Challenge at Second Base Read Online Free PDF

thought Stan.
    He watched the Clippers take their firstraps and go down under Left Kellar’s fastball pitching. The Falcons came to bat. Frankie Smith smacked a solid single, but
     he didn’t get past first.
    The Clippers started off the second inning with a single, followed by a sacrifice bunt that put the man in scoring position.
     A double sent him around the bases. Another run scored before the Falcons could get the Clippers out.
    That last hit was a hot grounder to Gary’s left side. Gary almost had it. But the ball struck the tip of his glove and went
     bouncing to the outfield.
    I could’ve caught that,
Stan thought.
I would’ve kept that last run from scoring.
    It looked easy from the bench.
    I have a hobby at home. My airplane and spaceship models. I can work on them. After a time I can forget baseball. A guy can
     forget it, can’t he, if he’s away from it for a while?
    By the fifth inning the Clippers had a stronghold of the game. They were leading, 4 to 0.
    “Okay, Stan,” said Coach Bartlett. “Get on second. Lots of hustle now.”
    Stan picked up the new glove Dad had bought him and raced out to his position at second. A moment later the Clippers’ lead-off
     man beat out a dribbling grounder to third. The Falcons’ infield moved in, expecting a bunt.
    It was a bunt! The ball rolled toward first, just inside the foul line!
    George Page charged in after it. Stan rushed to cover first. At the same time Lefty ran toward first, too.
    “I’ll cover, Lefty!” Stan yelled.
    Lefty stopped. George fielded the ball, turned, and whipped it to first. The ball just missed the runner. Stan stretched,
     and caught the ball in time.
    “Out!” cried the umpire.
    Stan felt good as he hustled back into position. The next hitter flied out and Lefty walked the third. Then a grounder was hit to short, and Don tossed the ball
     to Stan at second for the forced out.

    He didn’t get to bat this inning, but he would the next. The Clippers, hotter than fire, mowed down the Falcons one, two,
     three in the bottom of the sixth, then scored two more runs at their turn at bat.
    With one out and a man on, Stan stepped to the plate. He took a called strike, then leaned into a shoulder-high pitch and
     swung with all his might.
    “Strike two!” cried the umpire, as Stan’s bat swished through the empty air.
    He took a ball, and then another. Now the count was two and two.
    Stan stepped out of the box and touched his sweating hands into the soft dirt.
I can’t strike out,
he thought.
I just can’t!
    He got back into the box, and the pitcher went into his stretch. The ball breezed in.It looked a little inside, but it might cut the corner!
    Stan swung.
    Smack!
    The sound was the ball hitting the pocket of the catcher’s mitt.
    “You’re out!” yelled the umpire.
    Stan went back to the dugout, sick at heart.
    Fuzzy batted for Eddie Lee, and fanned, ending the ball game. The Clippers took it, 6 to 0.
    Stan spent a lot of time the next day looking at the spaceship models in the Hobby Shop on Darby Street. He would earn money
     somehow — there were always people who wanted their lawns cut — and save it up to buy more models. He could spend hours and
     hours just assembling models. It wouldn’t be long before he’d forget baseball altogether.
    He didn’t say much around the house, butthe way everybody looked at him they certainly must have suspected that he wasn’t happy about something. Mom tried to pry
     the trouble out of him, but he told her that there was nothing wrong.
    “I bet!” said Dottie, who was suspicious about anything.
    The next day he got a letter. He stared at the address on the envelope. It was exactly like the one he had received before.
     The words were cut out of either a newspaper or a magazine.
    He tore off the end of the envelope and took out the letter. This, too, was made up of cut-out words.
    Y OU ARE GIVING UP TOO EASILY . N O BOXER QUIT BECAUSE HE LOST A FIGHT . Y OU LOVE BASEBALL . I T