The Catcher's Mask (4 page)

Rudy nodded. He wasn’t surprised that Jimmy was bad-mouthing the batters. But he didn’t tell José that he, Rudy, had started
it. Instead, he decided he’d cool it the next time he was behind the plate. After all, he didn’t want to do anything that
might hurt his team.

If Jimmy Sullivan said anything nasty to T.V. Adams, T.V. apparently didn’t let it bother him. He swung at the first pitch
and
made it on base. Turtleneck advanced safely to second. Suddenly it looked like the Mudders had a chance to score a run.

Then Nicky hit a shallow pop fly. The Bearcats’ second baseman took one step back and caught it. Two outs.

Alfie Maples was up next.

“C’mon, Alfie, you can do it!” Rudy yelled. But he didn’t really believe that. Alfie usually got out.

This time was no exception. Although Alfie connected with the ball, it dribbled down the first base line. Bearcats pitcher
Stretch Ferguson fielded it easily and sent it to the first baseman for the out.

“Rats,” Rudy said. He worked his way into his gear and walked to the plate.

Three batters later, he was walking back to the bench. Sparrow had found his stride and was pitching like a big leaguer.

Unfortunately so was Stretch Ferguson. Bus, Rudy, and Sparrow all struck out.

“You losers didn’t even last long enough for me to open my mouth,” Jimmy Sullivan crowed as he passed Rudy. “I got to sit
back and watch you dig yourselves into a deeper hole!”

Rudy seethed but held his tongue. Then the Bearcats went down one, two, three, with Jimmy making the third out. Rudy couldn’t
stop himself.

“Funny, I don’t hear anything coming from your mouth now,” he called to the Bearcats’ catcher.

“Yeah, well, one look at the scoreboard shows who the winners of this game are gonna be,” Jimmy shot back.

“C’mon, c’mon, let’s get cracking,” Coach Parker interrupted. “It’s the bottom of the fifth. Let’s give our fans something
to cheer about — what do you say?”

The Mudders all shouted their agreement.

Barry McGee followed through on the coach’s instructions. He sent Stretch
Ferguson’s fourth pitch over the fence for a home run. Suddenly it was a tie ball game, 1-1.

Turtleneck Jones helped by hitting a double. Then José redeemed himself by socking a single. Turtleneck wisely stayed on second.

T.V. shouldered the bat and narrowed his eyes at the Bearcats’ pitcher. Rudy could tell he wanted nothing more than to send
both Turtleneck and José home.

He didn’t. He struck out.

But Nicky came through with a shallow pop fly that fell behind the second baseman and in front of the center fielder. Turtleneck’s
legs churned up the dirt as he rounded third and headed for home.

The center fielder got his hands on the ball and heaved it to Jimmy. The Mudders were on their feet, screaming for Turtleneck
to slide.

Turtleneck did. Jimmy caught the throw, swept his glove around — and dropped the ball!

Turtleneck was safe, and the Mudders had the lead!

Even though Alfie hit into a double play, the Mudders were all smiles as they took to the field. Rudy didn’t say a word as
he passed Jimmy. He didn’t have to. From the look on Jimmy’s face, he knew Jimmy was yelling at himself for his error.

Well, I know what that’s like,
Rudy thought, feeling just the tiniest bit sorry for the other catcher.

The Bearcats were fired up at the top of the sixth and final inning. They seemed determined to take back their lead. If they
succeeded, the Mudders would have to win the game with their last raps. But if they failed, the game would end right then
with the Mudders victorious.

Rudy tugged his Hall-of-Famer mask into place.

Okay, Yogi,
he said to himself,
let’s see what we can do to end this game early!

Drew Zellar was up first for the Bearcats. He hit a clean single.

“That’s okay, guys, that’s okay!” Rudy called. “The play is to first or second, first or second. Heck, let’s make it to first
and
second for the double play!”

The crowd chuckled.

Buck Austin quieted them, however, when he laid down a perfect bunt. It was closer to Sparrow than to Rudy, so Rudy shouted
for Sparrow to take it. Sparrow did, and tried to get Drew out at second. But Nicky flubbed the play, and Drew sped on to
third!

Rudy looked up to see who the next batter for the Bearcats was. It was Stretch Ferguson, a good hitter. But Stretch wasn’t
walking to the plate yet. He was talking with the Bearcats’ coach.

The coach patted Stretch on the back and sent him to the plate. Stretch stood outside the batter’s box for a moment, running
his hands up and down the bat and adjusting his helmet.

Stretch looks nervous,
Rudy thought, puzzled. He glanced at the field, sizing up the situation.

There are no outs. Buck might try to steal second. But why would that make Stretch nervous? All he has to do is make it hard
for me to get off a good throw to Nicky.

Then Rudy’s gaze fell on third base. He caught the Bearcats’ third-base coach whispering to Drew.

What’s he saying?
Rudy wondered as he watched Drew slowly nod. He was even more puzzled when he saw Drew shift his position.
He looks like he’s getting ready to run. But he’s not going to be forced to move because there isn’t a runner at second.

Right at that moment, Stretch stepped into the batter’s box — and suddenly Rudy realized what was about to happen.

They’re going to try to fake us out with a suicide squeeze play!

Rudy had just read about the squeeze play in the baseball book Mr. Turnball had given him. On the play, the batter bunted
the ball in front of the plate halfway between the catcher and the pitcher. The runner at first took off for second, the batter
took off for first — and the runner at third, hoping that the catcher and pitcher would field the ball in the traditional
manner and throw to second or first, ran as fast as he could for home! If the play worked, they would earn a run and still
have at least one runner on base.

It all depended on the batter laying down the perfect bunt — and the catcher being
fooled into making the play to first or second.

No wonder Stretch is nervous. But they’re not fooling me!
Rudy could scarcely contain his excitement.
I’m ready for them. Oh, boy, am I ready for them!

Sparrow reared back and threw. Just as Rudy suspected, Drew and Buck took off as fast as they could. Stretch tried to bunt.

The minute Stretch’s bat met the ball, Rudy knew the Bearcats were in big trouble. Instead of sending the ball into the dirt,
Stretch popped it a few feet straight up into the air!

Rudy threw off his mask and lunged forward.
Plop!
The ball landed smack in the middle of his glove. One out!

But Rudy didn’t stop there. Drew and Buck hadn’t counted on his making the catch. They were still running.

That was all Rudy needed. He fired a throw to T.V. at third, praying that T.V. was ready to catch it.

He was! He stepped on the bag in plenty of time to get Drew out.

By now, the fans were screaming. Rudy was yelling at the top of his lungs, too, but not with happiness. He was yelling instructions
for T.V.

“First! First! Throw to first!”

T.V. reared back and threw a bullet to Turtleneck.

Rudy held his breath. Buck was a fast runner and was already on his way back to the bag. Would T.V.’s throw beat him?

Turtleneck reached out as far as he could, his toe still on the base. Buck’s arms and legs pumped hard. Then he launched himself
into a slide. The ball soared past him and socked into Turtleneck’s glove. Turtleneck flashed his glove downward.

A cloud of dust rose around first base. For a moment, Rudy couldn’t see what was happening. Then he heard the first-base umpire’s call.

“Out!”

The fans went wild. A triple play!

The Mudders charged in from the field, laughing and cheering. They swarmed around Rudy. Coach Parker’s face was wreathed in
smiles.

“I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it with my own eyes,” he said. “A triple play! Not bad, fellas, not bad at all.”

“And we have Rudy to thank for it,” Nicky pointed out. “He was on that bunt like he knew it was coming!”

“I did!” Rudy crowed. He picked up his catcher’s mask and pointed to the initials. “When you play with a piece of equipment
that once belonged to a Hall-of-Famer, there’s not much you can’t do!”

Coach Parker’s eyes widened. “Let me see that, Rudy,” he said.

Suddenly Rudy’s good mood left him. Reluctantly he handed the mask to the coach.

Me and my big mouth,
he thought.
Coach Parker will take Yogi’s mask from me and give it back to Mr. Turnball for sure! There goes my game again.

Coach Parker examined the mask for a moment, then, with a funny look on his face, asked Rudy where he got it. Rudy told him.

The coach grinned. “You think this is Yogi Berra’s mask, don’t you, Rudy? And you think that’s why you’ve been playing better,
right?”

Rudy nodded.

“Well, I hate to disappoint you, son. But I know this mask. It belonged to a high-school teammate of mine. His name was Roger
Bilkins. But we called him ‘You Bet’ Bilkins, because whenever we asked him if he was going to catch a good game, he answered,
‘You bet!’ He was always losing things — that’s why he put his initials on everything he owned.” Coach Parker laughed. “I
guess he
lost this mask, anyway. Wonder how it ended up in Mr. Turnball’s garage sale. Guess that’ll always be a mystery!”