Baseball Great Read Online Free PDF

ground. His face burned like a spaceship plowing into the earth’s atmosphere.
    â€œOh,” the coach said with a mean smile, “I thought you were ready. Sure you don’t want to bat righty?”
    Josh said nothing. He bent down and gripped the bat, this time staying back for a minute to readjust. When he stepped to the plate again, the coach fired the ball. The ball came right at him. He jumped back to avoid the pitch. The kids behind him snickered, and the coach held back a smile.
    â€œThing throws wild sometimes,” the coach said.
    â€œThat’s okay,” Josh said. “I saw it with Jones.”
    He stepped up for a third time and the ball came fast, right down the middle. Josh swung, and the metal bat clanged like a bell. The line drive nearly took off the coach’s head.
    â€œNot bad,” the coach said, feeding another ball into the machine.
    Josh connected again, seeing the ball the instant it left the machine, knowing where he had to swing, and choosing the way he’d hit the pitch based on its height. Anything in the lower part of the strike zone he’d chop down on, driving grounders or line drives to either side of the coach. If it came higher, he’d swing through it, blasting the ball on a trajectory that he imagined would take it into an outfield hole, if not over the fence itself.
    Halfway through, Rocky reappeared and stood, arms crossed, watching Josh hit a couple from one side of the plate before stepping around to bat righty.
    After the last pitch, Rocky asked, “How many?”
    â€œAll forty,” the younger coach said.
    â€œGood,” Rocky said. “We’ll see how he does tomorrow after lifting weights for an hour.”
    Rocky walked away. Josh slipped out through the seam in the netting, and the next boy stepped in. Up in the stands, Josh’s father gave him a thumbs-up. Other parents sat scattered in the stands, too. Josh waved at his father and jogged off to the next batting station, where another assistant coach tossed balls up for him to hit into a net.
    Ten minutes later, Rocky lined up the team along one side of the field for sprints. Josh took off on the first one, winning it and drawing glares from the kids around him. He put his head down and kept running, winning the next one as well.
    â€œWhy don’t you let up, show-off,” the kid next to him snarled. “We all know you came in here fresh as a daisy. Save it for tomorrow when you lift with the rest of us. We’ll see how fast you are then.”
    Josh opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it. The whistle blew again, and he took off, this time letting a handful of the older kids beat him to the line.
    Finally, Rocky blew his whistle three times, signaling for the team to join him in the middle of the field. Josh took his place in the half circle and went down on one knee, huffing, his side aching and his stomach wanting to heave.
    â€œNot a bad day today,” Rocky said grudgingly. “Get your sleep and don’t forget your supplements with dinner. You need to replace those amino acids. From what I’ve seen tonight from Josh, we may have a little competition on our hands, and that’s a good thing. By the way, Josh, I need to see you and your dad in my office before you leave.”
    Josh caught the dirty looks other players flashed his way.
    â€œRemember,” Rocky continued, gazing around with small, dark eyes and veins bulging in his thick neck, “T-E-A-M. There’s no I in team. If you’re not good enough, it’s not fair for you to drag down the others. Now, bring it in.”
    The group of boys converged on Rocky with their hands all reaching up for his, all touching one another’s.
    â€œâ€˜Do it to it,’ on three!” Rocky said. “One, two, three.”
    â€œâ€™DO IT TO IT!’” they all shouted.
    The cluster broke up, and the kids started ambling toward the stands where