The All-Star Joker (4 page)

Josh stared back at Sparky. Then he grabbed his glove and ran up the stairs to the field.

Without a word to his friends, Andy dashed after his dad to the bull pen. Kate gave Mike a shrug and followed Andy. When they reached him, he was standing on the warning track in front of the bull pen.

Josh had set up on one of the two pitching lanes. The Rocket was catching on the other one.

Andy put his head down and whispered to Kate and Mike, “We need to keep an eye on the Rocket. I’m going to make sure he doesn’t do anything else to my dad!”

Two pitchers started their warm-up.
Swish! Thwap! Swish! Thwap!
The pitcher on the far
lane threw one fastball after another into the Rocket’s glove. Andy was so busy watching the Rocket, he didn’t notice the problem his dad was having.

Kate nudged Mike. “Something’s wrong with Josh,” she whispered. She didn’t want Andy to hear.

Swish! Zwack! Plop! Swish! Zwack! Plop!

Josh caught each pitch. But right after the ball zapped into his glove, it slipped out and plopped on the ground. It happened again and again!

Andy finally noticed. “Oh no,” he moaned.

The Rocket called over to Josh, “Trying to make the ball disappear like Sparky’s notes? Not sure that’s a good idea! Or did you just have too much butter on your toast this morning?”

“Knock it off, Rocket,” Josh called back. “Something funny is happening here.”

“That’s not what Sparky thinks,” the Rocket said. He let out a little laugh. “Seems like you’re in royal trouble with him! Get it?
Royal
trouble?”

Josh lifted up his catcher’s mask. He dipped a finger into the palm of the glove. Then he smeared something on his pants.

“Someone put grease all over the inside of my glove!” Josh said loudly.

Benched!

“Andy, can you run back to my locker and get my other catcher’s glove?” Josh called to his son. “You know where it is.”

“Sure, Dad,” Andy said, giving his dad a grin. He sprinted across the grass and disappeared into the dugout. A few minutes later, he came back with the glove.

Josh slipped it on and flexed it open. He pounded the palm a few times. “No grease in this one,” he said. “Thanks!” He flipped his catcher’s mask down and went back to practicing.

Andy ran over to Mike and Kate.

“I didn’t like the way the Rocket taunted your father,” Kate said. “He’s definitely the prime suspect.”

Andy nodded. “That’s what I think,” he said. “We need to keep our eyes on him.”

At eleven-thirty, the bull pen phone rang. It was time to head back for a meeting. One by one, the players grabbed their gloves and hats and headed to the dugout. The Rocket and Josh took off their catcher’s gear and jogged across the field.

Mike, Kate, and Andy sat in the empty seats right next to the dugout. They could see everything. Most of the players were just hanging out. Josh sat on the bench, cleaning off his glove. The Rocket stood near them, at the edge of the dugout. He kept reaching into a white plastic bucket, picking something up,
and dropping it back into the bucket again.

“What’s he doing?” Andy asked. “They usually keep bubble gum in there.”

Mike perked up. “I’ll go find out,” he said. He leaned over the dugout railing as the Rocket played with the bucket of gum. Then the Rocket noticed Mike watching him.

“Can I have a piece?” Mike asked.

“Um, I guess so,” the Rocket said. “You sure you want it?”

Mike gave him a big smile and nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “Can I have some for my friends, too?”

The Rocket laughed. He looked at Kate and Andy. “Here you go!” he said. “That should fire you up!”

Mike took the gum back to Andy and Kate.

“It’s just gum,” Mike said. He tossed them both a piece and unwrapped one for himself.
Mike was just about to put it in his mouth when Kate’s hand shot out and stopped him.

“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” she said.

“Why not?” Mike asked. “It says right here, Pete’s Picante Gum! Geez, Kate, you’re always so suspicious. Looks like cinnamon to me.”

Kate shrugged. “Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Mike rolled his eyes. He popped the piece of gum into his mouth and chewed away. Within a few seconds, his face turned beet red.

Mike waved his hands and said, “HAAAAHAAAA ARRRGH!”

He ran up the aisle to a trash can at the top of the walkway. Andy and Kate rushed up the stairs after him. Mike hunched over the trash can and spit the gum into it. By the time Andy and Kate reached him, Mike had his hands on his hips. He was taking deep breaths.

“You don’t look so good,” Kate said.

Mike’s tongue hung out. Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead. He shook his head slowly. “Hot. Hot. Hot,” he panted.

“What’s the matter?” Andy asked. “You okay?”

Mike caught his breath. “I’m fine,” he said. “But that gum isn’t. The Rocket just gave me a handful of red-pepper gum!”

Kate took out her piece of gum and pointed to the red wrapper. “
Picante
means
spicy
in Spanish!” she told him. Kate was learning Spanish from her dad.

Mike sighed. “Why didn’t I listen to you?”

Kate knuckled him on the head. “I wonder that all the time!”

Andy smiled. “Don’t you see what this means?” he said. “The Rocket knew it was pepper gum! We should tell Sparky. It will prove the Rocket’s the joker, not my father.”

They rushed to the edge of the dugout, but Sparky had already started the team meeting. There was no way to interrupt. Mike, Kate,
and Andy stood off to the side, listening. After ten minutes, Sparky stopped talking to take a drink. He picked up a large paper cup and filled it with red PowerPunch from a plastic jug at the end of the bench.

A few seconds later, one of the players snickered and pointed at the coach. A line of red PowerPunch dribbled down from a small hole in the bottom of the paper cup. It turned almost the entire front of Sparky’s white uniform red!

Sparky finally noticed everyone laughing. “What’s so funny?” he shot out.

The players instantly went quiet. Someone pointed to the front of his shirt.

Sparky looked down and saw the long red stain on his shirt. Without another word, he crumpled the paper cup and threw it into the trash can. Then he turned to face Josh.

“That’s your final practical joke, Robinson!” he bellowed. “Don’t practice any more, because you’re benched!”

One of the outfielders jumped up. “Hey, Coach, you can’t take Josh out! He’s one of our best players,” he pleaded. “We need him on the field tonight!”

“If we’re going to beat the National League, we can’t have jokers fooling around,” Sparky snapped. “We need to focus on winning, not having fun! End of story. Everyone back out for more practice! Josh, stay here. If anything else happens, you won’t even suit up for tonight’s game!”

Concretes and Clubs

“Benched?” Andy wailed. “Benched? My dad doesn’t have anything to do with the jokes! It’s not fair! The all-star game is one of the biggest events of his life!”

The players jogged back onto the field. Some of them patted Josh on the shoulder as they went by. After a minute or so, Josh went into the locker room. The Rocket was the last to leave the dugout. On the way, he noticed Mike, Kate, and Andy standing near the infield fence. He nodded at Mike. Then he opened his
mouth wide, panted with his tongue hanging out, and gave a big laugh!

Kate gripped the infield railing hard and stamped her foot. “That’s so mean!” she said.

“Come on. Sparky is still in the dugout!” Andy said, opening the gate to the field. “We’ll tell him what the Rocket did to Mike. Then he’ll know who’s playing the jokes!”

Sparky stood in the corner, writing on his clipboard. Andy tapped him on the arm. Sparky spun around.

“Oh, hello,” Sparky said. “You’re Josh’s kid, right?”

Andy nodded. “Yes, I’m Andy. These are my friends Mike and Kate. We have something to tell you.”

“What is it, son?” Sparky growled, looking at his watch. “I’ve got a team to run.”

Mike stepped forward. He explained how
the Rocket handed out the spicy gum. He told Sparky what he’d overheard the Rocket and his agent talking about during breakfast, and how the Rocket had taunted Josh during practice.

“See?” Andy said. “The practical joker isn’t my dad. It’s the Rocket!”

Sparky listened patiently, but shook his head. “Sorry, Andy. I don’t believe the Rocket is the joker. Everyone knows that your dad is famous for practical jokes. Of course, you’d love to have someone else to blame, son, but my decision stands. Josh is benched.” Sparky snapped around and strode out to where the team was practicing near the right-field wall.

Mike, Kate, and Andy were speechless for a minute.

Then Andy kicked at the red dirt of the warning track. “Now what?” he asked.

Kate studied the stadium. “We need a break,” she said. “And I’m hungry.”

Mike rubbed his stomach. “Me too!” he said. “I have to get rid of the taste of that gum.” He stuck out his tongue. “It still burns.”

Kate grabbed Andy’s arm and led him up the stairs. “Let’s get something to eat,” she said. “My mom gave me money.”

A wide walkway ran around the edge of the Royals ballpark. Mike, Andy, and Kate headed for the food shops behind the giant scoreboard in center field. Suddenly, music blared over the stadium’s speakers, followed by a loud splashing noise.

“The fountains!” Andy said. He pointed at the long black fountains that ringed the outfield walls. The music kicked up again, and water from the fountains sprayed high into the air. Blue, red, and yellow lights shone up
from the bottom of the fountains. Sheets of water cascaded down the front of the black fountain walls.