Man Out at First (2 page)

Yeah, thought Turtleneck. Now if T.V. can only knock me home!

T.V. did just that with a line drive between first and second.

As he sat down, Turtleneck could hear the Mudders' fans cheering and whistling.

He turned his attention back to the game and saw Nick Chong and Alfie both strike out. A pop-up by Bus Mercer ended the Mudders'
turn at bat. The score was tied, 3–3.

At a nod from Coach Parker, Turtleneck grabbed his glove and headed out to first base. He felt good as he warmed up with the
rest of the infield.

Barry McGee caught a long fly ball for the first out. Then little Sammy McFall walked. Man on first, one out.

Frankie Bass hit a dribbler to Sparrow. Sparrow scooped it up and quickly tossed it to Bus covering second.

Sammy was out, but Frankie, a fast runner, had almost made it to first. Turtleneck lowered his glove and waited for the next
batter.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a blur of motion.

A split second later, a fast-moving baseball smacked hard into Turtleneck's chest!

Pain shot through him as he staggered back. For a moment he couldn't breathe. He heard yells and gasps from the fans.

All of a sudden, everything seemed to go black.

“Turtleneck? Can you hear me, son?”

Turtleneck opened his eyes slowly. He looked up into the worried face of Coach Parker. He struggled to get to his feet.

“Whoa there. Just take your time now,” Coach warned.

He helped Turtleneck over to the dugout. “You look a little better, T, but I think you'd better grab a seat for now.” He handed
him an ice pack. “Here, put this on your chest. The cold will keep the swelling down.”

Bus Mercer pounded his fist into his glove and walked out of the dugout. The rest of the team shuffled their feet as they
looked at Turtleneck. None of them had ever seen anyone pass out before.

Turtleneck felt his face turn red. What a dope I am! he thought. Only 'fraidy cats faint!

Still, the memory of the baseball hitting his chest made him feel sick. It hurt a bit when he breathed in, too. He leaned
back against the dugout wall and held the ice pack to his front.

Coach Parker gave Turtleneck one last look over, then yelled, “Play ball!” Jack Livingston, one of the regular infield subs,
ran to cover first base.

Turtleneck squirmed uneasily on the bench. He wanted to be back in the game more than anything, but it was too late now. He
didn't have a second chance. Not today. He'd not only been late to the game, he'd been benched after his first play in the
field.

I should have known Bus would try for the double play, Turtleneck thought. I should have waited to see him toss the ball back
to Sparrow. Now I'm back on the bench again. I wonder if the guys think this is where I should stay for good.

Turtleneck watched Bus throw the ball to Jack for an easy out at first. The inning ended with the score still 3–3.

Rudy Calhoun was up first for the Mudders at the top of fourth. He was also the first out.

Sparrow took two balls, then hit a single over the shortstop's head. The Devils' pitcher walked Barry McGee. Then José Mendez
struck out. Two outs, two men on.

Jack Livingston stepped to the plate. He let the first pitch go by for a ball. Then he clobbered the second pitch for a double
into right field. Both Sparrow and Barry scored. Cheers rose up from the Mudders' fans. Jack brushed the dirt from his pants
and grinned.

Turtleneck watched the scorekeeper change the number beside the Mudders' name from 3 to 5 and grinned, too.

Coach Parker has to like that! he thought.

Then he had another thought. What if Coach Parker thinks Jack is good enough to replace me for the rest of the season?

Turtleneck's thoughts were interrupted when T.V. struck out, ending the inning.

The Joy Street Devils were two runs behind and seemed to be losing steam. Their first three batters went down swinging to
end the fifth inning.

The Mudders didn't do much better. Nick popped out, and Alfie ticked two foul balls, then struck out.

Then Bus hit a line drive straight at the Devils' pitcher. But at the last second, the pitcher's glove shot up and he caught
it for the last out.

The last inning was just as uneventful, and
the game ended happily for the Mudders. Final score, Mudders 5, Devils 3.

Turtleneck rose slowly from the bench. Well, at least my goof-up didn't keep us from winning, he thought with a sigh.

Still, he wanted to apologize to Bus for having muffed the double play. He glanced around and saw Bus strapping his glove
to his bicycle rack. Turtleneck started toward him.

But before he took two steps, Nick and Rudy called over to him. They wanted to know what had made him faint.

“I thought that only happened if you saw a ghost,” joked Nick.

“Yeah,” Rudy joined in. “Or did you get frightened by a mouse, T?”

“Aw, knock it off,” mumbled Turtleneck. He tossed the ice pack into the trash and picked up his glove.

“Hey, Turtleneck! Think quick!”

Nick's call startled Turtleneck. Instead of spinning and catching whatever Nick was tossing to him, he threw up his hands
and ducked. A piece of ice arced over his head and landed on the ground in front of him. The laughter he heard coming from
behind him was cut short by Coach Parker.

“Okay, boys, that's enough. Turtleneck's had a hard day.” To Turtleneck he said, “Come on, I'll give you a lift home. I want
to let your mother know what happened.”

As Turtleneck got into the coach's car, he saw Bus watching him. Turtleneck waved. Bus gave him a funny look and then hopped
on his bike and pedaled away fast.

When Mrs. Jones heard what had happened, she insisted that Turtleneck go to bed immediately. She fixed him a light dinner
and tucked him in when he was through eating.

Turtleneck had trouble falling asleep that night. He replayed the moment just before Bus threw the ball over and over—only,
in his mind, he caught the ball and made the double play. He kept remembering Nick and Rudy's comments and the odd look on
Bus's face after the game.

I guess I really let everyone down, he thought dismally. Finally, he fell asleep.

The next sound Turtleneck heard was his father's voice calling him to breakfast.

“I hear you got the wind knocked out of you yesterday, T,” his father said when he entered the kitchen. “Bus Mercer must have
some throwing arm! Does it hurt much?”

“Not anymore,” Turtleneck replied with a yawn. He pointed to his chest. “But there's a big bruise right here.” He poured himself
a bowl of cereal and began eating.

The phone rang. Turtleneck answered it.

“Hi, Theodore, this is Mr. Shaw,” said a familiar voice. “Feel up to learning a bit about carpentry this morning? I've decided
to fix that step right away. Now that it's a hole instead of just a weak spot, it really needs to be taken care of.”

“I've got baseball practice this morning. But I'll come over this afternoon if you want,” Turtleneck replied.

“Thanks, Theodore. I knew I could count on you.”

Turtleneck was just finishing his breakfast when the doorbell rang. When he opened the door, Nick Chong and Rudy Calhoun were
waiting on the other side.

“Hey, Turtleneck! Ready to go to practice?” Rudy asked.

“We told the coach to get rid of all the ghosts and mice so you won't faint again today,” Nick said.

Turtleneck felt his face turn red. These guys aren't ever going to let me live that down, he thought.

He got his glove and told his parents where he was going. The three boys headed for the diamond.

“You sure looked weird when you passed out yesterday,” Nick said. “Your eyeballs went all funny and you just sort of fell
over.”

“Bus looked pretty funny, too! Like he couldn't believe you tried to catch the ball
with your chest!” Rudy laughed.

Turtleneck looked quickly at the two boys. I guess Bus does blame me for messing up the double play, he thought. He straightened
his cap and added silently, Well, I guess I'll just have to show him—and Coach Parker—what I'm
really
made of!

Most of the team was already warming up by the time Turtleneck, Rudy, and Nick reached the baseball diamond. Jack Livingston
was at first base. He stretched out his glove and caught a throw from Bus easily.

Coach Parker called Turtleneck over to him. “You don't look any worse for your injury, T, but I'm going to keep Jack at first
for now,” he said. “Run a couple laps around the field to warm up. Then you can hit some to the infield.”

The outfielders were already running around the outside of the field. Turtleneck joined them. He jogged slowly.

Coach Parker must be afraid I'll mess up
again, he thought dismally.

Turtleneck finished one loop around the outfield. He was about to begin another lap when Coach Parker called to him to pick
up a bat.

“Okay, T, just knock in a few grounders for now. Run the bases, too. I want the infield to feel like it's a game situation.”

Sparrow Fisher was on the mound. He wound up and threw a fast pitch. Turtleneck watched the ball come toward him—and suddenly
he jumped back out of the batter's box. The ball just missed him.

“Sorry, T!” yelled Sparrow. “That one got away from me.”

Shaken, Turtleneck stepped back into the box. His mind raced. What if that ball had hit me? he thought. Would I have fainted
again? The guys would never stop razzing me if I did! And Coach won't keep a 'fraidy cat at first, that's for sure.

His mind racing, Turtleneck waited for the next pitch.
Crack
! This time he swung hard and sent the ball soaring into left field. He felt great as he rounded first and headed for second.