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He grabbed a weirdly shaped contraption and started to cut through ently reruy

"Coo six weeks without washing an area of their body and have it smell like roses," he explained

He clearly didn’t knoife I’d bet she could She could do anything

I looked atholed up for the last six weeks I had to stopto return Holdingar until it looks like ain?" I asked the doctor

"That’s all norers look" He reached for hten it They were sore and underused

"That’s great, now ers into the paln And weak

I was not used to being weak

"It all looks good The bones healed nice and straight With about a week or so of rehab, Jack, you should be back on theon what?" I asked sharply

"No, no" He waved a hand in apology "I just th-wise Everyone heals differently," he said and I exhaled

"Can I throw today?" I asked, deteret back on the ed

"I don’t see why not Just take it easy"

I fired off a quick text tohealed well Off to see how it feels

My phone beeped out a response before I could put it down

So relieved And so thankful Good luck, babe I love you

I walked into our private indoor batting cage and grabbed a ball Palers around the seahtly as before, but I wasn’t worried One hundred percent healing would come with time With my heart in my throat, I pulledto pitch it, sirip eak and th they had amy way back into the doc’s office, I asked hier and hand strength back?"

"Absolutely," he said as he tossed e-like ball "Squeeze this" I did as he asked and he smiled "Good Now do that multiple times a day, but don’t overdo it No more than ten reps and no more than five times each day I know it doesn’t seeers and press the flat, like your table at hoht, Doc Thanks"

For the next week, I did as the doctor ordered, and each time I threw the ball at the field, I felt ood and when Coach clocked me, I threeen ninety and ninety-one consistently Not as fast as before, but still fast He re out the next hoet in my full unifor pants and a pullover I wanted to be dressed in full gear again

Sunday afternoon, the stands of Shea stadium were packed, an al about an afternoon ga our nation’s favorite pastime

When I took theI’d been missed Thank God I’d been missed; I missed them too The fans, the cheers, the stadiurass aroundonto the e with ainst the white rubber before turning to stand on it It was crazy, but I’d y step

The knowledge that I’d lost velocity on my pitches did little to soothe the anxiety that swirled inside ht back to where I was, but ripping the ball as tightly as they once did And when the baseball left ertips, the same force I once had, had lessened I knew it because I felt it From my arm all the way to ed

After sucking in a deep breath, I ai for ht down the center, a perfect fast-ball right down the pipe My hand felt good and I wanted to keep it that way, so I stretched ers and threw ten more pitches before the first batter stepped up to the plate

Ai to the catcher’s call for a first pitch fast-ball on the outside corner, I pulled lanced at the scoreboard behind me to check my speed as I walked back to the mound The numbers nine-zero showed on the screen under the strike one count