BALLPARK MYSTERIES®
#1 The Fenway Foul-Up
#2 The Pinstripe Ghost
#3 The L.A. Dodger
#4 The Astro Outlaw
#5 The All-Star Joker
#6 The Wrigley Riddle
#7 The San Francisco Splash
#8 The Missing Marlin
#9 The Philly Fake
#10 The Rookie Blue Jay
#11 The Tiger Troubles
#12 The Rangers Rustlers
#13 The Capital Catch
#14 The Cardinals Caper
#15 The Baltimore Bandit
SUPER SPECIAL #1 The World Series Curse
SUPER SPECIAL #2 Christmas in Cooperstown
SUPER SPECIAL #3 Subway Series Surprise
SUPER SPECIAL #4 The World Series Kids
Also by David A. Kelly
THE MVP SERIES
#1 The Gold Medal Mess
#2 The Soccer Surprise
#3 The Football Fumble
#4 The Basketball Blowout
Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Text copyright © 2019 by David A. Kelly
Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2019 by Mark Meyers
All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Penguin Random House LLC, New York.
Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Penguin Random House LLC. Ballpark Mysteries® is a registered trademark of Upside Research, Inc.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Kelly, David A. (David Andrew), author. | Meyers, Mark, illustrator.
Title: The World Series kids / by David A. Kelly; illustrated by Mark Meyers.
Description: New York: Random House, [2019] | Series: Ballpark mysteries. Super special; #4 | “A Stepping Stone book.”
Summary: Cousins Mike and Kate investigate when someone tries to stop the Cooperstown team from participating in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018042255 | ISBN 978-0-525-57895-6 (trade) | ISBN 978-0-525-57896-3 (lib. bdg.) | ISBN 978-0-525-57897-0 (ebook)
Subjects: | CYAC: Baseball—Fiction. | Little League World Series (Baseball)—Fiction. | Sabotage—Fiction. | Conduct of life—Fiction. | Williamsport (Pa.)—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories.
Classification: LCC PZ7.K2936 Wor 2019 | DDC [Fic]—dc23
Ebook ISBN 9780525578970
This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.
Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.
v5.4
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This book is dedicated to the players and coaches of the West Newton, Massachusetts, Little League.
—D.A.K.
You’re playing a game, whether it’s Little League or Game 7 of the World Series. It’s impossible to do well unless you’re having a good time. People talk about pressure. Yeah, there’s pressure. But I just look at it as fun.
—Derek Jeter, shortstop for the New York Yankees
Contents
Cover
Also by David A. Kelly
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Chapter 1: A Slashing Development
Chapter 2: Caught in the Grove
Chapter 3: A Wiffle Ball Warning
Chapter 4: A Surprising Loss
Chapter 5: A White Line
Chapter 6: The Close One
Chapter 7: Breaking News
Chapter 8: A Mysterious Boss
Chapter 9: Big Daddy Hacks
Chapter 10: The Old Phone Trick
Chapter 11: It’s About Playing, Not Winning
Dugout Notes The World Series Kids
“Cowabunga!” Mike Walsh called out.
He ran along the top of a grassy hill holding a long piece of a sturdy cardboard box in front of him. At the edge, Mike jumped chest first onto the cardboard and rode it like a sled all the way to the bottom of the hill!
“Woo-hoo!” Mike’s cousin Kate Hopkins called out. “Watch out below!” Kate jumped on her own piece of cardboard and flew down the hill.
But just as she reached the bottom, a TV reporter wandered into her path.
“Oh no!” Kate yelled. “Get out of the way!”
The TV reporter was too busy talking to the camera to hear Kate’s yell. Kate tried to pull the sled to the left.
“Look out!” Kate cried.
The TV reporter spun around. Kate was only feet away! The reporter jerked his right leg up and lost his balance. Kate shot underneath his raised foot with only inches to spare! The TV reporter tottered sideways and then belly-flopped to the ground.
Kate slid to a halt a few feet away.
“Wow, that was close!” Kate said as she sprang up from the cardboard. “Are you okay?”
The TV reporter rolled over. He picked up his microphone, stood up, and dusted some grass off his pants. “Yes, I am,” he said. He glanced up the hill at the other kids sledding on pieces of cardboard. “I was looking for action shots for our show tomorrow. But that was a little too much action!”
“Don’t worry, Matt, we have it all on video! Your belly flop will make a great opening to tomorrow’s show!” a gruff-looking cameraman said from the sidewalk. “I can see it now: ‘The Agony of Defeat!’ ”
Mike and Kate were at Lamade Stadium in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, for the Little League Baseball World Series. The event was held there each year. It brought the best eight teams from across the United States together with the best eight teams from regions around the world. Players had to be between ten and twelve years old.
The series would start the next day. Mike and Kate had driven down from their home in Cooperstown, New York, that morning with Kate’s mother, Mrs. Hopkins. She was a sports reporter for American Sportz. She was covering that year’s series.
Matt the TV reporter smiled. “I don’t know about using that video,” he said. “I’d never hear the end of it!” He turned to Kate. “I should have been paying more attention. I’m sorry to get in your way.”
Kate shrugged. “It’s okay!” she said. “At least you lifted up your leg so I didn’t hit you!”
“Yeah!” Mike said. “Because if you hadn’t, it really would have been the agony of da-feet! Get it? Da feet? The feet?”
Kate groaned.
“Well, we’re lucky everyone is okay,” Matt said. “But if you’ll excuse me, we’ve got to get back to work.” He waved to Mike and Kate and headed off.
Mike nudged Kate. “Hey, where’s Colin?” he asked. “It’s after four o’clock—he’s late! If his team doesn’t get here soon, they’ll miss the big parade tonight!”
The night before the series kicked off, all the teams rode on floats in a giant parade in downtown Williamsport. Their friend Colin’s team from Cooperstown had beaten all the other teams in Ne
w York State and the Mid-Atlantic Region to make it to the series. Mike and Kate hadn’t made the team.
Kate glanced around. Lots of kids were sledding down the hill on pieces of cardboard. There was no sign of Colin or the Cooperstown team.
“I don’t see him anywhere,” Kate said. “But look at that!” She pointed to the sidewalk on the far side of the hill. A small dog was racing around in circles while an older woman tried to catch it.
“Let’s go get it!” Mike said.
When Kate and Mike ran over, the dog barked happily and sprang to its left. As Kate reached for it, Mike stepped on the dog’s leash.
“Gotcha!” Mike said.
“You did it!” the woman said. “Thank you for catching my dog, Charlie. He’s too fast for me!”
Mike handed her the leash. “You’re welcome,” he said. “I’m glad we could help.”
The woman fished around in her pocket and pulled her hand out. “Here,” she said. “I’d like you two to have this, since you took the time to help me.”
She dropped a colorful pin into Mike’s outstretched hand. The pin was shaped like an open baseball glove. The word Founder was written across its front in silver script. “Oh cool, it’s a Little League World Series pin,” Mike said. “Thanks.” He tried to hand it back to her. “But you really don’t have to. Kate and I were happy to help catch Charlie!”
The woman waved him off. “Please, take the pin for helping me,” she said. “You can bring it to the pin-trading area tomorrow and swap it for a different pin if you want. It’s a special pin and should be easy to trade. But Charlie and I have to get home for supper now.” The woman tugged on Charlie’s leash, and they walked off the other way.
“Our first Little League pin!” Kate said. “I wonder why it’s special. Maybe we can trade it for two pins tomorrow, one for each of us!”
“Great idea,” Mike said. As he slipped the pin into his pocket, he noticed a group of kids at the top of the hill near the main entrance gate.
“Hey, that looks like Colin’s team!” Mike said.
He and Kate sprinted to the main gate. The team had just stepped off a big yellow school bus. Kate spotted Colin, and she and Mike ran over to him.
“What happened?” Kate asked. “Why were you so late? You were supposed to race us on the sledding hill!”
Colin shook his head. “I know,” he said. “But when we stopped to eat at a rest stop, we were stranded! Someone slit the tires on our bus!”
“When we came out of the rest stop to get back on the bus, half the tires were flat!” Colin said. “The replacement bus took a long time to get there. We were worried we’d miss the parade!”
“Who slit the tires?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know, but Coach Caleb’s son, Zach, saw them,” Colin said. Colin pointed to a college-aged red-haired boy carrying a backpack and wearing a Cooperstown jersey.
“Do you remember Zach?” Colin asked. “He was the star of the last Cooperstown team to go to the Little League World Series. That was ten years ago. They didn’t make it to the finals, but they set the record for the biggest comeback ever! Zach’s team was down by twelve runs but still managed to win the game. He drove in seven of the thirteen runs with his special hitting technique that he calls Big Daddy Hacks!”
“I’ve always wanted to learn how to hit the ball like him,” Mike said. He swung a pretend bat. “I think with Big Daddy Hacks you swing down in a chopping motion. It’s supposed to make the ball go farther.”
“But isn’t Zach a little old to be on your team?” Kate asked.
Colin laughed. “He’s just helping his dad by managing our equipment,” he said. “We keep trying to get him to give us Big Daddy Hacks hitting lessons, but he doesn’t want to share his secret. Hey, Zach!” Colin called out. “Tell my friends Mike and Kate what happened at the rest stop!”
Zach turned around and smiled. He pushed through the clump of boys to make his way over to Mike, Kate, and Colin.
“It was unbelievable!” Zach said. A few of the other players paused to listen. “I went out to the bus to get my wallet. I heard a strange hissing sound from the other side of the bus, so I ran around and saw a teenager sticking a knife into the front tire! When he spotted me, he yelled, ‘You guys are going to lose!’ Then he jumped over the guardrail and into the woods. I tried to catch him but lost him in the trees.”
“Did you see what he looked like?” Mike asked.
Zach shook his head. “Not really. He was a teenager, about my height. Thin. He had a neon green T-shirt on,” he said. “It seemed like he was out to hurt the team. It didn’t seem like a prank.”
“Maybe fans of the other teams are jealous!” said a voice from behind them.
Mike and Kate turned around. It was Matt, the TV reporter who Kate had almost plowed into earlier. He stepped forward and put a microphone in front of Zach.
“Your team is the clear favorite to win the series,” Matt continued. “Someone might be trying to level the playing field! How will the Cooperstown team hold up under this type of pressure?”
Zach’s dad, Coach Caleb, stepped up and patted the shoulders of his nearby players. “This team is strong,” he said. “I think they’re going to do a great job out there, even if someone doesn’t want them to win!”
“Well, our viewers are looking for an exciting series,” Matt continued. “If you guys just cruise through the tournament, I don’t know if anyone will watch the games. It would be more thrilling if you lost a game.”
Coach Caleb waved his hand. “We’re here to play our best baseball,” he said. “But we’ve got to get going to prepare for the parade, right, kids?”
“Yay! Let’s go!” the team called out. They surged forward to the entrance of the International Grove. The Grove was the housing area where the teams and coaches lived during the series. Mike and Kate grabbed Colin’s backpack and walked along with him.
Since the team was so late, the security guards just waved them into the living compound. The kids walked through the tall black iron gates and headed for the main player housing buildings. The two-story buildings were painted brown and had red, white, and blue banners hanging from their porches.
“Wow! This is amazing!” Mike said as the team walked into a huge game room.
The kids dropped their bags and scattered to explore. Pinball machines and arcade games lined one wall. A group of international players from Japan and Australia were playing spirited games of Ping-Pong in the middle of the room. A bunch of players in the green and red uniforms of the Mexico team were lounging on couches and watching sports on the giant video screen. A girl with long hair waved to the newcomers.
Kate waved back. “¡Hola!” she said. “Hello!” She was teaching herself Spanish. She liked to practice when she could. “¡Bienvenida! Welcome!”
Colin looked around. “And this is only the game room,” he said. “There’s supposed to be a swimming pool outside and a cafeteria that has all kinds of great food! I heard there’s even a freezer where you can get free ice cream!”
“I know who would like that,” Kate said.
Mike licked his lips and lifted Colin’s baseball bag. “I am kinda hungry from helping carry all this stuff,” he said.
Kate nudged Mike. “Hey, I don’t think we’re allowed to have free ice cream,” she said. “We’re not even supposed to be inside the Grove since we’re not on the team!”
Mike nodded. “I know,” he said. “But it’s okay, we’re with the team.” He held up Colin’s bag again. “We’re helping the team unload!”
Mike pulled a baseball out of his pocket. He carried a ball with him wherever he went. He made a motion like a pitcher. “Plus, if they ask what I’m doing here, I can say I’m a relief pitcher!” he said.
“But you’re not that good at pitching,” Kate said. “You said so last week.”
&nbs
p; “Yeah, I know,” Mike said. “That’s why it’s a relief that I’m not the pitcher!”
Kate rolled her eyes and glanced out the window. “Hey, look at the swimming pool!” she said. She walked over to a window overlooking a big green lawn. In the middle of the grass was a giant pool. Kids from different teams were taking turns doing cannonballs to see who could make the biggest splash.
Colin and Mike moved over to the windows, too. Mike started to take his shirt off. “I’ll bet I could easily make the biggest splash,” he said. “Just wait until I get out there.”
Before Mike could head for the door, a hand slapped down on his shoulder.
“The only splash you’re going to make is when you walk back through those security gates,” a voice said. “Because you two are not supposed to be in here!”
Mike and Kate spun around. Coach Caleb was standing behind them. “This area is for players only,” he said. “You’re not allowed here.”
Mike and Kate took a step back.
“Oh, sorry!” Mike said. He pointed to Colin’s team bag against the wall. “We were just helping Colin get his stuff.”
Colin nodded. “It’s okay, Coach,” he said. “They’re with me, and they’re leaving soon to go to the parade, anyway.”
Coach Caleb checked his watch. “Well, I’ve got to get you guys ready for the parade as well.”
As Coach Caleb turned to leave, Colin reached out and tugged on the sleeve of his shirt. “Um, one more thing, Coach,” he said. “Would it be okay if Mike and Kate came to the parade with us? They could be like our team mascots or something!”
Coach Caleb studied Mike and Kate for a moment. “Hmm…I don’t know,” he said. “They can’t come on the float. But maybe they could walk alongside it.”
Mike punched the air with his fist. “Woo-hoo!” he said. “We’re going to be in a parade!” He gave Kate a high five.
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