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Across town, Cooper Madison was being faced with a new reality of his own. His agent, Todd Taylor, had just informed him that the Cubs had worked out a deal with the Cleveland Indians to trade his rights for two of their top minor league pitchers. In addition, the Indians would have to pick up Coop’s remaining contract.
“Here’s the deal in a nutshell,” T-Squared informed his client. “The Cubs placed you on waivers at 12:01 a.m., which means that the other teams in the league can claim you within 48 hours. If any other team besides the Indians, who already claimed you at 12:02, tries to claim you, then two scenarios will likely unfold.”
“Go on…”
“The first is that you would be awarded to the team with the worst record. If that’s the Indians, then the deal goes through. The second is that another team with a worse record then the Indians claims you, and then the Cubs would simply rescind the waiver and maintain your rights. Since the Indians are currently sitting 4th in their own division, there aren’t too many teams that could claim you before them anyways.”
“So that means that the deal will go through,” Coop stated.
“Sure looks that way. Listen, you’re going to have about 36 more hours to wait anyhow, but start thinking about what you want me to tell the Indians front office.”
“I thought I couldn’t even pitch if a deal wasn’t made after August 31st, though?”
“Actually, the rules just state that any player dealt after August 31st is not eligible to be on a postseason roster, which the Indians are in no danger of having this season.”
“Oh… I didn’t realize that. I just assumed I couldn’t pitch at all this year even if I wanted to.”
“That’s why you pay me the big bucks, C-Mad…”
“Don’t call me that, T. You know I hate that…”
Todd gave a devious chuckle on the other end, knowing that his intended reaction had been obtained.
“You’re lucky you’re also my friend, or I would’ve fired your ass the first time you called me that…” Coop chided.
“You know you love me, Coop. You’re stuck with me anyways. No agent in his right mind would take you, trust me, I’ve tried!”
“Very funny, T…”
“Hey, how’s things going with the new lady friend?” Todd switched gears.
“Great! She’s actually in class right now.”
“That’s good to hear, at least one of you should have a degree!”
“Bye, T…”
“You know I’m kidding. Hey, think things over, and I’ll be in touch. Peace.”
Coop set the phone down on his kitchen counter and made his way out to the balcony. It was a mild, yet sunny morning in Cleveland, which Coop would soon discover to be an anomaly as autumn progressed.
While he had long eliminated the possibility of pitching for the Cubs in 2006, if ever, Coop never anticipated the possibility of being able to play for somebody else. Adding to this new twist of fate was the emergence of something that he had not felt in a very long time: doubt.
Would I even be able to do it? I haven’t thrown a baseball in months.
Damn, I need a chew…
Coop had given up his smokeless tobacco habit shortly after arriving in Cleveland, for a multitude of reasons, but what made it stick was the fact he simply wasn’t around it as much as he normally would’ve been in a Major League clubhouse.
Life as a pitcher, where you only get to play once every five to seven days, can be boring. Therefore, professional baseball pitchers are experts at finding ways to help pass the time. Some of Coop’s fondest memories of playing ball were the relentless antics in the bullpen, clubhouse pranks, and creating games to make the monotony of sitting around until it’s your turn to play more interesting.
When all else failed, Coop and about 40 percent of the other MLB players could always pass the time by throwing in a pinch of chew they often referred to by a multitude of slang names. Throwing in a dip, chewski, lipper, chaw, digger, snarl, wad, or fatty could often make the most mundane situations more enjoyable. The massive amounts of nicotine that accompanied it certainly helped, as well, especially when dealing with the stress of playing in front of thousands of people.
Coop first started using tobacco at a much later age than most of his friends in high school, as it wasn’t until his first season in the minors when a teammate offered him some after a game.
A lot of men, and even some women, will only try chewing tobacco once in their lifetime. The main reason for this is that a single pinch of smokeless tobacco will contain about four times the amount of nicotine compared to that of a single cigarette. Combining that with the fact that it goes directly into the bloodstream will typically cause a first time user to get dizzy and even sick. That experience will often prevent further use.
