Long Stretch At First Base Read Online Free PDF Page A

arms and ran afterthem. “Ann! Kirby! Wait! I’ve changed my mind!”
    Ann and Kirby stopped.
    “Wait for me! I’ll get my glove!” said Bobby.
    Ann played the outfield. Bobby pitched. They played for ten or fifteen minutes. Out of all the pitches Bobby threw Kirby hit
     only two flies to the outfield. Most of the pitches he either fouled to the backstop screen or missed entirely.
    Bobby didn’t say anything. Kirby just could not hit that ball. When Bobby threw slower, Kirby told him to throw harder.
    Presently, Ann shouted from the outfield, “Wait a minute, Bobby! Don’t pitch!”
    Bobby looked over his shoulder. What did she want to do? Bat, too?
    Ann ran in, her pony tail flopping. She went up to Kirby.
    “Kirby, may I tell you something? I mean about hitting?”
    Kirby stared at her. So did Bobby.
    “What are you going to tell me?” said Kirby, his voice hurt. “That I can’t hit? I know I can’t. That’s why I want to practice.”
    “No,” said Ann. “But I borrowed a book from the library. I’ve read the whole book already. It tells how to play all the positions
     on the diamond. And it tells how to bat.”
    Kirby looked at her puzzledly.
“You
borrowed the book on baseball? Why didn’t you tell me about it? Is it good?”
    “It’s very good,” said Ann. “There’s a chapter about hitting. One of the majorleague ballplayers wrote it. He says that a lot of hitters hold their hands about two inches from the end of the bat. They
     hit much better that way.”
    “I know what that is,” Bobby broke in. “That’s choking up on the bat.”
    “That’s right,” said Ann. “Why don’t you try that, Kirby? Choke up on the bat. Maybe you’ll hit better.”
    Kirby shrugged. “You can’t get distance that way.”
    “But hits are better than getting distance once in a blue moon, aren’t they?” said Ann. Her voice was sharp, drawing the attention
     of both boys quickly. “You can’t get on base if you don’t get hits, can you? And how do you expect to be picked on the All-Star
     team — ”
    She stopped. Her lips trembled, and for a moment Bobby thought she was goingto cry. She really wanted Kirby to learn how to hit. You seldom saw a sister
that
interested in her brother. Imagine, thought Bobby. And she had gone so far as to borrow a book on baseball, just to help
     out Kirby!
     

    “All right,” said Kirby. “I’ll try it. I’ve tried everything else, I guess.”
    “Okay,” Ann said. Her eyes brightened. “Wait till I get back out there.”
    Bobby walked to the mound with the ball. He waited till Ann was in the outfield, then pitched to Kirby. He threw the first
     pitch as hard as he could. Kirby fouled it. Then Kirby began to hit some of the pitches solidly. He smiled as pitch after
     pitch sailed to the outfield.
    Finally Ann yelled from the outfield, “I’m tired of running! Let’s quit!”
    Bobby was tired, too, but he wasn’tgoing to stop until either Ann or Kirby said so. He wanted Kirby to be picked on the All-Star team as much as Ann did.
    On Thursday, the Redbirds tackled the Mustangs. The game was tied 6-6 and had to go into an extra inning. With a man on first
     and two away, a Mustang hitter banged out a triple to score the winning run.
    In that game, Kirby was up twice and hit a single. In the following games against the Gulls and the Panthers he did well,
     too. He hit the ball both times up in the game with the Gulls. Both times the ball was caught and Kirby was thrown out. But
     the important thing was — he was hitting. In the Panther game he struck out once, and singled.
    But Tony Mandos was playing excellent ball, too. Already he had hit two homeruns, a triple, and two doubles since the season had started. Bobby thought that some of the throws that Tony had missed on
     first base Kirby would have caught. But Tony was doing a fine job. Everybody was saying that Tony Mandos was certain to be
     picked on the All-Star team.
    It’s his glove, Bobby told