Excruciating Pain

By Marcus

It was a hot Sunday afternoon, on Mother's day. I had a baseball game, and I was not about to miss it for the world. But in the long run, I wish I never had gone at all.

"Hey Marc, are you ready to pitch today?" Chris yelled as I walked on to the field.

" Yeah, I hope we kick some butt!" I shouted back.

" Man look at the size of that team," Chris said to me.

"Yeah, I know that team is huge," I said back.

"You better go warm up!" yelled my dad from across the field.

After I was done warming up we started the game. Luckily we were up to bat first. As I looked at the pitcher I started to tremble. The pitcher from the opposing team was tall and buffed. He looked like a steaming bull in a bullfight, throwing at least 90 miles per hour.

Our first three batters got up and went down like flies. We had no chance. But now it was my turn to shut them down.

The first batter walked up to the plate he was kind of short and stocky. I threw my first pitch. It was very slow compared to the other pitcher. The batter took a swing; he was out in front. A slow dribbler was hit to the right side of me.

I came off the mound to field it. I planted my foot, got the ball, and turned to throw. My cleats caught the ground and stuck as I twisted. My foot stayed and my knee went with me. It was almost like when you open a bottle. The cap twist but the bottle stays. A shooting, excruciating, stinging pain went to my knee. A pop the sound of a package of firecrackers went off like a booming explosion inside my right leg. I fell to the ground and started wailing at the top of my lungs. My dad and a coach came running onto the field.

"Are you ok Marc?" my dad asked.

"Can you straighten your leg son?" the other coach asked.

"No, I can't," I said back. My knee felt like it was in a vise that wouldn't let go. It just kept tighting and tighting.

Later I was taken to a doctor and the found out I had a torn ACL (A ligament inside your knee). My season was ended.

But that wasn't going to stop me. After about 3 months of physical therapy my knee was ready to play. I am now playing and wearing a brace on my knee. I have gone back to baseball and can play even better than before. I think of the accident as a way of becoming a better player. I think it has made me realize how much my legs really mean to me. I look at the time I lost in baseball as a learning period. A time to go trough what a lot of my life is going to be like in the future, frustrating.