brian leaned over AJ's shoulder and nodded at the blond catcher.  "Most of the game action is shown from center field."

"Exactly, my friend."  AJ held his hand out to acknowledge Brian's genius.  "And do you know what happens when the camera is in center field?"

Lenny raised one eyebrow.  "No?"

"Everyone in the Pacific Northwest gets an excellent view of AJ McLean's a--."  AJ finished.  "It's kind of important for my pants to be lookin' good."

"Well, I'll remember that in the future."  Krazelton patted AJ on the shoulder, and headed for his locker, not impressed.

"He doesn't get it."  AJ shook his head sadly.  "Not that he needs to or anything."

"What was wrong with your pants?"  Nick wondered.  He had absolutely no clue what AJ was flipped out over, and he figured Brian probably didn't either, he was just playing along.  In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that even AJ wasn't sure, he was just giving Lenny a hard time.  Lenny was gullible. 

"You didn't notice?"  AJ said in shock.

"Forgive us, AJ, if we don't exactly check out your butt every time you come on the field."  Brian snickered.  "Trust me, we got more important things to think about."

"Hey guys."  Scott stopped in front of the group clustered in front of AJ's locker.  Scott had left the field in the sixth inning, when the trade with the Blue Jays had been finalized.  He was already dressed in his standard street attire of plaid shirt and jeans.

"Aw, man."  AJ said in disgust.  "This sucks."

Scott shrugged, his hands shoved in the pockets of his jeans.  "Well, I'll miss you guys, but it could have been worse, I suppose."

"Worse?"  AJ scoffed.  "Toronto has to have some of the ugliest uniforms in the league!"

"Forgive him."  Brian rolled his eyes at Scott.  "AJ's having a bit of a fashion crisis right now."

Nick drifted away towards his locker as AJ continued to grumble about his pants.  The dugout had become quite somber after the news in the sixth inning, and Nick knew this was just AJ's way of stirring things up a little, in an attempt to keep the mood light.  Scott was going to be missed - once he left, Kevin would roam the clubhouse unchecked by no one, except for Brian, who usually didn't bother to take Kevin on. 

"Hey, Nick?"  Scott had followed Nick down the aisle, leaving Brian and AJ to sit and snicker by themselves.

"Yeah?"  Nick's voice was muffled as he yanked his blue sweatshirt off over his head.  He didn't really want to do this.  Nick wasn't good at good-byes.

"Well..."  Scott started, in the slow drawl he always used.  "I just wanted to say that when I first met you, man, I was pretty convinced you were a brat."

"Gee, thanks."  Nick said wryly. 

"I figured that you were just a spoiled major leaguers kid, who had some talent, made it to the majors on his father's connections and had a pretty lucky first year in the bigs."  Scott continued.  "Oh, you know, he's Bob Carter's kid, he even plays like Bob.  And I apologize for thinking that because these last four months, I've come to realize that you don't.  You have a serious gift - there have been times on that field where I have been completely blown away by your playing, most of the time it doesn't seem to me that you've only been in the bigs for a year and a half."

Nick sat speechless on his stool, not quite sure what to say.  No one had ever said that to him before.

Scott rubbed the back of his neck once and smirked.  "And then there's other times when I wonder why the hell you pulled such a dumb rookie mistake."

That was more like it.  Scott had been worrying him for a moment.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is  I've really enjoyed playing with you, and I honestly think that in a couple years I'm gonna be saying I knew Nick Carter when."

Nick opened and closed his mouth a couple more times, still not sure how to answer that. 

"So..."  Scott punched Nick on the shoulder in a I'm-a-real-man-so-I-don't-hug sort of way.  "Let's hope we see each other in the playoffs."

"You bet."  Nick said, finally able to answer.  "Good luck in Toronto."

"Oh thank you..."  Scott glanced back down at AJ's locker.  "As tough as it will be to survive the uniforms, apparently."

Nick smiled.  Trust AJ to come up with something weird. 

Scott smacked Nick on the shoulder one last time, and moved on down the aisle to say his good-byes to the rest of his teammates.

"Well, things are gonna change around here a little."  Brian sighed, plopping himself onto the stool next to Nick and bending over to unlace his cleats. 

"Yeah..."  Nick agreed, watching Scott slug a couple more guys on the shoulder. 

"But, if the world was perfect, it wouldn't be."  Brian finished shortly.

Nick raised his eyebrows.  Brian was actually quoting Yogi Berra.  Somehow, he wasn't surprised.

"I mean, people, look!"  AJ hollered, effectively causing everyone in the clubhouse to turn and look at him.  AJ was standing on his stool, wearing only his underwear and socks, holding one of his cleats up in the air.  "WHY?"  He demanded.  "Can someone not design a good-looking cleat?"