The Philly Fake by David A. Kelly

Author:David A. Kelly [Kelly, David A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-97787-8
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2014-05-12T16:00:00+00:00

“What do you mean?” Mike asked.

Kate pointed to the crack in the Liberty Bell. “What if someone’s been putting thin cracks in the bats so that when the players hit a ball, the bat breaks apart? The tiny cracks would be hard to see, but over time the bats would end up breaking! It would be like the Liberty Bell. A tiny crack that grows into a big one!”

“Wow, that might be it!” Mike said. “I wish there was a way to get into the dugout to check the bats.”

“There’s always a way,” Kate said. She twirled the end of her ponytail around her finger. “Maybe you can pretend to be a batboy? Or we could hide in the bathrooms until after the stadium is closed and—”

“Or we could ask Carol if she can bring us to the dugout after the game to take pictures,” Mike said. “She’d be able to get us in!”

Kate laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”

During the next break in the action, Kate asked Carol if they could visit the dugout after the game. Carol thought it was a great idea.

Unfortunately, things didn’t line up so well for the Phillies. Even with a home run in the eighth inning, the Phillies couldn’t catch up. The Mets won, 3–2.

After the crowd thinned out, Carol led Mike, Kate, and Mrs. Hopkins to a gate in the infield wall. She whispered to the security guard on the other side of the gate. He checked her employee ID and let them onto the field.

The red clay crunched under their feet. “This is great!” Mike said.

Carol scuffed her foot in the dirt. “We’re allowed to walk on the warning track,” she said. “But stay away from the infield grass. Our head groundskeeper, John, tries to keep visitors off it, since he works so hard to keep it perfect.”

Kate checked out the field. The grounds crew was hustling around with rakes and other tools, getting the infield ready for the next day’s game. As they reached the dugout, Mike almost bumped into the groundskeepers’ green cart that was parked in front of it.

Mike and Kate bounded down the dugout steps. The dugout was empty except for paper cups on the floor and some towels on the benches. In the corner were bins full of dozens of bats. Mike and Kate wanted to head right for the bats, but Carol made them sit with Mrs. Hopkins on the long bench against the back wall while she took pictures. Mike kept messing up the pictures because he was fidgeting so much.

“It’s hard to sit still with the bats so close!” he whispered to Kate.

“One more picture!” Carol said. “This time with the Phillies logo in the background.”

Finally, Carol was done.

“Now’s the time,” Kate whispered to Mike.

They walked to the corner of the dugout, near the stairs down to the locker room. The bins filled with bats sat under shelves of batting helmets.

“So what are we looking for, Sherlock?” Mike asked.

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