C h a s i n g D r e a m s ➮ C a r r i s o n

• 1 •

St. Louis was still freezing cold in early April. Of course it wasn't as bad as Chicago, but it was still cold.

Harrison and Carrie walked the warning track of Busch Stadium before his season opener against the Cardinals.

"I wish we were still in Arizona."

He laughed. "Cold?"

She nodded. Even wearing warm Nike sweatpants, a Cubs jacket, and her favorite Cubs winter hat, she was still freezing.

"It'll get better soon."

By soon pretty much meant by May. They played in St. Louis for a three game series against the Cardinals before heading to Milwaukee to play the Brewers. Then it was back to Chicago to host the Dodgers and the Pirates.

"The season is too long," she admitted as they walked beside the outfield fence.

"I agree. 162 games is too much."

As they kept walking, Carrie stayed close enough to him for more warmth. Noticing she was cold, Harrison wrapped an arm around her.

"Are you starting tonight?"

"Yep."

"You better get a few hits for me."

"A few? Like how many is a few?"

She smiled. "Three."

"I'll try."

Carrie was quick to push him. "There is do or do not. There is no try."

He smiled at the reference from his favorite movies. "Alright, I'll get three hits for you."

"You better. I'll be waiting for it."

They did another lap around the warning track. "You want to play catch?" He asked as they just passed the visitors dugout.

"Sure."

He ran back into the clubhouse to grab both their gloves. While he was gone, Carrie admired the beautiful Busch Stadium. It was nothing compared to Wrigley Field, but she was always amazed by all the ballparks they visited. They were so big and massive, built high enough to hide buildings behind them.

Harrison came back out through the dugout and almost fell on the stairs. Carrie laughed.

"You didn't see that."

"I totally did."

He tossed Carrie her glove. "Did you bring a softball too?"

Harrison held the softball and baseball up for her to see. He kept a softball in his locker for times like this.

Carrie slid her glove on her left hand and ran out into the outfield where he threw the baseball over her head. She took a few steps and caught the ball over her shoulder.

"Look at that."

"I saw it."

She threw the ball back to him and watched him jump for it. "Sorry."

He threw it back and made her jump. Carrie got up high and made the catch. "Look at those hops. I bet I have a better vertical than you."

"I'm not going to argue."

For the next few minutes they played catch before Harrison switched to the softball. "So what do you think about this season?"

"What do you mean what do I think about it?"

"Like are you guys going to make another World Series run?"

"I hope so. First we have to win the NL Central from the Cardinals and Pirates."

"I know you can do it. And I want to see you hit a lot more home runs this year."

He threw the ball back. "I'm not a big home run guy."

"Your swing has gotten a lot better over the offseason. Look at how many home runs you hit in spring training."

"That was spring training."

"You're still going to face a lot of these pitchers you saw in spring training."

Harrison shrugged. She was right.

"I'm going to make a prediction. This year you're going to have a .322 batting average, 42 home runs, 108 RBI, .440 on base percentage, .570 slugging percentage, and 15 steals."

"That's pretty good."

"Because you're going to do pretty good this season."