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What Does T. C. Stand For?

Uchdryd Ccri Apevans. It was T. C.’s worst fear that someone would find out this was his true name. His siblings had been lucky: his older sister was named Isolda Terrwyn Apevans, while his younger siblings were Cassian Pyrs (boy) and Kelemon Dera (girl). There was just nothing that could be done to save T. C.’s given name, no nicknames to be derived. He had spent the first three years of his life at school dealing with teachers who could not pronounce his name correctly for even a single day and with peers who had nothing better to do than torture him over his unique name. It had taken some time for him to accept that his name was in fact unique and not unusual, weird, freakish, or lame. It was just something that no one outside of his family could know about.

Then, in the second grade, the most wonderful thing happened. A new family had just moved into the neighborhood. The family consisted of a mother, a father, a son the same age as Uchdryd, and a baby daughter one year younger than his little siblings. Uchdryd’s parents had invited them over for dinner to welcome them. The couple came over before dinner was ready to get to know their neighbors. The parents, along with the babies, sat in the living room and chatted while the two boys played outside.

Earlier that day, their son, Dai, had gotten a new baseball mitt because his old one had been ruined when he put it in the dryer for too long. He had put it in the dryer because he had forgotten it beside the hose he never turned off after helping his dad wash the car. Dai had seen his mother put clothes in the dryer when they were wet, so he thought this would work for his glove too. He thought wrong. Dai had been bugging his parents for two weeks to buy a new glove for him; he needed it before the T-ball season started so he could break it in. Finally they had taken him to pick out a new one, and Dai could not be convinced to put it down. Thus, he brought it with him to the Apevans’ home that evening.

“What’s that?” Uchdryd had asked, pointing at Dai’s glove.

“It’s a baseball mitt. Do you want to look at it?” He asked this only because his parents had taught him about manners and sharing.

“Sure.” Uchdryd reached out to take it. “What do you use it for?”

“What do I use it for? Haven’t you ever played catch before? Or T-ball? You use it to catch the ball when you’re in the field.”

“Ohhh thaaat baseball. I was thinking of the one where you throw the funny-shaped ball and run into people. That game looks fun. But I have seen baseball on TV before. Once. My mom didn’t like it though and my dad said it was boring.”

“That other game is called football, and baseball is the best sport in the whole world.”

“Oh. I thought that was the one where you kick the ball into the net. What do you do in baseball? It looks like all you do is stand there for hours.”

“No. That’s soccer. Don’t you know anything? And you do everything in baseball: throw and catch the ball, hit it, run, tag people.”

“Well, my parents call that one football, and they call the other one ‘the Giants’ game’. That’s how it is in the U.K., where we are from. We don’t have baseball there, either (I have no idea if that is true, but it is for him lol).” He said that last part with the feeling of someone used to having to point that out. Even though his family had moved to America just in time for Uchdryd to start kindergarten, his mother was very proud of their Welsh heritage and made sure Uchdryd never forget where he had come from. His father was originally American, so he let his wife handle that part of his son’s education.

“Is that why your name is so funny?”

“It’s not funny,” Uchdryd snapped defensively. “Besides, your name is Welsh, too.” He managed to calm himself down quickly.

“No it’s not.”

“Yes it is. Loads of kids I used to play with were named ‘Dai’.”

“You should come play baseball with me. And I don’t believe you about my name either.”

“I have to ask my parents if I can play. They said I couldn’t play the Giants, I mean football, until I was at least eight. And we can ask them about your name, too.” He gave the mitt back to Dai and then they both went to the living room in order to carry out their missions.

In the end, Uchdryd managed to convince his parents to let him go to Dai’s first practice. It helped that, as it turned out, Dai’s mother was also of Welsh descent and proud of it. That one practice changed Uchdryd’s life. He found all the different activities involved in baseball, well T-ball, fascinating, and once he learned that the catcher could hit people (sort of) who were running home, he was hooked. He joined the team and fit right in. He learned the game so well, in fact, that he was soon to be found helping out the rest of the team, keeping their energy and morale up and making sure they played their positions. After their first game, the coach of that team (and the coach of Uchdryd’s teams to come) began to call Uchdryd The Captain, but he shortened it to T. C. so that he could avoid jealousy issues with the other kids. Thus began T. C.’s baseball career.

From T-Ball to Baseball

They were twelve years old now. In fact, T. C. had just had his twelfth birthday, making him the same age as Dai once again. It was springtime and baseball season was set to start in just three weeks. Ever since joining the team, T. C. had been playing up a year so that he could stay on Coach Seb’s team. Coach Seb, for his part, didn’t mind letting T. C. play up: he liked having the kid on the team because he worked hard and he had a knack for keeping the players going, even through the most brutal of games. He just never gave up. And his nephew, the reason he was coaching, didn’t mind having him on the team either. Even though he wanted to be considered the captain, he knew that no one could match T. C.’s energy and dedication. Besides, this was just the recreation team, and he still got to be in charge of things, just not the cheering and the yelling and the speeches.

As per their usual routine, Dai met T. C. out in his yard to practice. This time though, they were going to practice something different. T. C. had been the catcher for several years, since he was energetic and willing and able to confront the runners coming at him. Dai had played general infield for his baseball career, but starting this year, he had decided that he wanted to step it up and pitch. Pitcher was the only position that Coach Seb had his players try-out for, as it required special training and extra care for the players. So, T. C. had agreed to catch for Dai, since he had experience and he wanted his friend to make the spot. Dai had always been very accurate with his throws, but he needed to work on getting his speed and strength up.

The two boys practiced every afternoon, as long as they were sure to do their homework before dinner. T. C., being in charge of Dai’s pitching training, had decided that Dai needed to step it up and focus on being able to throw a really fastball, a curve ball, knuckleball, and a slider for variety. They set up in the backyard, T. C. crouched with the house only ten feet or so behind him. This was where the yard was flattest for the stretch needed to mimic a real field setting. They even had a mulch pile for Dai to pitch from, just like a real pitching mound.

“Alright! We’ve been working on your knuckleball all week, and I think you can finally throw it without any spin at least somewhere in the strike zone. Now I think we should go after the slider. Not many kids will be able to throw one, so it’s a good one to have up your sleeve. But first, let’s warm up with some fastballs. Start slow and bring your speed up.”

“Man, where did you learn so much about pitching?” Dai was always impressed with how much T. C. seemed to know. In school, he was always so spaced out. It was amazing he hadn’t failed a class yet. He even had straight B’s, and sometimes an A. Dai decided he must work really hard on his homework after they practiced to make up for not paying attention.

“I’ve been reading about it. I figured it is a catcher’s job to know about different kinds of pitches and all that stuff. The Coach has taught me a little about it over the years, too, whenever he stops by.”

“That’s cool. What have you been reading? I found this one book, but it was mainly about taking care of my arm and good work out routines. It doesn’t go over strategy or anything like that.”

“I’ll let you borrow it. I’ve been through most of it, and I have another one to look at, too. My dad knows a guy at work who is into baseball, and he is the one who recommended the books. We can get it from my room after we’re done practicing.”

“Awesome. I should have time to read it this week, too. For some reason, the teachers have been going easy on the homework.”

“I know! It’s nice. But you know what I bet they’ll do?”

“Pile on homework to make up for it as soon as baseball starts! I swear they do it every year just to torture us.”

“Totally. They just don’t appreciate the effort we put into the game.”

“Yeah. I can’t wait until high school. Then, we’ll be on the real baseball team, and we don’t have to worry about the teachers hating on us for playing ball.”

“That’s going to be awesome. I especially can’t wait to play for The Coach. He comes to the games sometimes, and he always gives me good tips for catching and other stuff in the game.”

“The Coach is really cool. Do you think I’ll be ready to pitch in time? I really want to do it, but I know most of the other kids have been pitchers for the whole time they played baseball.”

“They may have been in that position for longer, but this is the year where the real pitching begins, and no one is training harder than us to get ready for it.” T. C. was encouraging his friend, but he also thought that Dai had a real shot at being a great pitcher. “Now, let’s start working on that slider to prove it.”

With that, they settled down and got ready for some real work. It took Dai three tries to get the ball all the way to T. C. while still holding it with the proper grip for a slider. Before he even managed to get his grip right, T. C. had to show him four times, and correct him after each pitch.

“You know, it’s easier for you because your hands are bigger,” Dai complained, feeling a little bad that T. C. had to give him so much help.

“I know. I’ve also talked my sister into letting my hang out with one of her friends, who has a brother who pitches for the high school team. I got him to show me how to throw it a few times.”

“No way! That’s nice. Do you think you could get her to get him over here sometime to check out my pitching?”

“I bet I could get it arranged, possibly even before the season starts up.”

“That would be awesome. Okay, I think I’m ready to throw this slider for real.”

Dai started his wind up and threw the pitch at full strength. But the grip was far different from a fastball and the ball slipped out of his hand and flew at full speed, but not towards the catcher. T. C. dove up and left for the renegade ball, but he couldn’t get to it. CRASH!! The window shattered on impact, and the two boys were left staring at the wreckage.

“What was that? Boys?” A female voice came from inside the house. “Oh my! Uchdryd Ccri!!” This time the voice came from the broken window, and T. C. could see his mom glaring at him.

“Uhh, why don’t we cut practice early today and you can get started on that book.” T. C. hesitated before heading towards the door.

“Aw T. C. I’m really sorry. Really.”

“It’s not your fault. I should have been able to catch that.” T. C. stated this with such absolute conviction that Dai didn’t have the heart to tell him that no catcher can get every wild pitch, and a good pitcher doesn’t throw so wild.

T. C. ran to his room, got the book, and managed to shove it into Dai’s hands before finally being confronted by his mother. Dai slipped away unnoticed when T. C.’s mother started letting her son know just how unhappy she was that he had just broken that window.

It was three days before T. C. was allowed to practice with Dai after school again. During that time, Dai had studied the book and worked on getting his grip correct so that when he threw it, there would be no more mishaps. They practiced every day and in the end Dai impressed Coach Seb, and The Coach, with his talent and dedication to pitching, earning him a top pitching spot, with T. C. as his catcher.