The Morning According to Us

On the way to the show, a little assistance is necessary.

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A Costanza 600-X. A sweet ride.

The only thing more humiliating than being cut by the lowly Orioles at 23 is to try to make your way back to the Show through an independent league, where, at age 25, you and your wife must live in an assisted-living facility. Life is not kind to Josh Faiola.

Or at least it has a sense of humor.

Faiola is a pitcher with the Lake Erie Crushers. The Crushers, like all teams in the Independent Frontier League, have little money to offer their players. So families in the community host them during the season. Faiola's host family, the Cindy Griffiths-Novak clan, couldn't do it. Griffiths-Novak's two toddlers provided all the hosting her house could ever need. Ah, but she owned an assisted-living facility, the Belvedere of Westlake, just outside Cleveland. She took the idea to the residents and they unanimously approved Faiola as their newest old man. Heh. Good luck, kid. We believe "Wheel of Fortune" comes on at 6:30. And then lights out at 7.

Except Faiola kind of likes it. His teammates live in full houses and have, at most, a room for themselves. Faiola has his own suite: a kitchenette, washer and dryer, furniture, TV. The old people write him motivational cards, tell him he better not get cut. Faiola is smart enough to know that things could be worse.

Hey, he could still be with the Orioles.

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