“I think you’re right,” Kate said. She glanced around. There was no sign of Harry. “We need to get Louie out of here and tell Red that we found him!”
Kate leaned over again and gently pulled on Louie’s collar. He gave his peanut butter chew toy one more lick and then hopped out of the hot dog cart. Kate closed the door and held on tight to Louie’s collar while Mike went to look for something to use as a leash.
A few moments later, Mike was back. “I couldn’t find a leash,” he said. “So I made one!”
He held up a leash made from two shoelaces tied together. He was holding his sneakers in the other hand, since they wouldn’t stay on his feet without the laces.
“Great idea!” Kate said.
They tied the shoelaces to Louie’s collar.
“Okay, come on, boy!” Kate said. “We’ve got to get a message to Red right away!”
“And we’ve got to get away from this hot dog cart before Harry returns!” Mike said.
* * *
—
Mike, Kate, and Louie jogged through the stadium toward the seats near the Cardinals’ dugout. The first Cardinals batter of the inning was at the plate. Red would be up next!
They had to slow down to a walk as they got closer. On the field, the St. Louis batter hit a double! The game was still tied. The crowd went wild with cheers. The fans started clapping and chanting Red’s name. A good hit by Red would send that runner home and put the Cardinals ahead to win the game!
“Come on!” Kate said to Mike. She pointed to an aisle leading to the field. “We’ll bring Louie to the fence near the on-deck circle so Red can see him!”
Red took a few practice swings while the runner dusted himself off.
Mike and Kate started down the aisle.
“Stop! Hold it right there!” said a voice.
Mike, Kate, and Louie stopped and turned. A security guard stood at the top of the aisle. In their hurry, they hadn’t seen him.
“You can’t go to those seats unless you have tickets,” the security guard said. “And you definitely can’t bring a dog!”
Kate pointed to the batting circle. “But we’re friends with Red!” she said. “We have to show him something before he bats! Otherwise he might not keep his hitting streak alive!”
The guard looked at Red and then back at Mike and Kate. He shook his head.
“No! I don’t care who you are friends with,” he said. “Stadium rules do not allow a dog in the stands.”
Kate stepped closer to the guard. “But we have to get a message to Red!”
The guard shrugged. “Not with that dog, you’re not,” he said. “And not without tickets. Sorry! Move along. You can’t block the aisle.”
Mike looked at the field. Red was headed for home plate!
“Red’s going to bat! And he doesn’t know we found Louie!” Mike cried. “We’ve got to do something!”
Red stopped just outside the batter’s box. It looked like he was thinking.
Mike tried to push past the security guard. But the guard stood his ground.
“Back! Now!” the guard ordered. “Or I’ll have you removed from the stadium!”
Red wiped his cleats in the dirt outside the batter’s box. He was just about to step inside when Kate put two fingers in her mouth and blew with all her might.
A shrill whistle pierced the air.
Red looked up from the field.
“I knew that learning to whistle really loudly would pay off!” Kate said. She nudged Mike. “Quick! Yell with me!”
Mike and Kate moved to the side of the security guard and yelled together at the top of their lungs, “RED! RED! RED!”
Kate gave another long, loud whistle.
Red looked directly at them. Mike bent down and picked Louie up, then lifted him as high as he could!
A huge smile spread across Red’s face! He clapped his hands together, then thumped his heart with one hand and pointed at Louie. His smile couldn’t have been bigger.
Red stepped into the batter’s box to hit.
A Doggone
Good Idea
The security guard stared at Mike with Louie snuggled in his arms. Then he looked down at Red at the plate. “Hmph!” he grunted.
Red took a few more practice swings. He glanced back at Mike, Kate, and Louie and smiled again. Then he adjusted his gloves and took another swing.
Mike set Louie down on the ground. He held his shoelace leash tight.
“Okay, you two can stand over there to watch Red bat,” the guard said. “But you can’t go down the aisle.”
“Thank you,” Kate said.
They moved a few steps to the left, behind the last row of seats. They had a perfect view of the field. Louie curled up at Mike’s feet.
Kate took out her phone. She started to dial.
“What are you doing?” Mike asked. “Red’s batting!”
Kate glanced at Mike. “I know!” she said. “But we’ve got to call Manny to tell him we have Louie and that he shouldn’t turn over the trophy!”
Mike blushed. “Oh,” he said. “Okay, good idea!”
Kate connected with Manny. A few moments later, she hung up. “It’s all set,” she said. “He’s calling security to find Harry. He’s not going to turn over the trophy. He was so happy that we found Louie!”
Red rested his bat on the ground and adjusted his batting gloves again. Then he picked up his bat and stared down the pitcher.
The Pirates pitcher hurled the ball at the plate.
Red let the pitch go by.
“Strike one!” the umpire called.
The crowd groaned. Then they cheered louder for Red. Mike and Kate clapped and jumped up and down.
The pitcher threw again.
It looked like Red was going to let this one go by, too. He hesitated a moment, but then he swung. WHACK!
The force of the blow swung the bat around in front of Red. He held on to it with his left hand as the bat circled behind him. He stood at home plate and watched the ball.
The ball sailed over the pitcher’s head.
It climbed high into the night sky.
It looked like it was headed straight for the windows at the top of the Gateway Arch!
Red dropped the bat and ran for first base. The runner on second headed for third.
The fans went crazy.
“Go! Go! Go!” Mike yelled.
“Run!” Kate called.
Red and the other runner circled the bases. The ball leveled off and flew toward the Arch.
Mike and Kate waved their arms and screamed, “Go!”
The first runner crossed home plate!
Red rounded second! He kept going!
The ball dropped down. It landed in the outfield seats and bounced once before a fan snagged it.
Home run!
Red crossed home plate.
The Cardinals had won!
Red had set the record!
And Louie was safe!
* * *
—
After the game, Red wanted to see Louie. That’s how Mike, Kate, Louie, Red, and Manny ended up back in the groundskeepers’ area. Manny was getting ready to go, but he couldn’t leave until Red stopped petting Louie.
“Where did you find him?” Red asked in between nuzzles with Louie.
“In Harry’s hot dog cart!” Mike said.
“I can’t believe it,” Red said. “A hot dog in a hot dog cart! I’m so happy you found him!”
“And we’re happy we found him in time for you to set the hitting record!” Kate said.
Red smiled. “It was nice to set the record!” he said. “But I’m happier that you rescued Louie. Maybe if he comes to my next game, I’ll set another record!” Red leaned over and gave Louie a hug.
“What happened to Harry?” Red asked.
“He’s sold his last hot dog here,” Manny said. He glanced at Mike and Kate. “Apparently, someone told him I was looking for help with the ransom. Harry went downstairs to look for me. But when he didn’t find me, he went back up to his cart. I have no idea when he noticed that Louie wasn’t there.”
“How did you catch him?” Mike asked.
“Well, I was just about to put the latest Cardinals’ World Series trophy in the drop-off place when Kate called and told me that Harry was the dog-napper,” Manny said. “Mr. Lee and his security team stopped Harry as soon as he got near the statue. I guess that even without Louie, Harry was trying to pick up the trophy. The police will be here soon to arrest him.”
“At least he took good care of Louie,” Kate said. “He was very cozy inside that hot dog cart.”
“Yes, that’s good,” Manny said. “But he shouldn’t have taken him at all.”
Louie stood up and gave Red’s face a big lick with his tongue. Then he shook all over and walked to Kate and Mike. He circled them once and then lay in front of them.
Mike and Kate dropped to their knees to pet him.
“Louie really likes you two,” Manny said. “How about the next time you’re in town, we let you ride up front with Louie when we parade around the stadium. How would you like that?”
“That would be great!” Kate said.
Everyone looked at Mike. He seemed lost in thought. Kate nudged him. “Are you still with us? How does that sound to you?”
Mike remained still for a moment, and then a big smile spread across his face. “We’d paws-itively love to do it!” he said with a nod. “That’s a doggone good idea!”
Manny, Red, and Kate laughed. And Louie rolled over on his back so Mike could scratch his belly!
Dugout Notes
St. Louis Cardinals
Famous Birds: Stan, Bob, Dizzy, and Daffy. Cardinals fans have had many great players to root for over the years. Stan Musial was one of the best hitters of all time. His nickname was Stan the Man. Bob Gibson was a great pitcher. The Cardinals player with the wackiest name was Dizzy Dean. His real name was Jay, but Dizzy was his nickname. He pitched thirty winning games in 1934. His brother Paul was also on the team. Paul’s nickname was Daffy!
A Cardinal lowers the mound. Bob Gibson was such a good pitcher that major-league baseball had to change the field to keep the game interesting! After Gibson posted an ERA (earned run average) of 1.12 in 1968, baseball officials decided to lower the height of the pitching mound from fifteen inches to ten inches. That gave pitchers less of an advantage and made it a bit easier for batters to hit the ball.
So many World Series trophies! As of the 112th World Series, the St. Louis Cardinals have won the second most trophies (behind the New York Yankees). They won their first in 1926 against the Yankees.
Cardinals before they were Cardinals. The St. Louis Cardinals started off as the St. Louis Brown Stockings in 1875. In 1883, they shortened their name to the Browns. (Later, there was another St. Louis baseball team named the Browns. It became the Baltimore Orioles.) The team became the Perfectos for one year and started wearing uniforms with bright red, or cardinal, trim. A newspaper writer, Willie McHale, reported that he heard a woman say that the new uniforms were “a lovely shade of cardinal.” He used it in his writing, and fans liked it. The next year, the team officially became the St. Louis Cardinals.
Lots of bird names. The St. Louis Cardinals have had a lot of nicknames over the years: the Cards, the Redbirds, the Birds, the Birds on a Bat, the Birdinals, the Card Birds, the Running Redbirds, the Gashouse Gang, and more.
Their very own Hall of Fame. The National Baseball Hall of Fame is in Cooperstown, New York (where Mike and Kate live). But the Cardinals have their own Hall of Fame directly across the street from their stadium. It houses an incredible collection of items from St. Louis baseball history. You can see (and possibly even hold!) bats used by famous Cardinals such as Stan Musial.
Clydesdales, dogs, and delivery wagons. For many years, the Cardinals were owned by the Anheuser-Busch brewing company, which is in St. Louis. In 1933, Anheuser-Busch started using a team of Clydesdale horses pulling a delivery wagon in its advertisements. Today, the company has multiple teams, or hitches, of horses that travel the country with Dalmatian dogs riding in the wagon. The horses weigh up to 2,300 pounds each. A single horse can eat as much as sixty pounds of hay per day and drink thirty gallons of water!
The Gashouse Gang. The 1934 Cardinals were known as the Gashouse Gang. They won ninety-five games that year (that’s really good!) and beat the Detroit Tigers in the World Series. They played aggressive baseball and weren’t afraid to get their uniforms dirty. The nickname Gashouse refers to people from rough-and-tumble city neighborhoods near power plants.
Enos’s mad dash. In 1946, the Cardinals beat the Boston Red Sox to win the World Series with a spectacular play. Enos Slaughter scored the winning run by dashing from first base to home on a double by Harry Walker. Boston’s shortstop, Johnny Pesky, hesitated on his throw to home, and Enos crossed the plate to win the game.
A one-stadium World Series. St. Louis was home to a one-stadium World Series. In 1944, the St. Louis Cardinals played the St. Louis Browns (the team that’s now the Baltimore Orioles) for the World Series. They shared Sportsman’s Park as their stadium, so that’s where all the World Series games happened that year. The Cardinals won, four games to two.
Bird rivals. Some of the Cardinals’ biggest rivals over the years have been the Chicago Cubs, the Cincinnati Reds, and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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Ballpark Mysteries 14 Page 4