As I stood on the field warming up for the All-Star game, I knew that I could happily stand around awestruck watching my fellow players. Almost all of them had much longer and more accomplished careers than me. I felt reduced to the status of a baseball fanboy who somehow was given access to the same space on earth as so many of his idols. I was just a baby in the game by comparison.

I was relieved when Mo jogged up to me. He said, “It’s an amazing trip, isn’t it?”

I looked up into his long face and asked, “How the hell am I supposed to play? The players will all have their eyes on me and then the legion of fans in the stands. This is ridiculous.”

Mo shrugged. “You don’t have any problem playing on the same field as any of these guys when we face them during the regular season.”

“I don’t face them all at once!”

Mo reached out and rubbed my back. “Hang in there, Chase, because I heard a little rumor back in the locker room.”

I groaned. “Oh God, no. I don’t need any additional rumors flying around. The reporters have been chasing me since I left Charlotte. I don’t have anything to tell them. Please don’t share any more rumors. It will wreck me.”

Mo kneaded my shoulder, and I winced. I yelped, “Hey, that one’s still a little tender.”

He reached around to the opposite shoulder and said, “This rumor isn’t about you. It only affects you.”

I looked up into his eyes. “It’s not about Aaron either?”

Mo shook his head. “No, not about him either. Can I tell you now?”

Loosening up my neck, I said, “You have good hands, and don’t take the comment any further than that. Yeah, go ahead and shoot. Tell me this big rumor.”

“The starting right fielder has the flu. He has a fever of 102. He woke up vomiting in the hotel room.”

“What does that have to do with me?”

Mo grinned. “They need a replacement. You might be starting in your first All-Star game, buddy.”

I pushed Mo’s hand off my shoulder, and my entire body tensed up again. “Holy shit! That can’t be true, can it? I guess it wouldn’t be a good move to pass out right here, would it? I do feel a little faint.”

“Baseball hero passes out when he finds out he was added to the starting lineup…” Mo rubbed his chin. “No, I don’t think that would read so well in the headlines tomorrow.”

“Damn, I’m about to piss my pants. Mo, I have to make a phone call. You’ve been here before. Can I slip off the field for a few minutes right about now? Will anyone notice I’m gone?”

With a nod, Mo said, “Yeah, I think you’re safe for now. It’s just a lot of chit-chat among players and a little bit of ceremonial stuff. Don’t take more than fifteen minutes, and tell Aaron I said hi.”

I gave Mo’s arm a shove. “You’re wrong on that one. I’m calling Eric. Aaron has his own reporter issues. I need to hear a friendly voice from home. I might scream, too.”

I took one more long glance around seeing all of the other players and then jogged toward the dugout. I found a quiet spot halfway through the tunnel back to the locker room. It only took one ring after I punched in the numbers.

“Chase! Is that really you? I just saw you on the live feed jogging toward the dugout.”

I laughed nervously. “Damn, how many other thousands of people are staring at me like that, too?”

“Maybe more like a few million.”

“You’re not helping, bud. I called you so you could help me relax. Guess what I just heard from Mo.”

I wished Eric was beside me to share a hug. In less than a year, he had become one of the best friends I’d ever known. Hearing his voice was the next best thing to being at his side. He said, “It’s hard to know what you’re hearing. You are all over the baseball press.”

“Mo said I might start in the game!”

“Oh, yeah, the announcers mentioned that on the live feed, too. They sounded excited. They said it would be a big day for you after coming out and having such a stellar first half of the season. The sports guys love you. Ignore all the gossipmongers. Stick with the people who know baseball.”

“So you knew before me? I guess I’m the last one to hear any of the news about me. Why’s it all such a big deal? I don’t think I’m any different from when I played with my friends on the Little League team.”

Eric’s voice was at its warmest and friendliest as it reached me through the phone. He said, “You’re a hero, Chase. Whether you want to be or not, you are. Every gay kid who thinks he can’t be an athlete just because he’s gay can point to you and the other guys who’ve come out and know it’s possible. If you did it, they can, too.”

“I want every kid to feel that way, not just the gay ones.”

Eric said, “We’ll get there. We’re going to get there. By the way, have you heard anything from Aaron? Do you know if he made it to the stadium for the game?”

“I got a text. I can’t go and meet Aaron in person because we’d be hounded mercilessly by the media, but, yeah, he’s going to be here. I’ll think of him every minute I’m in the game.”

After I talked to Eric, I made my way back to the field. It seemed like time zipped by until we were lined up on the first base and third base lines for the singing of the national anthem.

I tried to calm down, but I couldn’t keep myself from trembling. So much of the time I was nonchalant about baseball. It usually was so easy to play, but the All-Star game was beyond anything normal. Along with the World Series, it was one of my dreams.

They notified me shortly after I talked to Eric that I was starting in right field. That meant I was batting second, too. We played as the home team, so I jogged out to right field to start the game.

Looking over in center field, I saw Ed Westcott of the Pirates instead of Eric. He tossed me the ball for warming up, and I threw it back to him. I couldn’t remember his record and asked if it was his first All-Star game, too.

He grinned. “Yep, I’m here for the first time just like you.”

As I rolled my arm back and threw the ball again, I said, “Is it as overwhelming for you as it is for me?”

“I keep pinching myself to make sure it’s all real.” He jogged over to me and said, “When I was a little kid, my buddies used to tell me I would be an All-Star someday. I always blew it off, but I guess deep down in here I hoped they were right.” He pounded his chest and grinned.

“After this, I guess there’s not much beyond a World Series ring.”

Ed chuckled. “3,000 hits and the Hall of Fame.”

I pounded my glove on his chest and said, “Don’t get ahead of yourself. It sounds like I’ll be an old man before I get to either of those.”

Ed glanced back toward home plate. He said, “Hey, Chase, we gotta get lined up. It looks like they’re ready for the first pitch.” He started to jog to center field and then looked over his shoulder. He said, “We’ll share a drink in Cooperstown. I’m buying.”

A few short minutes later, I heard the crack of the bat when the opponents’ first batter connected with the ball. It looped out in my direction. I positioned myself for it, and I heard Ed’s feet. I called him off, and he broke behind me to back me up in case of an error. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I smiled when the ball settled into my glove as I recorded the first out of the game.