The Homerun Mystery (2 page)

They stopped in amazement at what they saw.

The factory had been built in an L shape. Nestled in the angle of the L was a ballpark!

“Neat!” Henry exclaimed. “What a great place to put a ballpark!”

A high fence with faded posters peeling from its crooked boards backed up against the brick sides of the old factory. The third side of the ballpark was bordered by the street, the fourth by a weed-choked empty lot.

Shaggy grass grew high in the outfield all the way up to the sides of the old factory. The infield was hard-packed dirt. A roofed grandstand had been built near the home base, where the corner of the empty lot met the road. The rest of the seats were splintery bleachers. Outside the foul line, beyond third base in the outfield, a rickety one-story clubhouse stood.

Teams of boys and girls were playing. A few people sat in the grandstand.

“Let's watch,” said Jessie.

They climbed into the bleachers and sat next to a man about Grandfather's age.

“Who's playing?” Benny asked the gentleman.

“The team in blue shirts is the Hudson Half Moons,” replied the man. “That's the home team. They're playing the Catskill Eagles in the red shirts. Both teams are in the playoffs for the championship.”

“What's the score?” asked Henry.

“The Catskill Eagles are leading,” said the man, shaking his head. “I don't know how they're doing it. Our team is much better.” He pointed to a girl a little older than Violet sitting in the dugout. “That's my granddaughter. Her name is Emily.”

Emily had long brown hair worn in a ponytail pulled through her baseball cap.

“We're the Aldens,” said Jessie. “This is my sister, Violet, and my brothers, Benny and Henry. I'm Jessie.”

“Carl Soper. Pleased to know you.” Mr. Soper shook hands with them all.

Violet said, “We play ball, too, back home.”

“And where might home be?” asked Carl Soper.

“Greenfield, Connecticut,” answered Benny.

The older man's brows lifted. “That's far away. Just passing through the Hudson Valley?”

“No, we're staying here,” Henry replied. “Our grandfather is working with the town council to help restore Pikesville.”

Carl Soper grunted. “Restore! That's all you read about in the
Pikesville Star
. If they hadn't closed the hat factory, the town wouldn't have died. Now the town council has all these newfangled ideas to make Pikesville into a tourist spot.”

“Don't you think it will work?” Jessie asked.

Instead of answering, Carl leaned forward, intent on the play down below. “What's going on?”

Jessie saw Emily Soper take a bat from the batboy. Emily swung the bat a few times to get the feel of it. Suddenly a man jumped off a bench. He wore a whistle around his neck and a red shirt.

“That's Coach Jenkins,” said Carl. “He's the Eagles' coach.”

Coach Jenkins took the bat from Emily with an apologetic smile and gave her another. Emily swung this bat and nodded that it was okay. Even from the grandstand, Jessie could see Emily looked puzzled.

“That's weird,” she remarked. “Why would the other team's coach change Emily's bat?”

“Who knows? But my granddaughter is the best batter on the team,” Carl Soper said proudly. “If anyone will win this game for the Half Moons, it'll be my Emily.”

The pitcher wound up the pitch.

“Their pitcher looks pretty good,” commented Henry.

Carl nodded. “His name is Danny. He's Coach Jenkins's little brother.”

Danny threw the ball.

Crack!

Emily's bat hit the ground and she raced to first base. Her ball was still in the air. Emily danced at first, then decided to go for second. It would be close. She would have to slide, Jessie decided.

As she dove for the bag, the second baseman put out his foot, preventing Emily from finishing the slide.

Instantly the umpire came between Emily Soper and the Eagles' second baseman.

“Interference!” the Half Moons were yelling. The play was called fair and Emily was called out. The dark look on Emily's face showed her anger and disappointment.

Then the coaches got into the debate. The two men argued hotly and the umpire called a time-out.

Emily Soper hopped into the stands. Her grandfather handed her a soda from the ice-filled cooler at his feet.

“Did you see that?” Emily said. “Did you see Jason Baker stick his foot out? It was interference and the umpire called me out instead!”

“Yes, we saw,” said Carl Soper.

Jessie noticed that Emily was holding her right arm.

“Is your arm okay?” she asked.

Emily glanced at her arm. “I'm okay. Who're you guys?”

“I'm sorry,” said Mr. Soper. “Emily, meet my new friends, Benny, Violet, Jessie, and Henry. They are staying here with their grandfather, who is in town on business.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Emily. She stuck her right hand out to Benny first and winced when he shook it.

“How bad is that arm?” asked her grandfather.

“I'll be all right.” Emily drank the rest of her soda and went back to her team.

“She's a stubborn one,” Carl said with a smile. “Just like all us Sopers.”

Soon Emily was up at bat again. The Eagles led 10–3. Emily needed to hit a home run and bring the players in from the bases.

But from the way she held her bat, it was clear her arm was bothering her. She hit the ball, a pop fly. The first baseman easily caught it and she was out.

The game was over. The Hudson Half Moons had lost.

“Nice going, Emily!” jeered one of her teammates. “You're just as bad as old Home Run Herman!”

Henry wondered what the kid meant. Emily walked slowly to the stands and sat down heavily beside her grandfather.

“I lost the game,” she said glumly.

“You hurt your arm,” said Violet. “It was brave of you to go on playing.”

Emily smiled at Violet. “Thanks. I'm glad somebody besides Gramps is in my corner.”

“Do you live with your grandfather?” asked Jessie. The pair seemed very close.

“Yes, we're family,” Carl Soper answered. “Ever since Emily's parents died.”

“I was only four,” Emily said.

“We live with our grandfather, too,” Benny put in. “Our parents died and we went to live in a boxcar.”

Emily looked at him with interest. “A boxcar?”

“It was empty,” Henry explained. “And in the woods. We stayed there until our grandfather found us and took us to live with him.”

“We still have the boxcar,” added Jessie. “It's in our backyard. Grandfather had it brought there.”

“Neat,” said Emily. Then she remembered the ball game. “Brandon — he's our pitcher — thinks the Eagles are cheating, and so do I.”

“What makes you think that?” asked Violet.

“The Eagles have won nearly every game this season,” said Emily. “They
never
win this many games.”

“Maybe they have better players now,” said Henry.

“No,” Mr. Soper said firmly. “Something is going on.”

“Did you see me pick up that bat before I slid into second?” said Emily. “Then Coach Jenkins came over and took it away from me. He gave me another bat.”

“That was strange,” Jessie agreed. “Has he ever swapped bats before?”

Emily shook her head. “I don't know why he did it.”

“To rattle you?” suggested Henry.

“Maybe,” Emily said. “If the Eagles are cheating, how will we ever catch them?”

The Aldens glanced at one another.

Then Benny grinned. “Guess what? This is your lucky day!”

CHAPTER 2

The Doubleheader Case

E
mily stared at Benny. “Why is it my lucky day?”

“Because we solve mysteries!” he replied. “We've solved cases all over the place!”

“Really?” Emily's brown eyes were wide.

Jessie chuckled. “Benny's bragging just a little. Sometimes we figure out mysteries.”

Emily bounced with excitement. “Great! Can you find out if the Eagles are cheating?”

“We can try,” answered Henry. “We're going to be here till Saturday.”

“The championship game is Friday,” said Emily. “And we play again tomorrow. But how are we going to catch them?”

Violet thought for a moment. “Jessie's a good player. Is there a way she can join the other team as a substitute? That way she can watch from the inside.”

“Good idea,” Henry said. “Emily, have any of the Eagles been sidelined?”

Emily nodded. “Brian Preston hurt his knee yesterday. Jessie could take his place if Coach Jenkins will agree to it.”

“This might work,” said Henry. “Violet, Benny, and I can work the case from the outside. We'll watch the Eagles and see what they're doing. And if Coach Jenkins goes for it, Jessie will be checking out the Eagles from the inside.”

“I feel so much better!” Emily said. “Even though I made the team lose today, we could still win the championship.”

Her grandfather grunted. “And then it's all over. The youth leagues will be broken up.”

“Why?” asked Jessie.

“It's a long story,” said Carl.

“We have time,” said Henry. “We don't have to be back at the inn for a while.”

Carl Soper fished sodas from the cooler, passed them around, and the Aldens settled down to hear his story.

“Back in the early 1900s, Pikesville was a big town,” Carl began. “Not like what you see today. Everybody worked in the men's hat factory. Baseball was the big sport in those days. Every town had its own team. The hat factory formed a ball club and built this baseball park right on the factory lot.”

“Did people play during recess?” asked Benny, making them all laugh.

“Well, the factory wasn't exactly like school, but we did have a lunch hour and we could hit a few if we wanted,” Carl said. “But the ballpark was built for our minor league team, the Pikesville Grays.”

Henry shook his head. “I've never heard of them.”

“There's a reason for that,” said Carl. “The Grays had a great batter nicknamed Home Run Herman because he hit so many balls into the fence. In those days if you hit the fence, it was an automatic home run. Herman could have made it to the major leagues. Except for one big game.”

Violet sipped her soda. Carl was a good storyteller. She couldn't wait to hear the rest.

Carl went on. “At the end of the 1908 season, the Grays were in the playoffs. Everyone knew they would win the pennant because Herman had been hitting home runs all season. The next game would bring the Grays fame. And put Pikesville on the map as an important baseball town.”

“Were you there that day?” asked Benny.

Once again everyone laughed.

When Carl finished wiping his eyes, he said, “Benny, I wish I had been there that day. But I wasn't even born yet!”

Jessie nudged her little brother. “Emily's grandfather is about the same age as our grandfather. Grandfather wasn't around in 1908, either.”

Carl continued the story. “But everyone in town was at the game, you can bet on that. These stands were packed. A lot of people bought expensive tickets to sit here in the grandstand. Some bought cheaper tickets to sit on those bleachers. The factory bigwigs had a special box down front. Nobody wanted to miss a single inning.”

Henry could almost hear the sound of vendors calling, “Peanuts! Programs!”

Carl lowered his voice. “Yet it was the worst game Home Run Herman ever played. He didn't hit any home runs. He struck out again and again. The Grays lost the game and the championship.”

“That's too bad,” said Violet with a sigh. She had hoped this story would have a happy ending.

Carl nodded. “When the game was over, Herman's teammates were angry with him. They felt he had let them down. In the clubhouse over there, where the players had lockers to change from their street clothes into their uniforms, somebody found a twenty-dollar bill in the pocket of Herman's pants. Back then, twenty dollars was a lot of money. More than Herman made in a month at the hat factory.”

“Where did he get it?” Jessie asked.

“His teammates figured Herman took a bribe to throw the game.”

Violet was puzzled. “You mean, lose the game on purpose for money? Why would anybody do that?”

Carl shook his head. “No honest player would. But not all players are honest.”

Carl sighed and went on, “Herman said that on his way to the game he had helped a lady whose motorcar had gotten stuck in a ditch and she had given him the money for his trouble. He also said he hurt his shoulder pushing the car. But no one else in the whole town had seen this lady. Nobody believed Herman's story.”

“They sure gave up on their hero quickly,” Henry said.

“Even quicker when the newspapers got hold of the story,” said Carl. “It became a huge scandal. The story was picked up by papers as far away as New York City. The papers called for the mystery lady to come forth, but she never did. Pikesville was in disgrace.”