The Life of Nickolas Daring

[potatoman]

[April 17th, 1984]

Dear Marilyn,

It's a boy! You and dad are going to be so proud. He is healthy and so cute. We named him Nickolas, Nickolas Daring. We have great expectations for him Mom. We are going to train him to play baseball as soon as possible or maybe golf. He could be the next Tiger Woods. Jimmy wants him to be in the NBA, but neither of us are very tall and I doubt he will be even close to 6 foot tall. We will see, this is really amazing. I have never experienced anything more wonderful. Well, you will get to see little Nicky the next time you visit. I'm sure he will want to see who his grandmother and grandfather are.

Your Daughter,
Lucy

[potatoman]

[1988]

Jimmy: Nicky! Come to daddy! Come here....

Nicky walks over to Jimmy

Jimmy: Here, take this! It's called a gold club....you hold it like this..

Jimmy demonstrates how to hold it

Jimmy: And swing....

Nicky imitates his fathers motions. He takes the club, and swings and it flew up out of his hands. The club hit the ceiling and came right back down and hit Nicky straight on the head. Nicky begins to cry.

[TWO DAYS LATER]
Jimmy: Nicky! Come here, lets try again.

Nicky runs aways and cries.....

Jimmy: I guess he won't be a golfer....
Lucy: I guess not...Maybe we can teach him to be a baseball player
Jimmy: Let's wait until he's a bit older until we introduce him to that, he might get a bit scared of balls getting thrown at him
Lucy: You are right....

[potatoman]

[1992]

-At School-

Mitch: Hey Nick! My daddy taught me how to play a new game.

Nick: Tell me! Tell me!

Mitch: He calls it "baseball"

Nick: oo0oh. It's fun?

Mitch: It's so fun, funner than anything in the whole world.

Nick: How do you play?

Mitch: Take this bat and I throw ball to you and you try to hit it.

Nick: That's stupid

Mitch: No no! Then when you hit the ball i catch it and have to tag you and you have to try to run around the bases.

Nick: Oh! Let's play! Can I do the bat first?

Mitch: Okay but we switch turns okay cause my daddy says if i catch the ball when you hit it, you are out or if i tag you, but you can have three outs, and if you miss hitting the ball 3 times you are out too

Nick: Oh okay!

The two boys begin playing the new game....Nicky began learning the game of baseball. The two boys played for 3 hours, each getting a turn to bat and pitch and playing with GHOST runners.

Nicky: I BEAT YOU I BEAT YOU NANANANA POO POO!
Mitch: So what? I'l lget better!

It was getting dark so the two boys went home.

[potatoman]

Nick went home just in time for dinner. The Daring family usually eats the same thing each week.

Monday- Pasta.
Tuesday - pizza
Wednesday Chinese food.
Thursday Pasta
Friday Hamburger day.
Saturday Fried Chicken.
Sunday Pizza day.

That is basically what the family eats everyday unless theres a special occasion.

At the dinner table, Jimmy asked Nickolas about his day. "What did you do in school today son?"
Nickolas was very excited to tell his father about the new game he learned. He told his father about what Mitch taught him and bragged that he beat Mitch. Jimmy looked at his son, very proudly. He decided that baseball would be the right sport for his son. His son was going to be a professional baseball player in the ILB! Jimmy and Lucy looked at each other as Nickolas was talking about his game. They knew they were both thinking the same thing. Nickolas will be a baseball player, they could sense the ability in the child. Jimmy then smiled at Nickolas after he finished the story and said "Sounds like fun Nick, Sounds like fun..."

[potatoman]

[1995]

"Nickolas! You're up! Go show them what you are made of!" said Coach Smith.
Nickolas picks up his bat and walks slowly to the batters box. The bases are loaded with 2 men out and his team is down 5-4 in the Little League Championship game of his town.

"Don't be nervous! Just do what you always do! Keep your eye on the ball!" yells Coach Smith

Daring holds his bat up high in his unique batting stance as he stares at the opposing pitching. The pitcher winds up and delivers....

STRRRRRRRRRRIIKE!

Daring looks up at the crowd and sees his parents holding each other watching. His dad shows him a thumbs up sign. Nickolas smiles and gets ready for then next pitch....

STRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKE 2!

0-2 on Daring. Nickolas looks very nervous but he trys to keep his cool, paying very close attention to the next pitch as it comes.....

SWING AND MISS! STRIKE THREE!

Nickolas falls to his knees and then to the ground, and cries. The 3 men on base walk off the field with their head down. The coach gives a little sigh and yells "THAT'S ALRIGHT NICK, THEY WERE BAD CALLS ANYWAY"

Nickolas knows they weren't bad calls, he let the 1st two pitch go without swinging and he swung at a bad 3rd pitch. Jimmy and Lucy look at their 10 year old son and slowly get up to walk to him. They calm him down and take him home......

[potatoman]

[1999]

"Hey Daring! Big game Saturday! Don't Strike out when it counts!" yelled Ricky from across the practice field.

All his friends have given Daring a hard time about striking out in a little league game 5 years ago. No one forgot about it. Ricky was on 3rd base in that game and he makes sure Nick never forgets.

Nickolas has changed greatly since that aweful game 5 years before. After that day, his determination became greater, he began working hard dedicating his life to baseball. He realized that he could always still improve and strived for perfection. He has won a lot of exciting games for his teams over the years and is now considered one of the best baseball players in the state.

The two were best friends on the same team. They both made Varsity this year, their freshmen year in High School. Ricky was one of the team's starting pitchers, and was starting in the big game saturday. It was the final game of the state tournament, if they win, they will be the best in the state! The team basically rode on Daring's back all season long as Daring hit .687 with 25 HRs and 96 RBIs.

-Saturday-
Ricky pitched a complete game shutout in the championship game. Not only that, Nickolas had 7 RBIs en route for a 19-0 win in the state finals. Scouts from all over the world had come to watch this game and left very impressed at Daring's 5-5 game with 3 walks.....

Lost in the celebration were Jimmy and Lucy, two proud parents who had a dream when their son was born and that dream looks like it will come true. Daring has what it takes to be a ball player.

[potatoman]

[2002]

Dear Grandma,

I know I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been? Are you still in pain? Mom says you should be out of the hospital soon. I decided to write a letter so you wouldn't feel as bad. I'm a baseball player Grandma and I've turned into a fine one too. ILB scouts have been comming to the house and talking to me and many have seen me play. I don't think I will be going to college, I think baseball is my future. I've been playing since I was a kid and I love it. I'm not doing so well in school anyway. A 2.3 GPA isn't going to get me anywhere, baseball is my only hope in having a good future. I hope I will be able to make enough money to help you get all the treatment you need. I am going to be entering the draft next year right out of high school. The scouts have told me that I am projected to be a high pick. I just want to tell you about my baseball history a little bit, maybe some day you can watch me when I make it to the big leagues!

It started when I was about 5 years old when my friend Mitch showed me the game. I've been in love ever since. Dad took me to the batting cages everyday after school to practice and I've become a very good batter. I began playing little leage at 7 years old and was always the best in my league. I would practice hours everyday after I finish homework and then my dad would help me with fielding. I decided to pick second base because thats where Dad played when he was in high school. I started to slack off because I was tired of practicing every day. I told my dad I didn't want to practice anymore and he said fine. I was about 10 years old when i realized I wanted to play baseball more and more. I was playing in my championship game and I could have won it all, but I struck out. I cried for hours, I had let my whole team down and then I began going to the batting cages everyday again. Sometimes I wouldn't even finish my homework. I soon became better and better and Dad couldn't help me anymore, he could not pitch any good so he hired a professional trainer to help me. I broke my wrist one day while I was riding my bike when i was 14 and thought I would never get to play again but I worked through it and got back on the field. Mom used to say I spend too much time on baseball but it is my life now and she has gotten used to it. We have the phones ringing everyday and I am put under a lot of pressure to perform in my high school games. I have won many awards in my life. I want you to be proud of my Grandma, I want you to see that all my hard work has paid off.

I hope you feel better soon and COME VISIT!

NICKOLAS DARING

[potatoman]

[2003]
-Daring won his 4th straight state MVP for HS!

=[ .... I just broke up with my girlfriend. She said I spend too much time on baseball and leave no time for her. She doens't understand my life is about baseball and that's what my future is. I guess....she isn't the right one for me if she doesn't understand. The draft is a few weeks away, Ricky invited me over to get drunk to cheer up. Maybe I'll meet some girls....

[SirOrion]

Draft day is only a few days away, and the scouts have hounded me day in and day out. Luckily, one of my dad's friends was a scout, I was able to get a sheet from him that showed what they thought I was capable of. I was pretty impressed, they think highly of me...I hope I don't fail them. Anyways, here is the information that they had:
Contact Hitting: 7
Power: 7
Eye/Patience: 5
Gap: 5
Fielding: 7
Speed: 6
Stealing Bases: 6
Batting vs. LHP: 5

I seem to be pretty equal in all the categories, I suppose that's okay. The scouting league has registered me as a 4.5 star prospect, out of a 5 that's incredibly good. I just hope there aren't too many other guys better than me.

As a graduation gift, my dad took me out to the local Sports Center to buy me some new equipment. Everything that had looked cheap and flimsy, but I suppose I can't ask for too much.
I ended up buying a bat made from the Silver Slugger company, it gives me a nice +1 bonus to contact.
Along with it I bought batting gloves from Cobbsville that gave me a +1 to power.
My glove is from Web Gems, it gives me a +1 to defense.
And my shoes come from the Pegasus company, giving me a +1 to speed.

I hope I do well for whatever team picks me.

[SirOrion]

Draft day is finally here! I hope I'm picked, I don't know what I'll do if I'm not drafted...It's not like I can go to college with my 2.3 GPA. My goal is to go in the first round, but it'll be tough. My dad's friend is over with us, and he showed me a sheet containing all the draftees and their star ratings. 8 5.0 prospects and I'm a 4.5! I can't believe how much talent there is in this draft. Matt Murton, Jared Hughes, Adam Loewen (although he's a 4.5 as well), all these top names...I'm scared.

Florida gets the first pick, but Cleveland (the team I really want to play for) has the 14th pick. I don't know if I'm good enough to be picked that soon, I guess we'll wait and see.

The draft has started and Florida picked Richie Weeks with their first pick. I got really nervous so I went into the kitchen and grabbed a coffe. I came back just in time for cleveland's pick, and they drafted some RF named Ben Harrison. I guess there goes my plans of playing for Cleveland...I told my mother that I'm going to take a walk, and to call me on my cell phone if anything good happens.

At about 2:56 I got a phone call, my heart started racing as I reached down to grab my phone, I answered it with a little crack in my voice. It was my mother. She said I had just been picked. I nearly dropped the phone, but I quickly regained my composure and asked her who picked me...

Apparently the Minnesota Twins were in need of a star 2B because they drafted me in the 2nd round, 2nd pick, 32nd pick overall. Not bad considering the rest of the talent that was available. I just hope I do well...

Oh yeah, I forgot, Minnesota also gave me a $250,000 signing bonus. That should take care of grandma's meds for awhile!

[SirOrion]

Well, I flew to Fort Myers and met the team, they all seem like really good guy. I hope we all get along, it would suck to have turmoil within the team. I'm currently batting 2nd in the lineup, and I'm also the 2B.

My stats don't look too bad for only being 18...
10 in contact, 15 in power, 12 in gap, 13 in eye, 62 for defense, 70 for speed, 50 for stealing instincs, and a 50 for hitting vs LHP.

Our first game is tomorrow, I can't wait to take the field.

[potatoman]

I got settled in at my hotel and decided to goto the bar. I drink two shots of vodka. I don't want to be wasted for my first minor league game! It has helped me take my mind off things. I have decided to take my minds away from women for a while and concentrate on baseball. If I play all my cards right, eventually I'll find someone worth it and I will know it!

I talked to the manager today and he seemed very nice. He introduced me to the team and told them all that I am their new best weapon. Hopefully I can help my minor league team to a good record this season.

Ahh...time to get back to the hotel....