The Pinstripe Ghost Read Online Free PDF

cheered for him.

    “Isn’t that Sammy, the guy who called you Mickey Mantle?” Kate asked. She pointed to the red-haired teenager.
    Mike nodded. “Yup, that’s Sammy,” he said. “But he’s a dummy. If I caught a ball, I’d keep it. It’s probably worth seventy-five dollars.”
    “Aw, I think it was nice of him,” Kate said. “That little kid is really happy and—”
    Suddenly, Mike waved his hand to quiet her. “Shh …,” he said. He leaned toward the aisle. He was trying to listen to an usher. She was talking to a fan on the other side of the aisle. Kate listened, too.
    “So, like I said, be careful!” the usher told a fan in a striped shirt. “Babe Ruth’s ghost is haunting the stadium!”
    The usher started to head down the stairs. But Mike waved to her. She stopped next to them.
    “We just heard you talking about a ghost,” Mike said. “Have you seen the one at Bud’s hot dog stand?”
    “I know that Bud has been telling people about it,” the usher said. “But I think it’s just a scary story he made up. That’s not the real ghost at all.”
    “Oh,” Kate said. “It sounded kinda real to us.”
    The usher leaned forward. “Can you keep a secret?”
    Mike and Kate nodded.
    “Like I was just telling that other fan, the real ghost is the ghost of Babe Ruth. He’s walking around the stadium,” the usher said. “I’ve seen him in an old-fashioned pin-striped uniform before games. Sometimes he’s in the stands. Once he was in the dugout. But he vanishes every time I try to get a good look at him.”
    Mike sucked his breath in. Kate was about to ask another question, but the usher took a step away from them.
    “I’m sorry. You’ll have to excuse me,” she said, looking back over her shoulder. “I see a couple of troublemakers over in section two-twenty-six. They’re always trying to sit in someone else’s seats.”
    When the usher left, Kate grabbed Mike’s arm, her eyes wide. “Wow!” she said. “That sounds like the guy you saw in Monument Park! Maybe it’s the same ghost that’s haunting Bud’s hot dog stand!”
    The usher had reached section 226. To Mike’s surprise, she went right over to Sammy and his friends. She spoke to them. Then Sammy rummaged through his pockets. He held out his empty hands. The usher motioned for him and his friends to leave the seats.
    Sammy and his friends headed into the stands. The usher watched them go. Then she turned around to help other fans.
    “Did you see that?” Mike asked Kate. “Sammy—”
    Just then, the crowd roared to life. All around Mike and Kate, fans stood up and started clapping.
    Mike checked the scoreboard. It was still the top of the ninth inning. The Mariners had two outs now, but they had runners on all the bases. The count was three balls, two strikes. One more strike and the game would be over. But a home run would score four runs and put the Mariners one ahead. Then the Yankees would have just one more turn at bat.
    The Yankees pitcher put his head down. He stared at the catcher. He shook off one sign after another. The fans clapped louder. They wanted that last out! Finally, the pitcher got a call he liked. He stood up straight, cupped the ball in his glove, reeled back, and let the ball fly.
    The Mariners batter swung hard. The bat slammed into the ball.
    The clapping stopped. The stadium was quiet. The ball flew high into center field. The fans groaned. One after the other, the Mariners base runners scored. The ballplummeted into Monument Park. The batter crossed home plate.
    It was a grand slam! Four runs for Seattle! The Yankees fans slumped into their seats. Now they needed at least one run to tie the game. Otherwise, they would lose.

    Luckily for the Yankees, the next Seattle batter popped out. The Yankees had one more chance to tie the game or get ahead.
    But they weren’t able to. Three strikeouts later, the game was over. Seattle had won.
    Mike shook his head sadly as they got up to leave. “They