The Spy on Third Base by Matt Christopher

Author:Matt Christopher [CHRISTOPHER, MATTHEW F]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780316096034
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published: 2009-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

6

The day was gray in more ways than one as T.V. Adams waited for his turn to bat. There wasn’t a blue patch in the whole sky, as if the sun were having a day off. And T.V., gloomy as the day, had made up his mind he wasn’t going to do any “spying” in this game against the Stockade Bulls. He’d been threatened too many times and the butt of too many jokes since the game against the Green Dragons.

And just a few moments ago someone in the crowd had shouted at him, “What’s he going to do, T.V.? Hit or strike out?”

The person was referring to José Mendez, who was batting now. It was the top of the first inning. There was one out, and Bus was on first base. He had smashed a single through the pitcher’s box. I don’t know and I don’t care, T.V. wanted to say to the fan, but he kept his thoughts to himself.

José drilled a line drive directly at the first baseman. Bus started to run, then bolted back to tag up. Ted Jackson, the Stockades’ first baseman, beat him to it. Three outs.

“Okay, T.V.!” yelled that same voice again as the teams exchanged sides. “Now’s your chance to see what you can do!”

T.V. tried to ignore the heckler, but it was hard to ignore a voice like that. It sounded as if it were coming out of a bull horn.

T.V. watched leadoff man Jim Hance tap the end of his bat against the plate, then stand with it about six inches off his shoulder. After two sharp swings, T.V. had a good idea where Jim might hit the ball — if Jim hit it at all — but he kept his prediction to himself. He wasn’t going to get involved with that sort of stuff again.

Sparrow Fisher, on the mound for the Mudders, threw the next two pitches outside. Then Jim popped out to short left field, exactly where T.V. had thought he would. And Phil Klines grounded out to the shortstop.

Then Ted Jackson singled, and cleanup hitter Adzie Healy stepped up to the plate. After Sparrow’s second pitch and Adzie’s first swing, T.V. had a strong hunch that Adzie was going to hit the ball to right center field.

Sparrow blazed in the next pitch and, as T.V. had predicted, Adzie slammed it directly to right center field for a triple, scoring Ted.

But that was it. Catcher Chet Barker — the kid T.V. and Chuck had seen at the pool — flied out to left.

The Mudders couldn’t do anything until the top of the fourth inning, when Chuck doubled to left center field and scored on Turtleneck’s single. Then Rudy knocked Turtleneck in with a big triple to deep right field but died on third base when nobody could hit to score him.

The Bulls had scored three times in the bottom of the second inning. And now, in the bottom of the fourth, they were going great guns again. Ralph Healy, Adzie’s brother, had started it off with a ground double to right field.

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