The Absolutely True Story Of Mike Perez (A Contest Entry)

March, 1992

"One last pitch, then you're done!"

Mike Perez nodded to his catcher and began his windup. His arm felt good, and this early in Spring Training, it was all he could really hope for. He fired the ball squarely into the catcher's glove, not quite a full strength fastball, but getting there. Happy with the workout, Mike began the slow walk back to the training room.

The path was quiet, as it usually was at this time of day. Off in the distance he could see guys doing sprints, while some photographers took pictures. The sounds of bats hitting balls, and balls hitting gloves permeated the air. As he walked along the wired fence, a young boy approached him.

"Excuse me, Mr. Perez, would you please sign my card?"

Mike was surprised by the sudden appearance of the child. The crowd of fans usually gathered near here closer to game time, hours from now, but one quick glance proved they were alone. Mike always believed a few seconds spent signing for the fans, especially the younger ones, was time well spent. He took the card and pen, transferring the pen to his writing hand as he did so. Mike briefly studied the card. It was one he hadn't called seeing before, but it was fairly unremarkable. Ironically, the photo showed him about to sign a baseball card.

"Hey Mike! Smile for Upper Deck!"

Mike looked over and saw Gene, one of the Cardinals' public relations guys, along with a photographer from one of the newer baseball card companies. He flashed a smile as the man with the camera took a few quick pictures, scribbled in his notebook, then moved on. "Thanks Mike!" Gene called out as he led the photographer to the next closest ballplayer.

Mike Perez finished signing the card. As he was about to hand it back to the boy, he was overcome with a strange sense of deja vu. He looked at the card once more. The palm trees, the fence, even the pen in his hand - it all looked so familiar. It was like he was looking at some fancy new Polaroid. As he returned it to the small child's hand, he nonchalantly flipped the card to peek the back. In a split second he was able to see the last line of stats, from this upcoming year!

He looked up and tried to get Gene's attention. He was far away now, but Mike yelled for him to come quickly. He barely heard the "Thank you, sir." from behind him, and when he finally did turn around, the boy was gone.

Mike Perez would see this card hundreds of times in the future. He always had the same thought: "How?"

July, 2099

Ziggy Anderson stepped out of the machine sweaty and breathless. His hand shook as he held the baseball card he just had signed. This was bad. This was very, very bad. Ziggy took a deep breath, counted to 5, and exhaled slowly. Calmer now, he reached over and turned off the Age Illusion Modifier (A.I.M.) - and the young freckled 12 year old morphed back into his actual 68 year old self.

Ziggy laid the card of Mike Perez on the table and just stared at it. Watched it, intently, for the next 10 minutes. He kept asking himself the same question over and over: "How?"

It was a one-in-a-trillion chance of probability. It's never been done before in the recorded age of time travel. If he arrived just 30 seconds earlier, even a few seconds later, he would have been fine. But to arrive at that very instance that card was taken? Inconceivable!

The slightest movement on the desk caught his eye. In horror, he watched the card change before his eyes. The card once showed Mike Perez, standing by a fence, holding his 1991 Topps rookie card. Now, in it's place, he's holding the exact same card that he appears on, creating a paradox of epic proportions.

Ziggy pulled up a search field on his wrist computer and began researching the card. Fortunately, it looks like the anomaly had a minimum impact. It appears collectors accepted this strange oddity of a card as nothing more than a graphically altered promotional gimmick. Still, he would have to be more careful. He couldn't afford another misstep if he was going to complete his ultimate collection of autographed baseball cards.

Ziggy checked his list and pulled the next card from the stack -  a 1997 Stadium Club Neifi Perez. Ah, Colorado! Maybe he'll take some extra time and do some skiing as well. Historic files suggested the Rocky Mountains were quite spectacular before global warming melted all that snow.

A few punched in coordinates, a slight adjustment to his A.I.M. device, and Ziggy Anderson disappeared once more into the past. Another autograph will soon be his.

1993 Upper Deck #204 Mike Perez

 

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I hope you enjoyed my story! It's another entry for a contest hosted by Daniel at It's Like Having My Own Card Shop. Interested in winning some awesome cards? Check out his post here!