The Fenway Foul-Up (6 page)

Mike hustled to join Kate at the back of the store. She browsed through racks of red and blue Red Sox T-shirts.

“What are you doing?” he said, confused. “Are you buying a shirt? What about the bat?”

“No, I’m not buying a shirt,” she answered. “I wanted to have an excuse to look in the back of the shop.”

Kate ducked behind the racks of posters
and stood in front of the bin of replica Big D Green Monster bats.

Mike looked at the front counter. A noisy group of high school students had come into the shop and were throwing a foam baseball around. The saleslady was trying to get them to stop.

Kate sifted through the bats. After a few seconds, she found what she was looking for and pulled out one of the bats.

“That looks just like the one that Grandpa Kevin gave his grandson,” Mike said.

“No, it doesn’t,” Kate said. She held out the handle. “Here, feel this.”

Mike touched the handle of the bat. It was sticky. It felt like someone had eaten a sloppy peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich and left fingerprints all over the bat.

Suddenly, the pieces fell into place.

“Pine tar,” he said. “It’s Big D’s bat!”

“Exactly,” Kate said.

“But if it’s the real bat, why is it sitting here in this bin in the souvenir shop?” Mike asked.

“It’s just like what the Yawkeys did with their initials on the scoreboard. Someone hid
it in plain sight!” said Kate. “Why would anyone think it was the real bat? I saw it earlier and didn’t think of it. And who would want to buy a dirty bat when they can have a clean one? It was perfectly safe here!”

The saleslady was ringing up purchases for a few of the high school students. She wasn’t paying attention to Kate and Mike.

Kate went on. “I’ll bet the photographer stole the bat when Wally tripped. He brought it up here to hide it so the security guards wouldn’t find it on him if they searched him.”

“Wow!” Mike said. “We need to let someone know! Should we buy it and turn it in?”

Kate looked at the price tag and shook her head. “We don’t have enough money,” she said. “But I have an idea.…”

Kate took a Red Sox T-shirt and covered the sticky bat with it. Making sure that the
saleslady wasn’t watching, Kate popped open the end of one of the poster tubes and slipped the stolen bat inside. Then she slid the tube
under
the poster rack.

“That should keep it safe from the thief. Boy, will he be surprised if he comes back and the bat is gone!” she said.

“Let’s go tell Bobby,” Mike said.

The two raced back through the ballpark. There was a deafening roar as they reached the top of the aisle leading down to Boston’s dugout.

Almost all the fans were cheering. With one runner on base, the Red Sox batter had just nailed a long shot out to right field. The right fielder missed the ball and then bobbled the throw. That left Red Sox players on second and third with no outs. Maybe Boston finally had a chance.

As the fans settled down, Mike and Kate scanned the field for Bobby. Mike spotted him crouched near the Red Sox dugout. Big D would be up next.

Mike and Kate hurried to the infield wall.

“Pssst,” Kate whispered. “Bobby.”

Bobby turned around to see Kate and Mike on the other side of the wall. “What’s up?” he asked.

“We’ve got some big news,” said Kate. She motioned for him to come closer.

Bobby slid over against the wall. He tilted his head back a little so he could listen to Kate as she whispered. He kept his eyes on the game the whole time.

Kate told him the entire story about the bat in the souvenir stand and what they thought the photographer had done.

“Wow, that’s amazing!” Bobby said.

While they were talking, the Boston batter had hit a single down the third-base line and made it to first. Finally—three men on base for the Red Sox and Big D was up. Boston could pull ahead if Big D hit a home run.

“I’ll be right back,” Bobby told Kate and Mike. “Don’t go anywhere!”

Bobby ran to the dugout and brought out the new bat that Nathan had given Big D earlier. Bobby rubbed a little pine tar on the clean handle and whispered something into Big D’s ear.

Big D’s face broke into a big smile. He took the bat, swung three practice swings, and stepped into the batter’s box.

Bobby gave Kate and Mike a thumbs-up sign.

The Athletics’ pitcher threw the ball low and inside.

POW!

The ball blasted off the end of Big D’s bat. It lifted up over the shortstop’s head. It flew high over the left fielder’s head. And it sailed far over the Green Monster.

A grand slam for Big D! One runner after another scored as Big D circled the bases. He stopped just before home plate and then jumped on it with both his feet. The entire team crowded around him. They gave him high fives and slapped him on the back. Boston was winning for the first time in the game!

Big D tipped his hat once to the crowd. He picked up the bat he had borrowed from Nathan. With a wide smile, he held the bat up in the air and gave it a big kiss!

The MVPs

Kate and Mike stood against the infield railing near the Red Sox dugout and watched Fenway Park empty out.

“What an amazing game!” Kate said. “We got to sit right next to the Red Sox dugout,
and
we got to see them win!”

“Big D’s grand slam was great,” said Mike. “I can’t believe the new bat worked!”

“Where do you think Bobby went?” asked Kate. “He said he’d come back to talk to us
after the game.… Hey, there’s my mom!”

“You two have been busy,” Kate’s mother said. She was walking down the aisle with a computer bag slung over her shoulder. A man and woman dressed in dark blue security uniforms were with her.

“I hear you kids are heroes!” said the first security guard. “My name is Dennis, and this is Tashia. We’re in charge of security at the stadium.”

“We just finished interviewing the photographer and the saleslady at the souvenir stand,” Tashia said. “The saleslady didn’t have anything to do with it. The photographer simply made friends with her and decided to hide the bat in the store. He was worried we might search his equipment.”

“We’re lucky you were paying attention,” said Dennis. “Otherwise the photographer
was going to go back to the souvenir stand, buy the bat, and leave. A private collector offered him lots of money for it.”

“How did he get the bat from the field to the souvenir shop without anyone seeing it?” asked Mrs. Hopkins.

“The photographer had an empty tripod case,” Dennis said. “When everyone was watching Big D help Wally, he slipped the bat into the case. Then he brought it to the souvenir shop the first chance he had. He knew they’d search the photographers’ area and his equipment.”

“He dropped off the tripod case in the pressroom to give him a reason to leave the field,” said Tashia. “We found the stolen bat in the poster tube, where you kids put it. Thank you. And now I think Bobby has a surprise for you.”

Kate and Mike turned back toward the field.

“Hi, guys,” said Bobby. He was standing next to the Red Sox dugout. “I got special permission for you to visit the dugout.”

“Wowee!” said Mike. “They usually don’t let anyone in a dugout after a game!”

Bobby opened a small gate, and Kate and Mike stepped down onto the crunchy red
infield dirt. Kate’s mother and the two security officers followed.

“The field looks so much bigger when you’re down here,” Kate said. “I can’t imagine hitting a home run all the way over that wall.”

Kate was right. The field
did
seem bigger. Mike couldn’t believe he was walking on the same grass that the Red Sox played on. It was like a dream come true.

Bobby led the group into the Red Sox dugout. Used paper cups were strewn all over the floor, and empty water bottles were stacked high in a recycling bin in the corner.

Mike and Kate watched the grounds crew clean up. They didn’t notice that someone else had joined them in the dugout.

“How do you like the view?” asked a voice.

It was Big D!

Mike’s jaw dropped open. Kate stared up at Big D’s huge shoulders and wide smile.

“I hear you kids did something pretty special for me,” Big D said. “That’s why the Boston Red Sox wanted to do something special for you. Both of you.”

He pulled his right hand from behind his back, held out a baseball, and dropped it into Mike’s hand.

It was a brand-new major-league baseball. It looked just like any other major-league baseball, except for one thing.

Mike’s eyes grew wide.

“Hey, this is autographed by all the Red Sox players!” he said. “Thanks, Big D!”

Big D nodded. “You’re welcome. It’s nice to have my bat back,” he said. “Now, I have something for you as well, young lady.” He brought his left hand from behind his back.

In it was Big D’s Green Monster bat!

“I’m afraid that I can’t give you the real one,” said Big D. “But this one is just like it.”

Kate lifted the bat from Big D’s outstretched hands. Mike leaned closer and watched her twirl the bat around. There was a message from Big D written in black marker along the barrel of the bat.