August 9, 1979 - Thursday (night)

My stomach still feels a little sick. It's midnight, and I just got home from dropping off Steve, Elliot, and Chickie. The Sox won 3-2, we had real good seats, and yes, I did get my Braves hat, plus a Braves shirt, and an Astros hat. My ambition in life to to get a hat for every major league team.
Nothing really exciting happened tonight. The name of Denise was not brought up, not once, not even by me.
I'm not really tired, but I'd better go to sleep, or I will be tired all day tomorrow.
Before I stop for the night, though, if you're reading this book and are totally confused, I'm going to try to run a few of the main characters by you.
Elliot Chassey - One of my very best friends, but as a rule friends don't work together, and I think that's why Elliot is so super critical of me. Formerly Pat's boyfriend, he left her for Denise, then dumped her to shack up with Maggie Cordell. After a fight with her, Elliot and Steve decided to share an apartment. Elliot is a great person, though.
Steve Licht - Frank Sullivan's floor supervisor, Steve is another one of my very good friends. Steve is the one that dumped his bike last week and ended up in the hospital for a week. Steve has a bubbly personality and currently has hearts for Karen Lane.
Tom Ferreira - That's me and if anybody really knows me, it's me. I'm usually a fun person, but lately I've been the pits over a certain girl, Denise. I'm only 18, the little boy of the group, but I tag along to have some fun and learn a little something about life.
Denise Matheus - My current object d'amour, Denise is the gorgeous shortstop for the Robertson's girls softball team. She's a 22 year old divorcee with a four year old son, David, and in the past month I have been totally obsessed with her. I drive past her house night and day, I stare at her picture, and I think about her all the time. She doesn't want to have anything to do with me, but never say die. Tom keeps on trying. I even sent her flowers once.
Marty Butler - My uncle and sort of big brother, Marty is Robertson's #1 mechanic and at time one of the most obnoxious people you could meet. Most of the time he's fun though, and he is the star of our lackluster softball team.
Ronnie Perry - Nicknamed "The Prophet" by Marty, we once took Ronnie to Boston, and he preached to a drunk on the sidewalk. Ron is a space shot. He forgets things five seconds after you tell them to him, and talking to him is like talking to a wall. He lives in a world of his own.
Dave Benoit - Another one of my good friends, Dave is nicknames Pitts because that's what he calls everybody. Dave plays the outfield for the Carvel softball team and is one of the best hitters in the league. He wife, Ilda, is one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet, and so is Dave. So blond, his hair is almost white, Dave will always help anybody out, and he's fun to have around.
Dina DeSousa - The little girl of our group, Dina's only 17, and another great person to know. Formerly Jay's steady, they broke up, but are often seen together. Dina is really very pretty, but only has eyes for Jay, and a little fling with Ron Perry proved negative. She is a very good friend of mine.
Jay Ferreira - No relation. Dina's steady as mentioned above, Jay is the son of plant manager John Ferreira, and is a blast and a half to have around. He's only 20, but has already matured into one of the worst softball players on the team. He's always promising to get me drunk.
Pete VanZandt - A very good friend of mine, I've known Pete now for a few years, and he's always been the same lazy Pete. He plays for superteam Robertson's I (we're II), and is often called the best shortstop in the league. He's wild at times, and his girlfriend Lori is really a nice girl.
There are lots of others, Sally Tavares, the pretty floor lady; Patty Ellis; Art Riendeau; Scott Simmons; Eddie "Jose" Medeiros; Cheryl Jackson; Sandy Moniz, everyone's big sister; Debbie Cambra; Karen Lane, Steve's heartthrob; Trisha Welce; George Pouliot; Chickie Griswold, Elliot's best friend; John DeCunha; Jack Nelson, our fearless coach; Frank Sullivan, the boss; Diane Butler, Marty's wife and my aunt; Joe Elisio, our hotshot left fielder; Dino Howarth, Debbie's brother; and Brenda Dunne, a truly caring person. If any of them get super involved in my life, I'll write more about them. Hope this cleared up the story a bit. Can't tell the players without a scorecard.

Well, there's the main characters in this story. It probably wouldn't be a spoiler to mention that Steve ended up marrying Cheryl, and Elliot married Patty. I'm not sure about Steve and Cheryl, but Elliot and Patty did get divorced.
As far as the Red Sox game that I went to that night, I certainly didn't go into much detail, but that's what Google is for in 2009. The Red Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 3-2 that night. Notable players for the Indians at the time were Mike Hargrove, Rick Manning, Andre Thornton, and Bobby Bonds. The starting pitcher that night for Cleveland was Rick Waits. The Red Sox were anchored by Fred Lynn, Jerry Remy, Dwight Evans, Butch Hobson, and hall of famers Carl Yastrzemski, Carlton Fisk, and 2009 inductee Jim Rice. The winning pitcher that night? Another hall of famer, Dennis Eckersley.