What was going on in Whooping Falls during the second week of September was of no consequence to the population of the world. In fact, it was of little importance to the 153 baseball fans who had shown up for the season ending game of the Whooping Falls Warriors. It was a bush league team, presently losing its fifth straight game. Mercifully, the Warriors were now at bat in the bottom of the ninth inning. Everyone, including the owner of the team, was relieved when the third batter whiffed strike three to end the agony of a 14 to 0 defeat.

 Theo Latimer held a faint admiration for the opposing team. They had the ability to score runs in a night game played on a field with faulty stadium lights. An intermittent electrical short caused the lights to blink off and on every so often without warning. Suddenly the playing field would become a psychedelic scene. It’s visual effect made the baseball seem to be disappearing as the lights went off then suddenly reappearing as the lights snapped on.

 One would be reminded of a flickering 1910 silent movie. It was nearly impossible at times for a batter to correctly guess where the fast moving ball was exactly. Naturally there were some injuries to batters as well as to the catchers who also weren’t sure where the ball was.

 Many of the runs scored by the opposing team came from accidents caused by errors in judgment by the Warrior outfielders. Fly balls bounced off their stomachs, hit them in the shoulder or never came near them. For the most part the fans stayed until the end of the game because of the amusing mishaps caused by the flickering lights. On each occasion when the lights went into their act the crowd would cheer and laugh raucously at the mishaps caused by the unpredictable trajectory of the phantom baseball.

 Theo had offered to forfeit the game but the opposing team manager declined because his team was winning. During the game Theo had searched the park looking for the groundskeeper who had assured him the stadium lights had been repaired. Actually it was his fourth guarantee to Theo the problem was definitely fixed this time.

 Both teams were relieved to have the game finally end. As they passed each other shaking hands the scene had an extra feeling of bonding because they had a shared experience during the bizarre game. Several casualties were sporting bandages covering nasty bruises sustained from unexpected contact with the menacing ball.

 Losing pitcher for the Whooping Falls Warriors, Chad Smith, had mixed emotions about the game. He was relieved to be finished pitching balls which disappeared into a black void, sometimes as it left his hand. Then watching anxiously to see if the batter or catcher was injured. On the other hand, being considered the losing pitcher for the record seemed unfair given the strange circumstances. He didn’t really have a large win and loss record because he was the team’s relief pitcher. Often he only pitched a couple of innings in a game when the starting pitcher began to tire or lost his control.

 As the team left the field the 153 baseball fans let out a loud cheer for the players’ dogged determination to finish the game. None of the players acknowledged the ovation since they had also been the butt of loud laughter and unsavory comments by this same rude crowd. Impulses to retaliate were admirably squelched in favor of a hot shower and a quick get away.

 In the Whooping Falls Warriors locker room Theo Latimer, with his team manager at his side, gave a little speech to his players:

 “I want to thank everyone for sticking around through this lousy season. In the present starting line up only four of you have been playing for the Warriors from the beginning of the season. Injuries and losing several of our best players, who left to take better offers, were the main reasons for our losses this season. The proof is our winning record through May, then we were riddled with vacancies.

 "You know I love the game of baseball. Ten years ago I started this team because I wanted to be a part of the game even if it was only in a small way. I also believed Whooping Falls deserved to have a baseball team. I hope you guys are willing to play for me next season unless the New York Yankees scoop you up. [the team laughed at that one]

 "Marty here," he said putting his arm around the manager’s shoulder, "has agreed to stay for another season with the Warriors. He’s a guy used to winning games and he has the record to prove it. We can build a winning team. In the next room there’s a spread of food and plenty of champagne to wash it down with, Marty will get around to the players we want to have back for spring training in March. Good luck to all of you.”

 To date the baseball team had been a money pit for Theo. Never a winning season. Always at the bottom of the lowly league. He was the wealthiest man in the small city and owned nearly half of downtown Whooping Falls so he could afford to dabble in baseball. He had been shocked and saddened by the lack of support for the team by Whooping Falls citizens. Attendance at home games was nearly nonexistent except for the fans of the visiting teams.

 Mainly they had become tired of watching the Warriors lose games. Besides, it felt more like the team belonged to Theo than to the townspeople anyway. In a stadium that could hold 10,000 spectators the highest attendance had been 1,056 fans in the second season. It happened when Theo offered all the beer you could drink for the price of a ticket.

 It was a disastrous move. Every hard drinker in Whooping Falls and surrounding towns showed up for the free beer with little regard for the ball game going on in the stadium. By the seventh inning of the game the crowd was uproariously drunk. It got very ugly. Fights broke out in the stands. Security guards felt they were underpaid anyway and stayed out of harms way. Eventually the brawling mob spilled out onto the playing field.

 When the police arrived to stop the uprising the chief of police made a grave mistake. He had recently attended a week seminar on crowd control and he was anxious to put what he had learned to practical use. Out came the long shields his men had been trained to use and on went the riot helmets. Hoses were quickly connected and the men in the front of the crowd were knocked off their feet as a violent gush of water from large hoses hit them dead center.

 Unfortunately, there were many born fighters in the drunken mob and the dousing only enraged them. They stopped fighting one another then turned their attention to the annoying policemen. Several hundred men charged the police line. Things began to escalate as the mob became a cohesive unit and the collective mood turned uglier. When they charged, the police calmly held up their shields and stepped backward to maintain a distance from their enemies. A man laughed at the police as they retreated and yelled out,

 “Look at this gutless bunch. They’re running away. Let’s get’em.”

 As trained by the chief, the police line went into Phase Two. They brandished riot guns ordering the crowd to step back. Ignoring the warning they kept on coming.The police, not waiting for an order to shoot, let off a barrage of rubber bullets. Several men were hit in the chest at close range and were knocked flat. There were screams, howling and cursing coming from the crowd as rubber bullets struck them in the legs. With a swift move the crowd closed the gap between themselves and the police so they couldn’t shoot at them.

 A melee of shouting cursing men battled each other hand to hand. Only the Final Phase in mob control stopped the participants. Tear gas canisters were rapidly shot into the crowd. Within minutes the crowd began to choke and cough which effectively took the fight out of them. Acting quickly the police arrested the leaders of the mob.

 The Whooping Falls Daily Blow proclaimed in screaming headlines:

 NAZIS BRUTALLY SUBDUE CITIZENS

 A detailed account of the ugly affair covered three pages since the paper printed all of the letters to the editor indignant people had dropped off at the newspaper office. Somehow in the minds of the Whooping Falls residents baseball and Theo were at fault for the riot. The result was attendance at games plummeted to a few hundred people at least half of which were there for free.

 Theo was handing out complimentary tickets to schools and to the senior citizens center. On several occasions the baseball game was given added excitement by emergency crews arriving to take an elderly fan to the hospital with a heart attack. It is doubtful the game in progress caused enough excitement to have anything to do with the seizures gripping the elderly.

Chapter Two

 Chad Smith patiently waited until all of the other ball players were gone before approaching the owner and the team manager. He was not one of the players invited back for spring training. He was anxious as he walked toward the two men who resembled twin bowling balls. Although not kin to one another their was a strong resemblance. Both were stocky, short and bald. Theo however did appear to be more peaceful than Marty. Maybe because he didn’t have to be directly responsible for the team’s ability to win games.