The Mustangs were the champions.
The night of the awards dinner, Rhino sat at a big, round table with his teammates. All of the other teams had tables of their own. Grandpa James, C.J., and lots of other people were in attendance, too.
All of the players were wearing their team caps, but they weren’t dressed for a game. Rhino looked sharp in a white shirt and blue tie—Mustangs colors. His teammates were dressed up, too.
They enjoyed a dinner of chicken, ziti, and vegetables, then the coaches gave out trophies to everyone except the Mustangs. They’d get their championship trophies a little later in the evening.
Coach Ray was in charge of the announcements, and he reminded the players of the most important things about sports: to work hard, be patient, and always have fun. A few members of the Groundhogs stood up and sang “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”
“Our turn,” Bella said, waving for Rhino, Cooper, and Carlos to join her at the front of the room.
“This has been a great season, and we want to thank all of the coaches, umpires, players, and everyone who took part,” Bella said. “We thought it would be fun to remember what it was like just a few months ago, back before we knew what we were doing. A lot of us thought we’d step right in and be baseball heroes. It wasn’t so easy. If it wasn’t for our coaches and our teammates’ support, we’d probably still be trying to figure out how to catch the ball!”
Bella started singing, “It’s the first day of practice, and I can’t wait!”
“I’ll hit the ball a mile, and slide into the plate,” sang Carlos.
Rhino chimed in. “I’ll smack a couple homers, and be a fielding terror.”
“I’ll pitch a dozen strikeouts, and never make an error,” Cooper finished.
Bella crouched low, making believe she was an umpire. Rhino kneeled in front of her like a catcher. Cooper faced them from a few yards away, and Bella called, “Batter up!”
Carlos gave the audience a big smile and stepped up with an imaginary bat. He pointed to a spot high and far away and said, “Watch this,” with all the confidence he could muster.
Cooper pretended to pitch. Carlos swung.
“Strike one!” yelled Bella.
Cooper quickly went through the motions of another pitch, and Carlos swung so hard he spun completely around.
“Strike two!” said Bella.
Carlos fell down after his third wild swing.
“You’re out,” Bella called. “Next batter!”
Carlos and Rhino switched spots. As Rhino swung at Cooper’s pitch, Bella made a loud thwack sound with her mouth.
“A high pop-up!” Carlos announced. “Get under it, Cooper.”
Cooper circled around, waiting a long time for the imaginary ball to come down. “I’ve got it,” he said. “It’s all mine.”
Cooper stuck out a hand, then pretended to bobble the ball. He groaned as it fell through his fingers, then made believe he was chasing it along the ground.
“A costly error,” Bella said. “I don’t think these guys will ever get it.” She turned to the audience. “Do you?”
Everyone cheered. Rhino, Cooper, and Carlos bowed.
Cooper began the rhyme this time. “We started slow and learned a lot.”
“We started cold and ended hot,” said Carlos, fanning himself with his cap.
Bella picked up the next line. “We started worried and ended bold.”
“We started young and ended . . .” Rhino sang, and the other three joined him for the closing word: “Champions!”
Rhino lifted his arms and smiled at the crowd. There were so many great things about baseball. Having teammates was the best. They had become his closest friends.
Coach Ray stepped up to the microphone again. He called all of the Mustangs to come up, and he handed each one a championship trophy.
Rhino stared at the engraving on the trophy as he took his seat.
MUSTANGS
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS
Each coach gave out special awards to a few players on their teams. When it was Coach Ray’s turn, he said he’d had to make some tough decisions.
“We relied on two pitchers for most of the season, and they both were outstanding,” Coach said. “But Cooper was the winning pitcher in both playoff games, so he gets our award for Best Pitcher.”
Rhino yelled and clapped Cooper on the back. Then he glanced at Dylan, who was clapping but looked a little glum.
Dylan brightened right away. Coach called him up for the Best Hitter award. Rhino had been hoping that he’d win it instead.
“We had a lot of talented fielders, too,” Coach said. “But guess who made the fewest errors? My own daughter, Bella. She gets the Best Fielder award.”
Rhino smiled at Bella, but inside he felt a little sad. There was only one award left. Most Improved. Coach was already pointing to Carlos and asking him to come up.
* * *
Rhino stood and cheered for all of his teammates. Carlos really deserved the trophy for most improved player. Rhino shook his hand when Carlos returned. He looked around at the four special trophies on the table. They all deserve them, his thinker told him. Being on a team with these players had been more rewarding than he ever could have imagined. Rhino hadn’t won any of the major awards, but he was fine with that. There were many more baseball seasons ahead of him.
He turned and saw Grandpa and C.J. sitting at a table with Cooper’s parents. Rhino gave them a thumbs-up.
“Before we go, there’s one more trophy,” Coach announced. “This isn’t just a Mustangs award. It’s for the whole league. The other coaches all agreed on this one, and they decided that I should present it. It covers the best things about sports. Leadership. Sportsmanship. Teamwork. And, yes, baseball skills. Great fielding and hitting and baserunning. The things that make someone more than a player. A most valuable player.”
Rhino’s eyes grew wide. Bella, Cooper, Carlos, and the others were all looking at him. “This is the real secret,” Bella whispered.
Rhino took a deep breath.
Coach held up a tall trophy. “This year’s most valuable player is from my team, the Mustangs,” he said. “Come on up here, Ryan Howard. This trophy is for you!”
Ryan Howard is a Major League Baseball first baseman. He won the National League Rookie of the Year award in 2005 and the National League MVP award in 2006. Ryan and his wife, Krystle, cofounded the Ryan Howard Big Piece Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children by promoting academic and athletic development.
Krystle Howard is a former elementary school teacher with a passion for education and childhood literacy. She was instrumental in developing Ryan’s Reading Challenge, a program that resulted in more than one million minutes of reading by the children involved. She is currently the COO of the Ryan Howard Big Piece Foundation.
Text copyright © 2017 by Ryan Howard
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First printing 2017
Cover art © 2017 by Erwin Madrid
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e-ISBN 978-1-338-05240-4
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