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There’s been a long standing rule on our bench that Sutton doesn’t take the field if or when the benches clear. Roger decided on day one, seven years ago, that it was for her own safety and best interest that she stay on the bench in the event that the bases clear because one of us has done something stupid.
Sutton hates the rule, and reminds Roger every time this happens that she’s just as much a part of the coaching staff as every other coach in that dugout and that she should be allowed to help Roger wrangle the team when needed. She hates the rule, but for the last seven years, she’s abided by that rule.
Until today.
Both benches have emptied onto the field, bullpen pitchers are running in to join, and the coaches are trying to break things up as I try to shove Jamie Webster off of me, and make sure his fists don’t catch me on the face. After tossing Jamie off of me and pulling Nico away in an attempt to save him from ejection or suspension, I see Sutton climb the steps of the dugout and right into the fray. She starts pulling Olympians out of the little side fights that have sprung up, and sends them to the bench or to our coaches.
Nico has my jersey fisted in his hand, holding me back, as Sutton positions herself right between me and Jamie.
“Back to your bench, now.” There’s a hardness in her voicethat I’ve never heard before, and a fire in her eyes that I’d love to see again sometime. She turns to Jamie with a commanding tone. “You too. Back to your bench.”
“Get off of the field –” the last bit of what Jamie says to Sutton is cut off as Nico, sweet, gentle-hearted Nico, whirls on Jamie and squares up, ready for a fight. Luca grabs Nico by the shoulder and pulls him away, knowing the consequences of throwing punches on the field.
So I do it instead.
My fist finds his face better than he’s ever found the strike zone, and as he clutches his sure to be broken nose, he continues to shout at Sutton. There are a few other choice words that I start to respond to, but a stricken Sutton shakes her head.
“He’s not worth it, Max. Just let it go.”
The crew of umpires has their work cut out for them as we file back to our benches, I’m tossed, which is to be expected. Webster is too, along with a handful of others from each team.
“Davis!” I hear the crew chief call from the field. “You too.”
“What is she tossed for?” Roger calls to the ump. “She broke this up better than any of you morons did!”
“The secondary fight started because of her presence on the field, Roger.”
“That’s a load of patriarchal, misogynistic nonsense and you know it, Blue.” Roger is fired up, and the last thing we need right now is another ejection. “If I believe that an ejection is warranted, I’ll take it on the chin. But this? This isn’t warranted. This is you with your head up your….”
“Roger!” Sutton calls from the dugout steps, “I’m tossed. Don’t fight it.”
Sutton marches down the dugout steps and disappears into the tunnel as the rest of us follow. Nico looks shaken up, Luca is vibrating with barely contained rage, and Perez is asangry as I’ve ever seen him, but I can’t get a read on him. When we step into the clubhouse, I find Sutton sitting in the chair in front of my locker and seeing her there – hair undone, tear streaks on her face – something primal unlocks in my brain.
“Sutton, what were you thinking? This is why we have the rule!Thisis why we keep you on the bench.”
“Don’t youdarestart with me, Maxwell Harrison! I’m not the one who threw at their batter. I’m not the one who threw the first punch. This isnoton me, and I will not shoulder the blame for it.”
“Sutton, we keep you off the field during fights for a reason. There are men in this league that have no respect for you.”
“You think I don’t know that? You think right nowyoudon’t make that list?” She jabs a finger into my chest, which probably hurt her more than it did me, and I don’t miss the wide-eyed glances from the other men in the room. “I don’t care how well-intentioned you thought you were being, and I don’t care that you retaliated for them hitting Nico, that’s part of the game. Everyone in this room, and out there on that field, understands that unwritten rule. You need to ask yourself if you’d have acted that way if I were a man.”
“If you were a man, Webster wouldn’t have said what he said. So no. I wouldn’t have had a reason to.”
“Wrong answer, Max.” She stalks out of the room, the echo of the slamming door rings out in the clubhouse and I turn to find my three companions doing their best to busy themselves and act as if they’ve been ignoring us.
“You were justified,” Perez says, passing me on his way to the showers. “Webster deserved it.”
“I’m surprised to hear you say that.”
“She’s our coach. And I know I’ve been a jerk about it for a while, but when I watched her out there with the rest of the staff trying to break up the fight, I admit I wasimpressed.”
“She shouldn’t have been out there,” I insist, again.
“But she was. Can you imagine how it would feel to be the only one staying behind when the benches clear? She’s a part of the team, man. Good times and bad.” Perez pats me on the shoulder and continues on his way into the showers, leaving me stunned. Yanking my jersey over my head, I skip the showers and head straight to the training room to get my elbow and shoulder iced, grateful for the sting of the ice against my skin.
I don’t see Sutton again until the bus ride back to the hotel. She sits near the rest of the coaching staff, keeping her head down as they discuss the suspensions that might come from the scuffle today. I’m sure I’m looking at a suspension, I’ve been suspended for less than what I did today. Nico’s a rookie, the league will either take it easy on him or try to make an example of him, welcome him to the big leagues with a fine and a suspension.
The league didn’t waste any time. By the time we make it back to the hotel, news is being handed down about the suspensions. I’m out for ten games, Nico for seven. Webster got five games, which is a slap on the wrist in the grand scheme of what happened out there tonight. But the worst blow of all is the five game suspension for Sutton. For the next five games she can’t sit on the bench and she can’t come into the clubhouse. She takes the news and excuses herself from the impromptu team meeting at the hotel.
