The Diamond Champs Read Online Free PDF Page A

Steelheads.

7
    T HE STEELHEADS PLAYED
two games the next week, beating the Fire Fighters 7 - 4, and losing to the Red Arrows, 10 - 9.
    The fifty percent average didn't satisfy the coach, however. “We've got to play better ball, kids,” he insisted. “We've just
     got to. Okay?”
    Kim paid special attention now to the coach's raspy voice. Was it natural, or was the coach trying to disguise his real voice?
Or, as Jo had suggested, was he really a criminal of some sort
?
    In spite of Doug's scoffing at Jim and Jo for that wild suggestion, Kim didn't think that the idea was too farfetched. A.
     J. and Brad thought that they were nuts too for even thinking it, but Kim wouldn't change his mind. He refused to be convinced
     that the coach
was
or
was not
an outlaw until he got proof who the coach really was.
    But how was he going to do that?
    I'll go to 617 Beaver Street
, thought Kim.
That's how. I'll pay him a visit. I'll tell him that I was walking by and just wanted to say hello
.
    The more he thought about it the more nervous he became. Suppose the coach really was a bad guy? What then? What would he
     say? What would he do?
    Kim considered asking Eric to go with him. Two would be better than one, he thought. Moreover, a second person could provide
     proof of whatever Kim found out.
    He mulled over the idea for an hour, then telephoned Eric and explained his plan. The wire was silent for a moment, and Kim
     wondered if Eric was reluctant to go with him.
    “I don't know, Kim,” Eric answered finally. “Do you think that's a good idea?”
    “How else can we find out who the coach really is?” said Kim.
    “Ask him.”
    “
Ask
him?” echoed Kim. “
Me
ask him?”
    “Well, you're the one who wonders more about who the coach is than anyone else on the team,” replied Eric. “Yes, I think you
     should be the one to ask him.”
    “Then you don't want to go with me to his home?”
    “Why don't you ask him at Monday's practice?”
    “Not with all the kids around, I won't,” said Kim.
    “Okay. Will you ask him if I go with you?”

    Kim hesitated. “No,” he said honestly. “Look, Eric, why don't we just go to his home? Can't we just tell by the way he lives
     whether he's a crook?”
    “It sounds crazy,” Eric said.
    “Then you don't want to go?”
    “I told you, Kim. It sounds crazy. Just think about it. Doesn't it sound crazy?”
    “I've already thought about it,” said Kim. “Okay. See you at practice.”
    At practice on Monday, neither Kim nor Eric said anything more about visiting the coach at his home. Nothing was said on Tuesday
     either, although there were suspicious glances exchanged between Eric, Jo, Doug, and Kim. Kim hoped that the coach didn't
     become suspicious himself about the strange behavior of the kids. If he did, he kept it to himself. Which was strange, if
     you thought of it, Kim mused. Wouldn't it be natural for the coach to question them ifhe saw that they were behaving unnaturally?
    It seemed, though, that all the coach was really interested in was training the team to win ball games.
    “We're playing the Blue Jays tomorrow,” he said after Tuesday's practice. “Let's make up our minds that we'll beat them, okay?
     It's that mental attitude that counts. Always that mental attitude.”
    And always that first and foremost thought
, Kim reflected.
To win the championship
.
    There was a change in the lineup for the Blue Jays game.
Roger Merts
third base
Larry Wells
left field
Nick Forson
catcher
A. J. Campbell
first base
Jack Henderson
shortshop
Sam Jacobs
right field
Jo Franklin
second base
Moe Harris
center field
Doug Barton
pitcher
    So I'm not playing today
, thought Kim.
He's giving us turns, which is okay with me
.
    It made more sense to play Roger at third than Eric, anyway, Kim reflected as he watched the right-hander throwing the ball
     to first in the pregame practice. After all this time, Eric was still awkward in throwing the ball left-handed to first base
     after