trying something new, when the old don't work.

I am not an athlete. That is the polite way of saying it, I could think of other honest but less printable ways to describe it. I was normally one of the last people picked for the teams, I normally didn't try that hard after a while because I kind of got used to defeat. I figured if I would have no talent I could at least try to be funny.
It was the last day of gym class for me, and I was on the worst team in my class. We were about 0-12 that year, and pretty much we were the team that was made up of the guys that were too fat, too skinny, too wierd, or just plain lousy. I think I was the latter three back then.
Now we did have two actual athletes on our team, one was my friend Karl and we also had Henri who wasn't popular despite being a decent athlete because he could hardly speak a word of English and could barely understand you. Karl wasn't "popular" because he came from the south side of town like I did and when we went to high school with northsiders we pretty much were considered bumpkins. (Small town politics and prejudices are more common than people realize, and most of us forget alot of it when we grow out of it.)
The two athletes on our team were the catcher and the shortstop since they were able to actually catch a baseball. Luckily for us our gym teacher was the pitcher, so we didn't have to give up our catcher and shortstop, since none of the rest of us could throw a pitch without killing a batter.
So back to what I was saying, it was our last day of gym and baseball. It was the sterotypical 2 outs and I was up to bat scenario, in the bottom of the 9th inning and we were down by two runs because either the other team didn't want to try hard because it was too hot or God had suddenly made them not able to hit as hard that day.
I went up to bat, and instead of standing in my normal position I decided to try switch hitting.
"TIME!" Karl yelled, and walked over from the fence to talk to me.
"Um Janus, are you feeling ok?" He asked me very sarcastically.
"Yeah I feel spiffy," I said as casually as I could.
At this point some guffaws and laughing could be heard from the infield.
"You are standing on the wrong side of the plate," Karl murmured, "Right handers stand over there."
The Infield and Outfield begin to move forwards towards me, since they figured if I did hit it I would probably not hit it very well. The guy in left field "Chase" actually sat down in the grass took off his glove and pretended to snore.
"I am going to try batting left handed today Karl," I said quietly.
"What!?" he spat and hissed barely quiet enough to be a whisper, "I have been your best friend for over 10 years and you can't even use a steak knife right handed. What the hell are you doing?"
"I watched the Princess Bride last night, have you ever seen it?" I asked him, "It's got Andre the Giant in it and some pretty cool sword fights and stuff..."
"Tell me you have a point, Janus" Karl said trying really hard not to find something to hit me with at this point.
"Well the guy did alright with his right hand but when he switched to his left hand and he was really good. So I figure it's our last game, I can't hit it very far right handed anyway and really we have nothing to lose. So I figured why the hell not..." I noticed that Karl was looking a little amused but mainly stunned. He didn't know what to say.
"Besides, does this day really matter, we are 0-12 anyway it's not like I can do any more harm than we already have done," I said, "Someday we will look back at this day and laugh when we are fat, bald, and have little Janus and Karlings running around."
Karl sighed. "I guess your right...why the hell not indeed."
The gym teacher yelled at us to wrap it up or he was going to call the game.
"One last thing Karl....can I wear the hat?" I said pointing to his St. Louis Cardinals hat that he wore all the time. Karl gritted his teeth and put it on my head backwards. Then he gestured at me to move so I was at least facing the pitcher so I can hit the ball.
Our team started cheering a little, and I heard Jose yell from the fence "It's now or never buddeeeee." The other team could barely stand still from what went to snickering to almost full blown laughter as I stood ready to bat.
The pitch came and with the greatest sound in my life I heard the crack of that ball come off my bat. I hit it as a lefty. I didn't just hit it, I belted it out of the park and the field was silent as they watched the ball sail far over the head of Chase who stopped snoring long enough to see my baseball go over the wall and into a window in a gas station across the street.
Remembering to set down the bat and not throw it, I ran the bases with Henri and Curtis leading the way and ran gleefully back to the home plate, and was greeted with dixie cups of gatorade that my team mates dumped on me.
As silly as it sounds it was my dream to hit a home run, win a game, and get doused with gatorade since I was a little kid. I will never forget the joy of being covered with orange gatorade and actually getting hugged by about 10 happy guys that have never won anything in their life.
Karl walked up to me and give me a big brotherly knock on the head. "Why didn't you bat left handed before you moron, we could of won a few more games." Then he gave me a huge hug and said "Give me back my hat!" Karl stole back his Gatorade doused hat and gave me one of those rare happy grins that I will never forget.
Now this isn't a Halmark movie, so having a 1-12 season didn't win us any trophys, I didn't impress and marry my schools prom queen, and I didn't become a major league ball player from that day. I did get to see the looks of pure joy of the guys on my team who never got a break from anybody, I got to see Chase and those other Northsiders actually quiet and feel the sting of losing, and I was right about one thing... Karl and I would get to look back on this and laugh with the little Karling running around. (No Januslings yet.)
I am still learning what I am capable of everyday and still surprise myself once in a while.