Working at home

I just loved this story even though I can't help thinking that these people see themselves as some form of made for tv movie and that's why they still live the way they live. Reggie Willits of the California Angels (yeah, yeah I know, but that's what they were when I was a kid) has a batting cage in his house. Not in a big garage or separate building, but right in the house. I mean, right in the house.

When houseguests open the front door, they see a small bathroom and kitchen on the right, and two sofas and a television set on the left. The floors are covered with Berber carpet. The dining room table is adorned with a vase of flowers. There are no closets.

Toward the back, the pitching machine, the weight room and the master bedroom are clustered together. "I did put in one wall," Reggie said.

When he wants to bat, he pushes aside the sofas to form his personal playing field. He steps inside the net, suspended from the ceiling. If Amber is busy, he hits off a tee.

If she is free, she feeds balls into the pitching machine. Amber stands behind an L-Screen, the kind used to protect batting-practice pitchers. Still, line drives sometimes rip through the screen.

"I know she's taken a few in the helmet," said Mickey Hatcher, the Angels' hitting coach. "But that's part of the game."

His wife's as crazy as he is, but I guess the fact that he's made it to the Major Leagues against the odds will make it all worthwhile.