“Batting Zero”

By Ross

In the rec' room of Los Angeles County Fire Station 51, six firemen sat huddled in front of a TV set, watching the Dodgers and the Padres battling it out in the first game of a double-header. 

They cheered, as Dodger's pitcher, Don Sutton, struck out the Padres—one, two, three. 

The Dodgers came to bat. 

First baseman, Steve Garvey, hit a single. 

Outfielder, Dave Lopes, also singled. 

Sutton walked. 

With the bases loaded—and no outs—Dodger slugger, Dusty Baker, stepped up to the plate.

"There's the wind up...and the pi—" the game’s announcer began, only to be drowned out by the Station's alarm.

There was a group groan. 

"Squad 51..." the dispatcher declared, and the Station's Engine Crew relaxed.

Paramedics John Gage and Roy DeSoto groaned again and started heading for the garage.

"Child down...Wonder Wheels Park...Three and one half miles east on Dart Lane...Then two and a quarter miles south on Ridgeway Road...Take the first left on Coolidge...It's the fourth driveway on the right...Caller advises you go in the second gate..."

"Squad 51. Got it, L.A.,” John acknowledged, when he finished his jotting.

"10-4, Squad 51..." a rather relieved dispatcher came back. "Ambulance responding...Time out...17:03"

"Squad 51. KMG-365," the fireman further acknowledged.  He replaced the radio, snatched up their copy of the call slip and raced around the rescue squad. 

"We'll start with east on Dart Lane," he proposed, piling into the passenger's seat and pulling on his helmet. 

His partner nodded his approval of the plan.

Eight minutes of masterful map reading later, DeSoto drove through the second gate at Wonder Wheels Park and cut the sirens.

"Squad 51...cancel," their radio announced.

Squad 51's occupants stared down at the dashboard in disbelief.

"We may as well check it out," Roy determined. "After all the trouble we went through to get here."

Gage nodded in agreement and grabbed their dash-mounted radio’s mic'.  "L.A., Squad 51.  We are at the scene and intend to follow through with the call."

"Roger that, 51..."

DeSoto parked the Squad at the edge of an enormous concrete lot.  He and his partner exited the cab and started strolling off in the direction of a movie crew, filming skateboarding stunts. 

The firemen watched—in wide-eyed fascination—as a young, female skateboarder went flying off the end of a three foot ramp, spun twice around and landed gracefully back onto the lot—still on her skateboard! 

Seeing as how they were being completely ignored, Roy cleared his throat and queried, "Did somebody call the Fire Department?"

"I'm okay. Honest!" the teen insisted, as she came rolling up.  "It's just a little 'road rash'," she added, and pointed to her scraped and bleeding knees.

"You sure you're not seriously hurt?" Gage grilled the girl.

The little lady rolled her eyes and motioned towards the concrete lot.  "Did that look like I was seriously hurt?"

"Looks can be deceiving," Roy reminded her.  "Why don't we check you out real quick...just to be sure."

The film's director stepped between the paramedics and his star.  "If the kid says she's okay—she's okay! Pam's a pro!"

The thirteen-year-old nodded, defiantly.

"You didn't hit your head, did you?" Roy's still-worried partner wondered.

Pam gave Gage another roll of her eyes and shook her pretty little head 'no'.

John sighed.  "Well...since you won't let us examine you...I...uh...guess we'll be getting back to the Station. And you can get back to..." he glanced down at the skateboard, "...that."

The girl gave herself a push and went rolling off across the lot.

"Shouldn't she be wearing a helmet?" DeSoto, the dad, wondered aloud.

Pamela's producer completely ignored the pesky paramedic.  "All right, Kiddo!  How about a backward somersault with a reverse handstand?"

The young 'pro' picked up speed.

The two firemen exchanged alarmed looks and then watched, in amazement, as Pam flipped herself back over into a somersault.

The little lady landed in a crouched position, threw her feet up into the air and went gliding by—standing on her hands!  As she turned her board around and went sailing by for a second time, she flashed the camera a beautiful, upside-down smile.

The paramedics released their held breaths and began heading for their rescue squad.

"If this is a sample of what people are gonna be doing at Wonder Wheels Park," Gage grumbled, "something tells me we're gonna be coming here quite often."

"After a week or two," DeSoto glumly concurred, "we'll know the way by heart."

The rescuers climbed back into their truck's cab.

John thumbed the radio mic' again.  "L.A., Squad 51 available. Returning to quarters."

"Roger, 51..."

DeSoto backed the Squad into Station 51's parking bay. 

The paramedic team piled out and sprinted into the rec' room.

"What happened after we left?" Gage asked the guys, who were still huddled in front of the television, watching the game.

No one answered til a commercial came on. 

Then Chet turned and said, "You had to see it to believe it, Gage."

"See what?" the impatient paramedic prompted.

Kelly completely ignored the question and continued, "I mean, it was really amazing! Right, Cap?"

"Huh? " Stanley stammered, not turning his gaze from the TV's screen.  "Oh. Yeah.  It was amazing.  Absolutely!"

Gage gasped in exasperation and turned to Stoker. "What happened, Mike?"

"Dusty Baker hit a grand-slam homerun!" the engineer obligingly replied. "I can't remember who else did what. But the Dodgers got ten runs in the second inning!"

"We missed it!" John lamented. "For a lousy cancelled call, we missed it!"

The sportscaster came back on and announced the score. 

"Twelve to nothin'?  How one-sided can you get?" the peeved paramedic declared and turned to leave.

"Where yah goin'?" his partner pondered.

"To work on the log book," Gage glumly replied. "It's bound to be more exciting."

His shiftmates glanced at one another…and grinned.

The End

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