Wild Pitch by Cal Ripken Jr

Author:Cal Ripken Jr.
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction - Young Adult
Publisher: Disney Book Group

Robbie was the first player to arrive at practice. This was nothing unusual. Ray Hammond had long stressed the idea of punctuality to his three children. Only in Ray’s case, punctuality meant showing up at least a half-hour early for any appointment or function.

Arriving only fifteen minutes early actually meant you were late, according to him. And arriving on time meant you were very, very late. Robbie, Jackie, and Ashley had never quite gotten used to what they called DWT (Dad Weirdo Time), but none of them could recall ever being late for anything in their lives.

As soon as the black Ford pickup came to a stop, Robbie jumped out and anxiously scanned the field. He checked the backstop, then down the first base and third base lines.

No Ben.

He looked out toward center field and the old scoreboard behind the fence, then beyond to the trees that partially obscured the pool. But Ben was nowhere in sight.

Disappointed, Robbie reached into the truck bed and helped his dad unload the equipment bags that held the bases, the catcher’s gear, baseballs, and bats. They pulled out the cooler with the water bottles, too, and carried or dragged everything across the dusty field to one of the dugouts.

“Where you been?” a voice said.

It was Ben.

He sat at the far end of the dugout wearing an orange T-shirt, basketball shorts and flip-flops, and the same Orioles hat, the brim facing forward this time. On his left hand was a battered black glove.

“Ben!” Robbie said. “We weren’t sure you’d—”

Ben grinned nervously and looked at Robbie’s dad.

“Thought you might need someone to shag balls,” he said. “Y’know, during batting practice or something. But it’s cool if you don’t. I’ll get out of your way and watch from the stands.”

Ray Hammond smiled and put down his bag. “Nice to meet you, Ben,” he said. “Robbie told me a lot about you. We’d love to have you join us.” The coach peered at the boy’s feet. “But I’d prefer that you play in sneakers. Do you have—”

Robbie cut him off. “I’m sure it’ll be okay, just for today.” He gave his father a look that said, Don’t ruin this. “Right, Dad?”

Coach got the message. “Right, just for today. Why don’t you two go warm up?”

Ben’s face lit up. Robbie grabbed his glove and a ball, and the two boys jogged down the line to play catch.

Just as Robbie had suspected, Ben was a natural athlete. He threw with a smooth, practiced motion, the ball popping into Robbie’s glove with a loud whump! And Ben caught the ball effortlessly, too, guiding the glove easily, no matter where the throw reached him.

It was in-between his catch and throw that he struggled.

After every catch, he would place the glove under the stump of his right arm and then attempt to pull the ball out. It was an awkward, time-consuming movement. He fumbled with the exchange and dropped both the glove and the ball several times, appearing to grow frustrated.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “Haven’t done this much.

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