World Champions

By Justin Weiss

For John Jackson, being a sports fan has been a tough ride. His Browns have been called one of the worst teams in the history of baseball. For years the Browns minor league team has had very few wins. But John has been loyal to the Browns since he was six years old, and dreams of the day his team will win the championship. His faith in the team

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pametto Publishing
• Release date: Oct 22, 2021
• ISBN: 9781638375500

Book preview

Chapter 1

1986

Six-year-old John Jackson was with his father on his way to his first baseball game. It was a day that would change, if not define, his life.

Hurry up, Dad; I don’t want to miss first pitch!

Hold your horses, son; I got to find a place to park! His dad yelled back, We have forty-five minutes!

John couldn’t wait any longer; he had already waited two weeks, the longest two weeks of his life, ever since his dad bought the tickets for his birthday.

With a hot dog in one hand and a soda in the other, John stood there in shock at the sight of the giant ballpark. Light brown seats filled every corner, except for the outfield, which had the fountain in the center, bullpen in right field, and a giant scoreboard in left. The game wasn’t anything to write home about. The Browns lost 10–1 and gave up two grand slams in the first three innings.

I had a bad feeling that they would lose; they have always been this bad.

His dad said sadly, I’m sorry, son.

John didn’t care; he had a good time anyway, the greatest moment in his young life.

Dad, he said as he went to bed that night, when can we go again?

Twenty-four years later…

Chapter 2

T

hings didn’t get much better for the Browns since John’s first game. Not only did they not make the playoffs, but they also never won more than sixty games (in 1996) and were always in last place by the end of April. During that time, they got beat by more than twenty runs ten times, were at the losing end of twelve no-hitters and one perfect game, and gave up 300,498 home runs, most of them coming with runners on base. They were often called the worst team in minor league history. John, however, wasn’t fazed by the numbers. He still believed that things would turn around someday.

We’ll have our moment one day; we’ll hold that trophy high in the sky.

John was now just shy of his thirtieth birthday and had been married for eighteen months. He had met his wife in a college math class. She was an