Double Play at Short

by Matt Christopher

  Again, Danny read the card before opening the package. He didn’t say anything, but he looked a little teary as he gave his folks hugs.

  When the wrapping came off, Danny was speechless. Inside the box he found a brand-new 35-millimeter camera, complete with zoom lens and strobe attachment. Danny had an inexpensive little snapshot camera, but this was more than he ever dreamed he might own.

  “Hope you like it, son,” said Mr. Walker.

  All Danny could do was nod in silent appreciation.

  “I guess it’s time,” Mrs. Walker said quietly to Jennifer, who disappeared into the kitchen. “All right, everyone, let’s clear up a little of this mess.”

  She pushed an empty carton into the center of the room. Everyone pitched in by dumping the wrapping into it.

  Joel wadded up a ball of tissue paper and tossed it in Danny’s direction.

  “Careful,” said Joanne. “We don’t want anything that’ll burn around.”

  Just as she said that, the kitchen door opened and Jennifer came out with a big chocolate cake with white lettering on it. There were twelve candles all aglow in the frosting.

  She put the cake down on the table in front of Danny. The house shook from the sound of all those voices singing “Happy Birthday.” Then he blew all the candles out in one breath.

  As the cake was being dished out, Joel shouted, “Speech! We want to hear from Mr. Birthday himself.”

  “No way!” said Danny. “I’ll do my talking on the diamond!”

  That brought a whole new chorus of razzing.

  “Danny’s all fired up ‘cause he hit a home run!” shouted Joel. “He’s heading for the majors.”

  “He’ll have to beat out that redhead on the Jaguars first,” said Jennifer, giving her brother a wink. “Little Miss Tammy Aiken might have a thing or two to do with it before he signs a contract.”

  “Tammy who?” asked Mr. Walker. He glanced quickly at Mrs. Walker.

  “Tammy Aiken,” said Jennifer. “She’s the new shortstop for the Jaguars. She gave Danny a run for his money at short today. A real hot dog, if you ask me.”

  “Who asked you?” snapped Mrs. Walker suddenly. Jennifer stared at her open-mouthed. “Leave Danny alone about baseball,” Mrs. Walker continued. “This is a birthday party. Everyone, have some more cake. Oh, I almost forgot the ice cream. I’ll get it.”

  “Here, let me help you, Mrs. Walker,” said Joanne.

  “Thanks, but I can do it myself,” said Mrs. Walker, rushing out of the room. Mr. Walker followed her silently into the kitchen.

  Jennifer and Danny stared at each other. They shrugged their shoulders as if to say, What got into Mom?

  5

  There was no game the next day. Danny slept a little later than usual, and no one woke him.

  When he did come into the kitchen for breakfast, he found a note propped up next to a bowl of cornflakes. “Gone out to do some shopping. Help yourself to breakfast. Lunch is in the fridge, too, if I’m not back. Hope you had a nice time at the party. Love, Mom.”

  Jennifer’s bike helmet wasn’t on the peg next to the door. She must have gone out already, too, Danny figured. And Dad’s long at work by now. That’s why it’s so quiet around here, he realized as he munched away on his breakfast. Here it was his last day as an eleven-year-old, and he was all by himself. Well, what better time to do a little research into a certain shortstop?

  He picked up the phone and dialed Joel’s number.

  “Hey, Joel, what’s happening? Feel like taking a trip to the library?… Yeah, the library. I finished my summer reading, and I want to return some books and maybe look at some other stuff. Swing by and we’ll ride over on our bikes.”

  By the time Danny had cleared up his breakfast things and collected his library books, Joel was at the back door honking on his bike horn. Joel loved old-fashioned gadgets. He was proud of the old rubber bulb squeeze horn he had mounted on his handlebars.

  “Come on, let’s get the lead out,” he called from outside.

  Danny took his helmet off the peg and went out the back door.

  “What’s the big hurry?” he asked. “You afraid they’re going to run out of Dick and Jane?”

  “Wise guy,” said Joel, smiling. He pointed at a stack of books in his bicycle basket. “I just want to get these back before I have to pay any more overdue fines on them.”

  The two boys set out for the ten-minute ride over to the county library. It was a large, modern limestone and glass building not far from the school and near the town line. Built with funds from the five towns that were part of the county, its central location made it a popular community cultural center for the area.

  There was a bicycle rack near the side entrance. Danny and Joel got off their bikes and were wedging them into the rack when another kid rode up. It was Drew Ferris, the catcher for the Jaguars.

  “Hey, suckers, how’re you doin’?” he asked, slipping his bike into one of the slots in the rack. He took off his helmet and buckled it around the handlebars.

  “Aren’t you afraid someone will take that?” asked Danny, pointing at the helmet.

  “Yeah, there must be some kids who need a helmet that expands for a swollen head,” Joel added.

  “A couple of comics,” said Drew. “Listen are you guys here to look up the word baseball in the dictionary? ‘Cause if you are, don’t bother looking up the word losers, too. You’ll find out what that means at the end of the series.”

  “One game isn’t the series,” said Joel defiantly. “Like the old saying goes, it isn’t over till the fat lady sings.”

  “She’s going to be singing the blues for the Bullets,” Drew said. “And when it’s over, you’re going to see a whole lot of county All-Stars coming from the Jaguars.”

  “Like, who, for instance?” asked Joel.

  “Our new secret weapon, that’s who,” said Drew. “You haven’t seen a thing yet. Wait till Tammy really hits her stride. She’s going to eat up the shortstop spot on the All-Stars.”

  “Oh, yeah?” said Joel. “Well, ol’ Danny here just might have something to say about that.”

  Danny felt the heat starting to rise from his shoulders up. He knew if he stood there, he’d turn beet red.

  “I’ll do my talking on the field,” he said. “Come on, Joel, these books are growing moss on them.”

  He snatched the pile of books from his bike basket and headed into the dark hallway that led to the circulation desk.

  He put his books on the returns counter and called to Joel, who had trailed after him. “I’m going to look up some stuff in the newspaper room. I’ll meet up with you in a little while.”

  “Okay, I want to see if they have the new Baseball Illustrated in the magazine rack. I’ll find you when I’m through looking at it,” said Joel.

  Inside the newspaper room, Danny found a vacant microfilm machine that he could use to scan back issues of the Jamestown Journal. That was the hometown paper that carried news of the Jamestown Jaguars.

  He started four months back, at the start of the baseball season. At that time, there was no mention of a shortstop named Tammy Aiken. That spot on the Jaguars’ roster was filled by Marsha Kerns, their second baseman now.

  He read all the stories about the Jaguars he could find. Then, just about four weeks ago, Tammy was first mentioned. She came in as a pinch hitter and drove home a winning run her first time at bat. From then on, it seemed that every story about the Jaguars mentioned her name.

  Making the catch that won the game in the final inning was the Jaguars’ new shortstop, Tammy Aiken.

  A real tiger in the shortstop position, Aiken never seems to miss a ball hit in her direction.

  The Jaguars are sizzling, and a lot of credit goes to their red-hot shortstop, Tammy Aiken.

  The Jaguars are heading for the championship series with the Bullets, led by their number-one slugger, Tammy Aiken. The superstar shortstop who was adopted by her parents has now been adopted by Jamestown.
/>   Adopted! Danny’s eyes widened in surprise. Tammy Aiken was adopted, just like me!

  “Hey Danny, what the heck are you looking at?” Joel’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

  Danny quickly clicked off the microfilm machine. For some reason, he didn’t want Joel to see exactly what he was reading. “Um, it’s just some old copies of the Jamestown Journal sports section. I — I wanted to check up a few of their past games and players.”

  Danny unloaded the reel of microfilm and put it away in its proper file. That’s when he noticed Drew Ferris walking toward him.

  “See you on the field, losers!” he hissed as Danny and Joel passed him.

  “Not if we see you first,” Joel retorted. Danny said nothing, but when he looked over his shoulder, he saw Drew walk into the newspaper room and open the file drawer Danny had closed moments ago.

  As Danny and Joel walked near the checkout desk, Danny spotted a book on photography. He ducked into the aisle, pulled it off the shelf, and started flipping through it.

  He was scanning the chapter titles when a familiar voice made him look up.

  “Could you help me find some information on a local baseball team?” the voice asked.

  Danny poked his head around the corner — and came face-to-face with his mother.

  “Mom!” he cried. “What are you doing here?”

  Mrs. Walker looked flustered. She opened her mouth to reply, but the librarian spoke before she had a chance to say anything.

  “What is the name of the team you’re interested in, ma’am?” she asked.

  “What? Oh, never mind,” Mrs. Walker said hurriedly. “Come on, Danny, Joel. Are your bikes out front? I’ll walk you to them.”

  She took Danny’s arm and led him away from the desk. A few minutes later, she climbed into her car and waved good-bye. The boys unlocked their bikes, but before they started off, Joel spoke.

  “What’s with your mom?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” Danny replied truthfully. “She’s been acting kind of strange lately, ever since my birthday party.”

  “Maybe she doesn’t want you to grow up!” Joel said.

  “Guess that’s something your mom will never have to worry about!” Danny replied. He ducked to avoid Joel’s playful swipe.

  “Want to get a burger or something?” Joel asked.

  “I don’t think so,” said Danny. “My mom left lunch for me in the fridge. I’d better have that. Then I think I’ll do some work in her vegetable garden. You know, give her a little surprise.”

  “Are you okay, Danny? You hate working in the garden,” said Joel.

  Danny smiled at him. “I guess I’m just growing old,” he said.

  The two boys laughed and started pedaling down the road.

  Later that day, when Mrs. Walker arrived home, she was amazed to find her vegetable garden one hundred percent weed free.

  “I don’t know what got into you, Danny,” she said. “But whatever it was, I’m glad of it. This lovely salad is all because of you.” She passed a bowl of crisp greens and slices of deep red tomatoes around the dinner table that night.

  “First a great baseball player, now a great gardener,” Jennifer groaned. “I don’t know how we live in the same house as you, Danny.”

  “Now if we can just get him to clean his room more often,” Mr. Walker said.

  “Ah, the tragic flaw,” Jennifer announced. “So what else did you do all day while I was earning money baby-sitting, slugger?”

  Danny told them that he and Joel had gone to the library to return some books.

  “Joel isn’t that hot on reading,” he went on. “But he looked at some magazines while I looked at some old newspapers. By the way, Mom, what were you doing in the library today?”

  “Speaking of books,” Mrs. Walker said, ignoring his question. She reminded Mr. Walker about some shelves he was building for her in their living room. They started discussing whether they should be painted or stained.

  “Checking out the competition?” Jennifer asked Danny while munching on a lettuce leaf.

  “How’d you guess?” said Danny. “I read up on the Jaguars’ shortstop. You’re right, she’s only been on the team for the last part of the season.”

  “Anything else?” Jennifer asked. “The paper have much to say about her?”

  “The usual,” he replied. “You know, ‘Aiken is a superstar hitter and fielder’ and all that. They also mentioned that Tammy was adopted.”

  Mr. and Mrs. Walker stopped talking. They looked at each other strangely. Then, for the second night in a row, Mrs. Walker rushed out of the room.

  Jennifer broke the silence that followed. “What the heck is going on around here?”

  6

  The next day, the Bullets and the Jaguars met for the second game of the series. It was a bright, sunny, dry day without a cloud in the sky.

  “Perfect baseball weather,” Jennifer announced as she and Danny left for the field. “And I see you have your new camera. You ought to get some good pictures on a day like this. But how are you going to do that while you’re playing?”

  “I’m only going to use it during the warm-up.”

  He was true to his word. When the Bullets came out of the locker room for the start of the game, his camera hung by its strap around his neck.

  “Hey, Danny, over here,” said Joel. He crossed his eyes and stuck out his tongue.

  Danny took his picture that way.

  “Oh, Danny,” called Elaine. She and Joanne stood arm in arm, leaning on their bats.

  Danny took their picture.

  Within a few minutes he had taken pictures of most of the team hanging around near the dugout. But eventually, they started tossing balls to each other. The warm-up was beginning. It was time to put away the camera.

  But just before he took the strap from his neck, he held it up and gazed across the field through the lens. With his other hand he adjusted the zoom lens back and forth. It was amazing how close up it could make faraway things.

  He swept across the diamond until a blur of auburn hair whizzed by his lens. He backed up, then zoomed in and saw Tammy waiting for a ball to come her way. He brought her face into focus and snapped the shutter.

  Then he put the camera away. It was time to play.

  The Jaguars led off. The Bullets had Ike Isaacs, a southpaw, on the mound. He’d be pitted against Eric Swan, a Jaguars left-handed pitcher.

  Ike was a little tense starting off. He walked the first batter but recovered his stuff and got ahead of the next with an 0 and 2 count. Jaguar left fielder Wally Mills went for the next pitch and popped an easy out to Vern at second.

  But then Ike’s real troubles began. He couldn’t find the weakness in the next two batters. Each of them connected for a solid hit, first a triple, then a double. It was enough to drive in two runs.

  With a runner on second, Tammy Aiken came up to bat. Danny stared across the field at her. All at once, he was struck by how similar her batting stance was to his. He used to study himself in the mirror, poised in that same position.

  But there was something else about this girl that was bothering him. Even though he’d only seen her play in one game, everything about her suddenly seemed, well, familiar. But why?

  Must be because I read so much about her yesterday, Danny reasoned. Then he shook his head. But now is not the time to be letting my mind wander! If the Jaguars get too far ahead this inning, it could spell real trouble for us. And if she gets a hit, her chances for the All-Star team get that much better, he added to himself.

  Tammy let the first pitch, an inside breaker, go by for a called strike. Danny could see how intense she was by the way she stared straight down the line at Ike on the mound.

  The next pitch was another inside breaker, but wider. Tammy went for it. The ball flew out toward left field well above Danny’s head and too far in for Ken Hunter to catch in the air. Ken got it on a high bounce and went for the play at home.

  But he was too
late. The runner had scored and Tammy was safe on first. The score now read 3–0 for the Jaguars.

  Even though it was early in the game, Coach Lattizori took a walk out to the mound to talk to Ike. Larry Chuan, the Bullets’ catcher, tagged along. While they were conferring, Danny looked over to first. He was startled to see Tammy staring straight at him. She scowled and looked away before he had a chance to react.

  I wonder what that was for, Danny thought.

  When play resumed, Ike seemed to have recovered his confidence. He pitched two called strikes in a row to the next batter, Al Norris. Hungry for a hit, Al slashed at an outside pitch. He barely tapped the ball for a pop-up foul caught by Larry.

  But Tammy took advantage of the action around home plate to steal her way to second. When the Jaguars’ catcher, Drew Ferris, came up to bat, she was well positioned for a race to the plate if he got a hit. Danny forced himself to focus on the plate.

  Ike strung the batter out to a full count. Then, with a 3–2 situation, Drew found the next pitch to his liking and swung at it. It rose high into the air and sailed all the way out to the middle of the center field wall.

  That was enough for Tammy. She flew by Danny on her way home.

  Bus Thomas, who was playing center for the Bullets for the first time after an injury, was a little slow grabbing the ball. By the time the peg came in to second base, Drew had arrived on the bag standing up.

  The Jaguars now had four runs on the scoreboard, and the inning wasn’t over. Their fans cheered wildly.

  Luckily, Millie Albright, up next, was overeager on the plate. She took three swings in a row and just managed to connect with the last one. It was a popup toward first. Joanne snagged it for an easy third out.

  As the Bullets came off the field, there wasn’t a lot of cheering from their fans. Danny decided to stir things up by shouting, “Okay, you Bullets! Let’s show ‘em what we can do!”

  That got some of the fans and the others members of the team going. But not the first three batters.