Double Play at Short Read online

  But their worst fears came true. Marc hit a double play, and the inning ended with two players having reached base but no score for the Bullets.

  Danny watched the red-haired shortstop run in. Curiosity overwhelmed him. He decided he had to find out who she was. He grabbed his glove, and as he headed out toward the field, he stopped by the end of the bench where Frankie Snow, the infield sub, had the scorecard. Glancing down the lineup, he saw that her name was Tammy Aiken.

  Huh! Never heard of her, he thought. Never heard of anybody called Aiken. She must be new to the league.

  He ran off to take up his position, determined to put her out of his mind.

  In the second inning, Marc’s pitching was off the mark a lot. He walked two batters and gave up one hit before retiring the side. It was enough to give the Jaguars their second run on the scoreboard.

  When the Bullets came up to bat in the third inning, Vern popped a short one to right field for the first out. Elaine got on base with a walk, but then Mike hit a long ball to center field that was caught for the second out. Ken Hunter came up to bat and yielded the first strikeout for Andy Hooten, ending the Bullets’ chances that inning.

  At first, it looked to Danny like Marc was getting his stuff back. He put away Roy Feenie one-twõ-three to show he could strike out a batter, too. But then that shortstop for the Jaguars, the one called Aiken, came up to bat. Danny’s eyes were glued to her. He took in her every move.

  She tucked her ponytail under and wiped her hands together before she picked up the bat. Then she scuffled her forward toe into position, putting most of her weight on her back leg. She crouched in wait for the pitch.

  Something about the way she stood bothered him, but he couldn’t figure out what it was.

  After letting two bad pitches go by, Tammy swung at the next one. She missed it, but he could see the power behind her swing. It paid off with the next pitch. She connected for a hit deep into right field that she pushed into a double.

  Al Norris, the Jaguars’ center fielder, didn’t give her a chance to move any farther. He popped out to third base, and the Bullets held the runner in check.

  They weren’t so lucky with the next batter. Drew Ferris got a single off Marc, and the Aiken girl made it easily to third.

  With two outs and runners on first and third, the Bullets had their work cut out for them. Danny hoped they would hold off another run scoring.

  He was disappointed. Millie Albright, the Jaguars’ right fielder, hit the ball into short right for a single. The runner on third scored, and the runner on first advanced to third. It was now 3 to 0 on the scoreboard.

  Luckily, Andy Hooten was no better at bat than Marc Bailey. The Jaguars’ pitcher went down swinging for the third out.

  Danny was the leadoff hitter for the Bullets in the fourth inning. He was determined to get a hit — to get the ball rolling, so to speak.

  He did — in a big way. On the first pitch, a fastball right down the middle, he clobbered the ball. The ball climbed high and curved slightly as it soared over the left field fence. A home run! At long last, the Bullets were on the scoreboard.

  As Danny rounded the bases, he could hear his sister’s voice loud and clear over the roar of the crowd. “That’s my baby bro!” she yelled.

  But that was the only run the Bullets earned that inning. Joanne followed Danny’s homer with a single, but the next three batters went down in a row to close out the Bullets’ chances of catching up that inning.

  The Jaguars went scoreless for the first time in the fourth inning. Marc got his third strikeout on Wally Mills, but he gave up two hits. There were runners on first and second when Tammy Aiken came up to bat. She took it to a full count before she popped one high into the air down the third base line. Mike was waiting to make the catch. He then pegged the ball to second, where the runner was tagged off base for the third and final out.

  The fifth inning did nothing to improve the Bullets’ score. Vern led off. Four bad pitches later, he walked down the line to first base. But then Elaine grounded out, and he stayed where he was. Mike hit a long fly ball that was caught by the Jaguars’ right fielder, but Vern got to second base safely. Then Ken connected for a single, and Vern advanced to third on the play.

  It was Danny’s turn at bat. He could practically taste a scoring hit. He dug his forward toe into the dirt and crouched down low, weight slightly back. As the pitch came his way, it looked like a good one. He swung.

  Wuff!

  “Strike!”

  He almost toppled over from the power behind his swing. But he caught himself and adjusted his helmet as he got ready for the next pitch. It was way out of the striking range. So were the next three. Danny dropped his bat and headed down to first base.

  The bases were now loaded. It was a perfect setup for a rally by the Bullets. The fans roared their encouragement. But unfortunately, Joanne popped one up to the Jaguars’ pitcher, and the cheers from the stands and dugout died.

  Disaster — that was the word Danny figured the Bullets could have used to describe the fifth inning while the Jaguars were at bat. Marc pitched two strikeouts, but he also walked two batters. A big three-bagger by Joey Sands did the job, scoring two more runs for the Jaguars to put them ahead 5 to 1, before the side was retired.

  The Bullets couldn’t pull this one out. In the sixth and final inning, Joel struck out. Larry and Marc each got on base, but Vern and Elaine finished the game off with two lackluster hits that were easily tagged out by the up and running Jaguars. The fans applauded the end of the game.

  Leaving the dugout, Danny could see an auburn ponytail bobbing up and down as the winning team scrambled off the field. For some reason, the sight of Tammy Aiken celebrating with her teammates depressed him almost as much as the loss of the first championship game did. He knew her talents had helped win the game for the Jaguars.

  Who is she? he thought angrily. And why did she have to show up now?

  3

  The Bullets didn’t linger long in the locker room after the game. Everyone seemed like they were in a big rush to put this game behind them. Danny was usually one of the first to change into his street clothes and leave. Today he was one of the last. When he got outside, he saw his sister, Jennifer, leaning on the handlebars of her bicycle right next to the rack where all the players parked theirs. There was only one bike left: his.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ll ride home with you.”

  At fourteen, Jennifer was a little taller than Elaine. With her long, straight black hair, hazel eyes, and dark complexion, she didn’t look much like Danny’s sister. But since they’d grown up together since infancy, they acted exactly the way an older sister and a younger brother might be expected to: They fought like the dickens once in a while but cared a lot about each other. Most of the time they were as close as two peas in a pod, as their mother commented when they were off by themselves.

  “Tough game,” she said, turning her bike in the direction of the Walker home.

  Jennifer was a real baseball freak and came to almost every one of his games. Sometimes she managed to drag one of her girlfriends along with her. She was on the field hockey team and kept herself in good condition by running and regular workouts. When Jennifer’s team played during the fall season, Danny managed to get out for her games, too. It was the sort of thing they did for each other automatically.

  Danny shook his head. “Yeah,” he replied. “We just couldn’t seem to get anything going.”

  “I could tell,” Jennifer said. “Hey, but you got that homer. That ought to keep you in the running, you know, for the All-Stars.” She braked suddenly and swung off her bike. “Wait a sec, I have to fix my toe guards. They keep slipping. Now the way I figure it…”

  Jennifer launched into a long speech about the odds on Danny making the county All-Star team. She was a whiz at math and had a habit of calculating all the team statistics. This wasn’t the first time she had expounded her theory on why he was a sure bet.


  But he was only half listening to her. She hopped back on her bike, and they pedaled along the road from the baseball field. His thoughts kept springing back to the Jaguars’ shortstop.

  Was he the only one who’d noticed her? Other than Joel, who was always making wisecracks, none of the other guys on the Bullets team had said anything to make him think they thought she was better than he was. In fact, they seemed a little distant today. Usually, even after a loss, there was a lot of joking back and forth in the locker room. But today they were all kind of silent and moving like they were in a big hurry.

  Maybe it had to do with the series getting off to a rough start. He sure would have liked to have won today’s game. Now they had to play catch-up to win the championship. And the Jaguars were not going to be pushovers. They had solid hitting and fielding — like that redheaded shortstop.

  There she was again. He had to find out if Jennifer had noticed her. But if he came right out with it, she might think he was worried about the competition. And he wasn’t — was he? No, he had to be real cool. Just like those guys in the whodunits on TV.

  “So, Jen, you think I have a shot, huh? Great,” he said. “Gee, it’d be tough to pick an All-Star team out of today’s game, don’tcha think? I mean, nobody did all that great, right? Like, there wasn’t anybody on the Jaguars who really, really stood out, right?”

  “Actually, Danny, a funny thing happened,” Jennifer said, signaling a left turn. They were about three blocks from home, and the roads narrowed a little as they approached their neighborhood.

  “Funny?” he asked. “What do you mean ‘funny’? I didn’t think the game was a million laughs.”

  “Come on, Danny, don’t get all twisted up over one lost game,” Jennifer said. “Relax a little, huh? I was just going to say that during the third inning, I took my eyes off the game for a minute. When I looked up, I could have sworn I saw you crossing the plate. But it wasn’t you. It was the Jaguars’ shortstop. Come to think of it, a similar thing happened when she came to bat — her stance was a lot like yours. But maybe that’s the way all right-hand fielders/left-hand batters stand. Anyhow, it was funny the way I made that mistake. She’s pretty good, but you’re still the best.”

  “Joel gave me a zing about the same thing — her being ambidextrous like me, I mean. I told him it was the red hair that confused him.”

  “Good reply!” she said, laughing. “That Joel doesn’t miss much. Hey, listen, don’t let that shortstop get to you.”

  “Nah, don’t worry,” said Danny. “But I guess she’s pretty good, huh?”

  “She’s okay,” said Jennifer. “She only played the last few games with them. I mean, I didn’t come across her at the start of the season when I ran down the rosters.”

  “Oh, so you have heard of her before, though,” he said, trying to sound casual. “You knew her name?”

  “Danny, I know everyone’s name,” Jennifer said. “By the way — oh, first, want some gum?” She dug into her sweatshirt pocket with one hand as they rode along.

  “Both hands,” Danny warned her, nodding toward the handlebar. The Walker kids had been drilled in bicycle safety and wore helmets even when they were just tooling around the road in front of their own house. “I don’t want any gum right now. What were you going to say?”

  “Okay, but wait a minute. I just want to fish this out of my pocket,” said Jennifer, pulling off to the side of the road and burrowing in her sweatshirt for the gum. She popped a piece into her mouth and began chewing before she started pedaling again. “I was just going to tell you that my friend Loretta’s father is on some committee or something with your coach, Mr. Lattizori. And Mr. Lattizori told Mr. Hin-man, Loretta’s father, that you’re the best young player he’s seen in a long time.”

  “He did? He said that?”

  “Uh-huh. And he even said that you’re a shoo-in for the All-Stars unless some real hot dog comes along. Those were his exact words,” she said. “That’s according to Loretta, who got it from her father, who got them from Mr. Lattizori. Sounds promising, doesn’t it?”

  “Yeah,” he replied. “Sounds great.”

  The two of them rode along in silence. Danny wasn’t saying anything, but he couldn’t help but wonder. Could the Jaguars’ shortstop be the unexpected “hot dog”?

  He glanced over at Jennifer. At the same moment, she looked at him. They did it all the time. It was like they were reading each other’s minds. The two of them began to laugh.

  As they approached the Walker house, Danny had made up his mind. He wasn’t going to make a big deal out of it. In fact, he probably wouldn’t say anything to anyone. But all by himself, he was going to find out more about this redheaded hot dog named Tammy Aiken. He’d start by looking up her record.

  They put away their bikes in the garage and headed for the back door.

  “Wait a minute,” said Jennifer. “I think Mom said there was some heavy stuff to take in off the front porch. Come on, I’ll give you a hand.”

  “Stuff, who do you mean, ‘stuff’?” he asked.

  “I don’t know,” she answered. “Just some stuff. You know Mom. Probably some blankets or something from a catalogue.”

  “Blankets? You said it was heavy,” he said.

  “Danny, give me a break. Just come on around front and see what she wants,” Jennifer snapped.

  “Boy, you can really be a pain, you know,” he grumbled. “Where’s the stuff? I don’t see anything.”

  They were on the front porch.

  “Well, we’re here — we might as well go in this way,” she said. “After you.”

  “Thanks a whole lot,” he said sarcastically.

  He stepped inside the house and into the dark hallway. In an instant, a light was turned on and a chorus of voices shouted all at once, “Surprise! Happy birthday!”

  Danny was stunned. He’d been thinking so much about the series and the All-Star team and the new shortstop that he’d completely forgotten what was happening that week.

  It was two days before his twelfth birthday.

  4

  The house was packed. The whole Silver Bullets team was there along with some of Danny’s other friends and Jennifer’s, too. They all came over and slapped him on the back and gave him a few good-natured pokes in the ribs. Joel even called him “the old bullet.” Nobody laughed. Sometimes Joel’s jokes were weird. Anyhow, Danny was more interested in trying to hear what Loretta Hinman was saying. He could see her off in a corner talking to his father. He wondered if she was telling him what Coach Lattizori had said to her father about him.

  He tried to edge his way over there, but just then his mother came over. She gave him a big hug and a kiss.

  “It’s a little early, but we thought a party might be a good way to start off the series,” she explained. “And we knew we could get your friends on the team over here after the game.”

  “No wonder Jennifer kept stopping on the way home,” he said.

  “Your sister’s pretty cool,” said Vern.

  “I had to stall so the pizza man could get here before we did,” she said.

  “Pizza! Great! What kind?” Joel asked.

  “Everything but anchovies,” Mr. Walker answered, laughing. “You kids can just pick out what you don’t like.”

  Jennifer helped Mrs. Walker dish out slices of pizza to everyone. Mr. Walker went around handing out soft drinks. When.everyone had some pizza and a soda, Mrs. Walker said to Danny, “I hope you like what we got you for your birthday.” She pointed at a pile of presents stacked on top of a table near the front door.

  “Wait a minute, his birthday isn’t really today, you know,” Jennifer protested.

  “Come on, you want to see what’s in those boxes just as much as I do,” Danny said.

  He went over and, with a little help from his pals, brought the presents into the living room. With Joel on one side and Jennifer on the other, he started opening them, beginning with a shoebox-looking package.

 
“You know, you guys really didn’t have to — oh, boy, a package of new white sweat socks. Thanks a lot, Elaine,” he said. I wonder what that’s supposed to mean, he said to himself.

  He opened the next package. It was a square box this time, from Mike. Inside was another stack of white sweat socks.

  “Thanks, Mike. You and Elaine must shop at the same store,” he said, laughing.

  The next package he grabbed was some kind of tube or can, with a card from Larry. He popped open the lid and out came more white sweat socks.

  “Wait a minute, are you guys trying to tell me something?” he asked.

  The whole team broke up laughing. Then Joanne explained.

  “Jennifer said that your mom and dad didn’t want us to feel we had to bring presents. So we all decided to get you something you can really use.”

  “We went down the list,” said Marc, “and you had every piece of sports equipment we could think of. So we figured out the one thing no one ever gives you — and this was it. Can’t have too many pairs of sweat socks, can you?”

  “This is one guy who won’t,” said Danny, laughing. “You guys are really nuts. Are you sure there just wasn’t a sale at the mall?”

  “Wait a minute,” said Jennifer. “There’s more to open. Here’s mine.” She thrust a big flat package tied with a huge blue ribbon into his hands.

  First he opened the card he found under the ribbon.

  “Ah, mush,” he said, turning a little red as he tucked the card in his shirt pocket. But he leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. Then he unwrapped the package.

  It was a scrapbook with his name in gold letters on the cover.

  “You can put all your press clippings in it,” said Jennifer.

  “He’s gonna have a lot of ‘em when he makes the All-Stars,” said Joel.

  “Hey, don’t jinx it!” shouted Elaine. “Let’s see what else you got, Danny.”

  “Here’s our present, Danny,” said Mr. Walker, handing him another beautifully wrapped package with a blue bow.