The Catcher's Mask (3 page)

But Rudy was in motion, too. He scooped up the ball and hurled it to second base just as José prepared to hit the dirt.

Nicky caught it and whipped his glove around and down to tag José. José’s slide was good, but thanks to Rudy’s accurate throw,
Nicky’s tag was better. José was out.

The play didn’t stop there, though. Alfie Maples still hadn’t touched first base.

“Double play! Double play!” Rudy screamed.

Nicky rifled the ball to Turtleneck just in time to get Alfie out.

“All right!” Rudy cried.

Coach Parker had substitutes Tootsie Malone and Jack Livingston take a rap, then went through the order two more times.

Even though it was just a practice, Rudy kept a sharp eye on everything that was going on. Once, he caught Tootsie taking
a big lead off first. He suspected Tootsie, a speedy runner, was going to steal second. Sure enough, as Sparrow completed
his windup, Tootsie took off.

Rudy had already jumped up. He caught the ball and rocketed it to Nicky. Tootsie was out by a mile.

Shortly after that, Coach Parker called it quits.

“Good practice, guys. Rudy, I haven’t seen you play so well in a while. I don’t know what brought on the sudden change, but
keep it up!” The coach went on to compliment each of the other boys or to point out instances where they could improve.

Rudy grinned from ear to ear. He peeked at the mask in his lap.

It worked!
he thought gleefully.
Thanks, Yogi Berra, wherever you are!

Two days later, the Mudders faced the Bearcats.

The Bearcats were up first. Rudy crouched behind the plate, ready for action,
Y.B.
mask in place. He could hardly wait for the first pitch.

The Bearcats’ catcher, Jimmy Sullivan, led off for his team. Jimmy was husky and muscular for a ten-year-old. He could deliver
the ball a mile if he connected squarely.

That’s just what he did this time. On Sparrow’s third pitch, Jimmy sent the ball to deep
left center field. José couldn’t get to it before it hit the ground, and Jimmy made it safely to second.

That’s where he stayed for a while. A pop fly to short and a grounder to second made it two outs for the Bearcats.

Then Bus fumbled a snake-sizzling grounder to short. The batter, Stretch Ferguson, made it to first, and Jimmy advanced to
third.

Rudy sized up the situation. “Okay, guys, the play is to second or first,” he shouted. “We only need one!”

Horace Robb sent a scorching double to Barry McGee’s right side, scoring Jimmy and planting Stretch safely on third.

Finally, Jack Walker grounded out to second. The Bearcats led, 1-0.

Sadly, the Peach Street Mudders did nothing their turn at bat.

Bearcat Boots Finkle came up to bat in the
top of the second. Sparrow tried hard, but Boots got on first safely. Then Luke Bonelle came up.

Rudy squatted behind the plate. Suddenly he realized that Luke might try a sacrifice bunt to send Boots to second base.

He shifted his position slightly and prepared himself to spring into action.

Sparrow went through his windup and let the ball go. Sure enough, Luke squared himself around and bunted. The ball dribbled
forward, and Luke took off for first like a scared rabbit.

But Rudy was already in motion. He scrambled forward, plucked up the ball, and heaved it to Turtleneck. Turtleneck lunged
to meet the throw just as Luke was nearing first. The ball socked into Turtleneck’s glove a split second before Luke hit the
base.

“Out!” the umpire cried. But hardly anyone heard him. From his position, Rudy had seen Boots Finkle stumble on his way to
second. If Turtleneck threw quickly, they might be able to get Boots out, too.

“Second! Second!” Rudy yelled at the top of his lungs.

Turtleneck immediately hurled the ball to Nicky. Nicky stretched, snagged the throw, and swept his glove around in time to
tag Boots.

“Out!” came the second-base umpire’s call.

The Mudders’ fans went wild. They were still cheering when Jim Jakes flied out to José to end the half inning.

Coach Parker was all smiles as the Mudders ran in from the field.

“Nice double play, guys,” he said, clapping his hands. “Good eyes, Rudy. That’s the kind of smarts catchers need to have.
Keep up the good work.”

Rudy grinned and slid his mask from his face. “Oh, I don’t think that will be a problem, Coach. Nope, not a problem at all.”

The Mudders took their raps, but again their bats were silent. Going into the third inning, the score still read Bearcats
1, Mudders 0.

Rudy suited up and headed for the plate, carrying his mitt.

“Okay, Bearcats, look out! We’re going to stop you cold!” he cried out.

“Fat chance,” said Jimmy Sullivan, the Bearcats’ leadoff batter. “Your pitcher is getting tired.”

It seemed that Jimmy was right. Sparrow threw three pitches, all bad.

“Time!” Rudy called. He yanked off his helmet and trotted to the mound. “Take your time, take your time,” he advised Sparrow. “I’m giving you a nice big target here”
— he held up his mitt — “and all you have to do is hit it.”

“I’m doing my best,” Sparrow mumbled.

“I know, but I’m going to help you do better.” He leaned close to Sparrow. “I’ve noticed that that clown Jimmy has trouble
judging pitches that are low and outside. Think you can put one there?”

Sparrow grinned. “I’ll try.”

Rudy turned to go, but Sparrow called him back. “Hey, you know this is the first time you’ve ever come out to the mound without
the coach?”

Rudy realized that Sparrow was right. “Well, I have a feeling it won’t be the last time. That okay with you?”

“I’ll tell you after I see if a low-and-outside pitch works!”

Rudy jogged back to his position. Crouching
low, he held his glove up nice and wide.

“Hey, Jimmy, why don’t you take a swing at the next one? C’mon, what’ve you got to lose? Or are you afraid you’ll miss?” Rudy
goaded the batter.

“I’ll show you,” Jimmy shot back. “I’ll send this one out of the park!”

Sparrow went through his windup and delivered. It was a perfect low-and-outside pitch.

Sure enough, Jimmy cut at it as hard as he could. He missed by a mile.

“Strike!” yelled the umpire.

“Two more just like that, Sparrow, two more like that!” Rudy yelled. And in a voice just loud enough for the batter to hear,
he added, “Two more just like that, Jimmy!”

Jimmy growled, but two pitches later, he was stalking back to the Bearcats’ bench. He glared at Rudy over his shoulder.

“Just you wait until you’re at bat — you and all your Mudder teammates,” he hissed.

Rudy just smiled.

Drew Zellar was up next. He hit the first pitch to right center field. Alfie Maples tried to make the catch but fumbled the
ball. Drew stood up at second.

Buck Austin walked. Players at first and second. Stretch came to the plate. He walloped Sparrow’s third pitch head-high down
the first base line. It looked like a sure single. The runners took off.

But at the last moment, Turtleneck Jones stuck out his glove and caught the ball! Buck Austin tried to get back to first,
but he was too late. Turtleneck landed smack on the base, and Buck was out.

The Mudders’ fans cheered as the team jogged in from the field.

The score was still Bearcats 1, Mudders 0.

“Okay, okay, let’s see some good hitting out there!” Coach Parker yelled. It was the bottom of the third inning, and Rudy
knew that the coach wanted them to get on the scoreboard.

Rudy took off his equipment and laid everything but the mask in a pile. The mask he held on to tightly.

Turtleneck was up first. He took three swings, all foul balls. The fourth pitch was wild. So were the next three. Turtleneck
had a free ride to first.

Next up was José. Sometimes José hit well; other times he struck out.

Today was one of the strikeout days. José returned to the bench and tossed his helmet aside angrily.

“That’s okay, José,” Rudy said consolingly. “Everybody makes outs.”

“I’m not mad about that,” José replied. “I’m mad because of what that Jimmy Sullivan said while I was up. He called the Mudders
losers and said we’d have better luck playing against five-year-olds in T-ball. That guy really gets me steamed!”