It could be the new coaches, new teammates, new baseball fields, his renewed love of the game, a chance to start over. I don’t know how Muncy went from a player no team wanted to a reliable, regular, powerhouse starter. Muncy reminds me of my husband-they are big, strong, bearded, good guys. Now Muncy is a centerpiece, a homegrown Dodger, an integral part of the team. In April of 2018, he was called up to the majors, where he flourished. Until he got a call from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who signed him to a minor league contract. This was the end of his baseball career, over after it barely even started. He cleared waivers and was released by the team. He was placed on waivers, which means he was available for any other team to pick him up. During Spring Training, in 2017, he was Designated for Assignment, removed from the team’s roster. Max Muncy was drafted by the Oakland Athletics in 2012, and in 20 he got called up to the majors. I just had to pick the right time during the game to tell my husband. I leaned back into the corner of the couch, pushed my legs under a blanket, and knew tonight would be the night I got my husband to agree to naming our maybe-son Max. I didn’t know if this new baby would be a boy or girl, but just in case, I needed to get my husband on board with the name. I decided then, when I was a child, if I ever had a son, his name would be Max. The book is about the wild nature of a child, the limitlessness of the imagination, the monsters we all have within us, and the desire to be loved. When I was five or six years old, my favorite character from my favorite book was Max in Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. When we settled down in our living room to watch the third game in the World Series, I knew-Muncy would be magic tonight. Muncy was new, but over the course of 2018 he became dependable, slamming home runs in clutch situations, strong, calm, like the Dodgers clubhouse was where he always belonged. We almost always sit in the top deck, where you can see the sprawling mountains around Los Angeles, sometimes topped with snow, bright pink sunsets behind the black silhouettes of palm trees, the Hollywood sign in the hills. Dodger Stadium is a ten-minute drive away. But then we moved to Los Angeles, and slowly the Dodgers became our team. My husband is from Connecticut, and was a lifelong Red Sox fan. I’m from Queens and was a lifelong Yankees fan. That year, Max Muncy became one of our favorite players, and the Dodgers our favorite team. A week before the game, I found out I was pregnant with my second baby. ![]() The Los Angeles Dodgers are playing the Boston Red Sox. It’s 2018 and my husband and I are on the couch, watching what will end up being the longest World Series game in history- 18 innings, seven hours and twenty minutes.
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