“One more out and the Texas Rangers win the world series!” the announcer said.

Ten years earlier.  James was outside practicing his pitching against his fence in his front yard. James was twelve years old and wasn’t good enough to play on any of the teams in his town. James was pretending he was pitching in a major league baseball game.
“James, time for dinner,” said his mom.
“Just one more, Mom. I’m about to strike this guy out.” James’s mom’s name was Rachel, and she was a 35 year old woman not very tall, she has blonde hair and bright blue eyes,  and is raising James by herself. They  lived in a little town in Texas called Wimberley. James’s dad died when he was only two years old and James didn’t remember anything about him.
James threw the ball against the fence and it made a loud noise. He said “strike three you’re out, and the crowd goes wild.”
After dinner he grabbed his mitt, a ball, and his hat and started running towards the front door.
“Wait James,” said his mom, “you have to do your homework.”
“But, Mom, it’s going to get dark soon,” said James. “Can’t I do it later?”
“No,” said his mom. “You need to do it now!”
“Ok” said James.  He went to his room hanging his head because he was sad he couldn’t play more baseball.
After school, James ran home from the bus stop, grabbed his baseball gear, and started throwing against the fence again. His neighbor was right next door, and was watching James throw. His neighbors name was Chad and he played baseball in college, but couldn’t make it to the big league because he hurt his elbow and had to have surgery on it. He saw something in James that nobody else did.
So, Chad helped James a little bit with the way he threw. James was happy to have someone help him get better. Chad asked if he could help James everyday after school. Chad told James that he could help James get better and possibly play on one of the good teams in the town. James eyes lit up with excitement.
A few months passed, and James became one of the best pitchers in the town, thanks to Chad. James was pitching and doing very well. James got nervous because he knew his next game that he was pitching in there was a kid who bullied him all the time at school. the bullys name was Francis. Francis was a tall muscular kid, he had brown hair and brown eyes
The bully from his school was batting and James threw a fastball right by him and he didn’t see it coming. James never got bullied by that kid again.
Five years later James became the best pitcher in the whole state of Texas. He was doing what he loved most and that was pitching. He was pitching the best he had ever pitched. But then after the sixth inning, James had razor sharp pain in his elbow. He told the coach and the coach told him to pitch just one more inning. So James listened to the coach and tried to pitch with his elbow hurting. He was in the middle of that inning and this next pitch could possibly change his career. He threw the pitch and James fell to the ground with pain. His coach, his teammates, the people from the other team, everybody, didn’t know what happened. James couldn’t bend his elbow it hurt to bad.
His mom took him to the hospital to see what happened to James and the doctor told him he might never throw the same way again. She said he tore his UCL and will have to get surgery on it. This surgery is one of the most common surgeries for pitchers. Some people who get this surgery performed on them are able to recover and pitch just as good if not better than they originally could, but most people don’t recover and can’t pitch the same way.
James was devastated by the fact that he might not be able to pitch the same way. He cried for two weeks in his room thinking his pitching career is over.
It was time for James to get his surgery, but he was nervous not knowing what could happen. The doctors told him he has to go through rehabilitation camp for the next few months.
One month later, James had made a full recovery, and was throwing like he had been for a long time which is fast and accurate. His mom and the doctors were watching him play catch in amazement. They’ve never seen someone recover from that surgery so quickly. James walked toward them and said “I think im okay” with a smile.
They smiled back, and his mom said “yeah you’re ok.”
What happened next is something James had been dreaming of ever since he was twelve. The coach for the Texas Rangers walked up to James and offered him a spot on the Rangers roster. James signed the contract and played for the Texas Rangers organization.
After three years of playing for the Rangers James was pitching in the game he had been dreaming about since he was a kid. He was pitching in the major league world series against the St. Louis Cardinals in 1995. It was the last inning, there were two outs. One ball, two strikes, and the bases were loaded. James got the sign from the catcher and  he was ready to throw the ball as hard as he could.
“Here comes the pitch...strike three!” the announcer said. And the Rangers won the World Series. The last pitch was thrown by a kid who no one believed in except one man who changed his life.