To Kimberly Marie
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 by Catherine M. Christopher
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any
form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information
storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing
from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief
passages in a review.
Matt Christopher® is a registered trademark
of Catherine M. Christopher.
Hachette Book Group
237 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Visit our website at www.HachetteBookGroup.com
The characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author.
First eBook Edition: December 2009
ISBN: 978-0-316-09419-1
Contents
Copyright
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Epilogue
The #1 Sports Series for Kids: MATT CHRISTOPHER®
Matt Christopher®
Prologue
The Megaphone
Monticello Middle School
April 22
SPORTS SHORTS
by Sara Wilson
I’m taking an upbeat attitude toward the upcoming baseball season. I say this even though the Monticello Cardinals have been putting goose eggs on the scoreboard for more than six years now — way before I came on board the Megaphone as your tireless sports scribe.
The Cardinals were once the team to be reckoned with in the Meadowbrook Junior High Conference. Could this be the year that we return as a powerhouse team? Will some on-field heroics finally put some fans in the stands at Cain Park Field?
What will it take to save Coach Tomashiro and our fearsome nine from once again heading down, down, downstairs into the league cellar?
My guess is that this new crop of seventh graders might save us from sweeping up the cinders at the bottom of the league. Just remember the names of pitcher Koby Caplin, battery mate Tug McCue, and their cast of hard throwers, acrobatic fielders, and tough hitters.
Be there Tuesday for the annual preseason Watermelon Game against our arch rivals, the Greenview Green Jackets! It’s a home game, so there are no excuses not to be there!
Remember — this season is going to be one for the books!
Trust me.
“Sports Shorts” Trivia Question: Who was the first major league player to play all nine positions in one game?
Answer in the next issue of the Megaphone!
1
Pitcher Koby Caplin walked up to the mound at Cain Park Field and turned around to look at the stands. “There were more moths circling my porch light last night than there are fans in the stands!” he yelled to third baseman Billy Trentanelli.
Billy laughed. “We’ll just have to let the fans who aren’t here know they’ll be missing some good ball games if they don’t show up. OK, you guys, let’s talk it up out here!”
“No problem!” shouted Sandy Siegel, the second baseman. “Hey, batter, batter! Our pitcher’s going to be throwing some smoke!”
Koby laughed. Crowd or no crowd, at least he had his team behind him. Not that a big crowd would have bothered him. Koby was used to pitching in front of full stands. Last July and August, when he had hurled for the Evansville Grays in the summer league, he had earned a reputation as a rocket-throwing righty. Big crowds were a common sight at Millikin Field those months.
Not many hitters had luck connecting against one of Koby’s fastballs. And if a runner was lucky enough to get on first, he didn’t dare try to steal. Most knew that Koby had a lightning-quick pickoff. Besides, if a base runner was able to get the jump on Koby, catcher Tug McCue was likely to peg him out at second.
Koby spied Megaphone reporter Sara Wilson in the stands. She was sitting in her customary seat in the third row of the bleachers, scribbling notes in her reporter’s notebook.
Wonder what she’s writing, Koby thought. Something that will get people here to watch us play, I hope!
A handful of parents were dotted throughout the bleachers, along with some teachers who had stopped for a minute on their way home.
“Helloooo, Ms. Brodsky!” yelled Sandy to their seventh grade science teacher.
“Keep the chatter on the field,” Coach Tomashiro ordered. “We’re here to play ball.”
A small group of Monticello students were sitting on the bleacher seats, an open pizza box at their feet.
“Baseball rules!” yelled one student.
Her friend sitting next to her answered back, “What, are you kidding? Nobody cares about the Cardinals. Just look around you — pizza rules!” They high-fived and laughed.
“With pepperoni!” cheered her friend. Together they made up a “pizza” cheer, to the delight of their other friends. “P-I-Z-Z-A! What’s that spell? PIZZA!”
Koby couldn’t help but hear them. It was clear to him that the students had no interest in the team or the game. Baseball was a big joke to them.
Well, I’ll see if I can’t change their attitude, he thought with determination.
The annual preseason Watermelon Game was a time-honored tradition in the Meadowbrook Middle School league. Behind the dugouts, each team had huge watermelons stuffed in garbage cans of ice. The winning team would be treated to a watermelon feast by the loser. That in itself was motivation enough for some of the players, for what tasted better after a long, hot ball game than a juicy slice of cold watermelon?
“Play ball!” yelled the umpire.
Under the watchful eye of Coach Tomashiro, or Coach T., as the students called him, the Cardinals took the field. They looked cheerful and bright in their red uniforms with white trim, worn for the first time that day. Their new baseball caps were still gleaming white.
“Let’s play heads-up ball out there. Use your noggins!” Coach T. yelled, pointing to the top of his cap. “No mental mistakes!”
Koby, wearing number 33, pounded his mitt and waved to his catcher. Tug waved back with his gloved hand.
At the sight of Tug’s mitt, Koby had to smile. In order to catch Koby’s speeding, and sometimes jumpy, fastballs, Tug used a specially ordered mitt, the “Hummer.” The oversize Hummer was the perfect target for Koby.
“C’mon, Cardinals!” Tug yelled. The Greenview leadoff hitter stepped up to the plate. He had a low batting stance and a high on-base percentage.
“Show him your stuff, Koby!” called Tug.
Thump!
Koby’s first pitch was right on the money.
“Steeerike one!” screamed the ump.
Two more pitches, and the batter was left with a count of 1 and 2. He swung at the next pitch and foul-tipped it right into the Hummer.
One out.
Koby got the next batter to hit an easy grounder to Papo Cruz at short. Papo fired the ball to first base for the second out. Then Koby struck out the last batter on three pitches. The side was retired without the Cardinals even breaking a sweat.
Koby walked into a sea of high fives on the bench. Coach Tomashiro gave a stern look. “We haven’t even had our ups yet! No time for celebrating — get out there and score some runs!”
Center fielder Beechie
Anderson led off with a single, and Karim Omar Watkins, known as K.O., doubled him home. But that was all they could do. Three batters later, the Cardinals ended the inning with a 1-0 lead.
“We need more innings like this one, both at bat and on the field!” yelled Coach T. “Everyone hustle out there!”
Koby trotted out to the mound and kicked at it with his cleat until the dirt was packed perfectly.
The group of kids in the stands had started to take notice of the action on the field. “Your ice-cold watermelon will be ours!” they called toward the Greenview bench. “W-A-T-E-R-M-E-L-O-N — what’s that spell? WATERMELON!”
Koby heard the cries and smiled. That’s more like it, he said to himself. A little school spirit at last!
Greenview scattered a few hits in the next innings but didn’t cause any damage. The Cardinals were hitting the ball, too, but leaving too many runners stranded. This went against Coach T.’s first rule of baseball: “If you’ve got runners on base, get ’em home — safely!”
In the top of the fifth, Greenview’s speedster Cap Wilinski laid a perfect bunt down the third base line.
Third baseman Billy Trentanelli was playing too far back. He ran in and scooped up the ball barehanded. But his throw to first was off balance and made on the run, and it lagged behind the runner by half a step.
Stepping into the box was Todd Woods. Todd had been threatening to make a solid hit all day. Tug called for time and walked to the mound.
“Here’s how you get this guy, Koby. Keep it low and inside, because he always crowds the plate.”
“Got it,” Koby said.
Cap was taunting Koby with a big lead off first. Koby looked him back and went into his windup. As he released the ball, Cap suddenly took off. But Todd fouled into the backstop.
Cap returned to the bag, then took a lead again.
“Hey, pitcher, pitcher!” he yelled.
The words were barely out of his mouth when Koby hammered the ball to first. Cap dove for the bag, but with one graceful motion, first baseman Tom “the Prez” Jefferson scooped the ball out of the dirt and tagged him on the arm.
“Out!” cried the field ump.
The students and parents gave a cheer. Koby suppressed a smile as he received the ball back from Tom.
Koby took Tug’s advice, pitching low and inside to Todd, and struck him out. The next batter flew out to K.O., who was playing shallow in right field.
End of the Greenview threat — for now. The Cardinals couldn’t change the scoreboard on their ups. They held on to their pencil-thin lead of 1-0.
In the top of the sixth and last inning, Koby got the first two batters to hit line drives right to Papo Cruz at short. Papo didn’t have to move an inch for either of them.
Tiring just a little, Koby worked the next batter to a full count, then walked him.
With the tying run on base and two outs, Koby looked for the next batter. It was Greenview’s version of King Kong — Jethro Hubbard — in the on-deck circle.
Jethro had been benched for the first half of the game by the Greenview coach because he had been late to practice the day before.
He was probably busy tearing down tree limbs with his bare hands and eating away the bark in order to make a bat, Koby thought, eyeing the huge seventh grader.
Jethro walked up to the batter’s box as if he were entering a ring for a professional wrestling match. Koby hunched over, left hand on his knee, and shook off Tug’s first signal. The second signal was a go. It called for a fast one, down and low.
As Koby let the pitch fly, Jethro kicked his left leg up and swung the bat back. He untangled himself and swung.
Thump!
The ball landed in Tug’s oversize mitt. The Hummer cradled it the way a robin’s nest cradles an egg.
“Strike one!” yelled the umpire.
Jethro frowned, then looked more determined than ever.
But so did Koby.
Tug relayed the signal, and Koby unleashed a sidearm pitch that caught Jethro completely by surprise. All he could do was watch the pitch whiz by and listen to the umpire cry, “Strike two!”
Next, Tug called for a fastball. Koby threw, but the pitch was a bit high. Swinging with all his might, Jethro smacked the ball farther than any ball had traveled that day.
Koby craned his neck to see where the ball was heading. Thunk! — it landed right on top of Ms. Brodsky’s station wagon in the farthest corner of the parking lot near left field.
“Foul ball!” screamed the ump as he tossed a fresh ball to Tug.
Just barely, Koby thought with a sigh of relief. He wiped his brow, then dug his fingernails into the ball. With everything he had, he threw the next pitch down the pipe. Jethro swung hard, obviously looking to punch that ball out of there.
Whoosh!
On the mound, Koby was sure he felt the breeze as Jethro struck out.
The Cardinal bench raced onto the field. Tug ran to the mound and bear-hugged Koby.
“We did it!” he yelled.
“We sure did,” said Koby with a huge smile. “We sure did!”
Moments later, Koby and Tug were buried under a pile of cheering teammates.
“W-A! T-E-R! M-E-L-O-N!” chanted the Cardinals faithful. “W-A! T-E-R! M-E-L-O-N!”
“C’mon, let’s eat!” Koby yelled in Tug’s ear from under the pileup. “If Scoop gets there before us, there won’t be any left!” Scoop Jones, the team’s left fielder, was known for his hearty appetite.
“Are you kidding?” Tug yelled back. “They’re going to save a piece for the winning pitcher of the Watermelon Game. You’re the hero, man!”
“Hey, I couldn’t have done it without you and the Hummer!”
“Ah, piece of cake. Or, should I say ‘slice of watermelon’?”
The Greenview players and coach dragged their garbage can of watermelons over to the Monticello dugout. “Come join us in the feast,” Coach T. yelled to the Green Jackets. “There’s plenty for everybody!”
Scoop was the first player in line.
2
The Megaphone
Monticello Middle School
April 29
SPORTS SHORTS
by Sara Wilson
OK, Cardinals fans! I think I’ve died and gone to heaven — baseball heaven, that is. Watermelon never looked so good as it did after the annual preseason Watermelon Game, and I don’t even like watermelon. Too many seeds, but I didn’t care if I swallowed them all, because victory sure tasted sweet!
The Cardinals came out on top thanks to Koby Caplin’s excellent pitching and the hard work of a team whose thirst for watermelon was bigger than their opponents’. Koby went the distance and scattered four hits with seven whiffs to a 1-0 victory. In the biggest K of the game, Jethro Hubbard did an impressive imitation of a windmill.
While the pitching for the Cardinals was awesome, our offense sputtered a bit. Despite eight solid hits under its belt, our team left several runners stranded on base — a no-no in Coach T.’s playbook.
Here’s my take on this year’s starting lineup:
1B: Tom Jefferson (a.k.a. “the Prez”): At nearly 5’10”, he is a great target for scrambling fielders throwing on the run. The Prez picks balls out of the dirt with ease. Good bat!
2B: Sandy Siegel has the speed and agility to fill the hole between second and first. Can scratch out a clutch single.
SS: Papo Cruz covers short like a gazelle, with effortless grace. A velvet glove and solid bat.
3B: Billy Trentanelli can stand the heat at the hot corner. Sometimes throws wild when on the run. A potential RBI leader.
LF: Scoop Jones has a big appetite for any ball hit his way. Swings big—bat him fifth.
CF: Beechie Anderson has the speed to cover short and back up his teammates in right and left but needs to work on arm strength. Leads off with a high on-base percentage. Base-stealing threat.
RF: Karim Omar Watkins (a.k.a. “K.O.”): Right field is the wrong place to hit with K.O
. out there. He’ll catch anything smacked his way. And you want him at the plate when you’re down by a run!
C: Tug McCue is a “catcher’s catcher,” and Koby is lucky to have him behind the plate. With the Hummer in hand, balls don’t get past Tug. His rocket throws to second nab base stealers.
P: Koby Caplin is going to be the main reason Monticello returns to the baseball map! Throws a heater that sizzles. Very dependable bat. You’ll be hearing a lot about him this year. He’s a player that can bring fans into the seats.
P: Miguel Sanchez: A solid pitcher in the rotation.
P: Peter Chung: If you want to hold on to your lead in the final inning or two, bring in Pete, a dependable relief pitcher.
Want to see how my starting lineup scouting report pans out? Come to Friday’s Opening Day game against the Danville Middle School Mudcats!
“Sports Shorts” Trivia Question: What baseball player was a spy for the United States government? Read the answer at the end of my next column.
Answer to the last trivia question: On September 8, 1965, Bert Campaneris played all nine positions in one game.
Koby finished reading the Megaphone on his way to social studies class. Mr. Tomashiro stood in the doorway, ushering his students in. Koby had just walked past him when he heard hurried footsteps and a familiar voice.
“Coach T., have you seen Koby yet?” Sara said, sounding breathless.
Coach Tomashiro looked at her over the top of his half-rimmed glasses. “No running in the halls, Sara. But to answer your question …” He stepped aside to reveal Koby, who was standing right behind him.
“Great article in the Megaphone, Sara!” Koby said enthusiastically. “Thanks for saying those nice things about me and the guys.”
“No prob, Kobe. Now I know at least one student reads my column.”
“Are you kidding? Everyone in the locker room talks about it!”
“You’re just saying that.”
“No, really!” he protested. “Maybe you can give us some advice on how to get people into the stands this season.”
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