Long Stretch At First Base Read Online Free Page B

ball. The ball rose high into the air toward left field.Kirby dropped his bat and ran hard for first. Bobby leaped out of the dugout, his heart singing.
    I bet that’s a homer! I bet that’s a homer!
    Then the ball struck the grass just outside of the white foul line. Bobby groaned.
    “Foul ball!” yelled the umpire.
    The runners returned to their bases. Kirby ran back to the plate and picked up his bat. His lower lip was tugged over his
     upper one. What tough luck, thought Bobby. Kirby just could never get a break.
    Kirby took a called strike, then a ball. Then he swung hard at a low pitch and struck out. Bobby shook his head sadly.
    Cappie blasted a hard grounder through second, scoring a run to break the tie. Bobby and Bert went down to end the inning.
    Tony Mandos took Kirby’s place at first base. He caught a couple of wide throws, one from Bobby, the other from Don Robinson.
     Bobby thought that if Tony hadn’t such a big web on his mitt he would never have caught those throws. Kirby would have made
     those catches look easy.
    Neither team scored in the fifth. In the last inning Tony came to bat with Don on first and one out. He punched out a solid
     line drive over the shortstop’s head. Bobby had to admit that that was a good, clean hit. No doubt that Tony was a better
     hitter than Kirby. But without that special mitt of his, Tony could not compare with Kirby as a first baseman. Kirby was left-handed
     and Tony was right-handed. That, itself, was in Kirby’s favor. Also, Kirby was at least an inch taller. He could reach out
     farther to catch wide throws.
    That mitt, thought Bobby. It was only that mitt that would make the officials choose Tony over Kirby.
    Nobody knocked Don and Tony in.
    The Seals came up for their last time at bat. They belted out a single. The next hitter walloped a sizzling grounder to Bobby.
     He fielded it, tossed the ball to second. Second to first. Double play!
    The next hitter flied out and the game was over. The Redbirds won, 3–2.

6
    A T HOME Kirby wanted Bobby to throw to him while he batted.
    “Pitch to me, will you, Bobby?” he pleaded. “I need batting practice. That’s why I can’t hit.”
    Bobby did not feel like pitching. He said, “Who’s going to chase ’em?”
    “Ann. She’ll chase ’em. Won’t you, Ann?”
    “Yes. I’ll chase ’em.”
    Bobby looked at them both disgustedly. He wanted to go swimming. The day was hot and he hadn’t gone swimming since sometime
     last week.
    “Why not go swimming instead?” hesaid. “We just got through playing baseball.”
    “We can go swimming tomorrow,” said Kirby. “Come on. Will you, Bobby? Please?”
    Bobby pressed his lips together and crossed his arms. Baseball. Baseball. That’s all Kirby ever thought about.
    “You like swimming. You like looking for spiders and toads and ants, don’t you?” Ann said to him. Her voice was hard.
    Bobby looked at her. Her eyes were hard, too. “Sure, I do,” he said. “Why? Just because you and Kirby don’t like to do that
     doesn’t mean nobody should.”
    “That’s not what I mean,” replied Ann. “You can look for those insects without anybody helping you. With baseball it’s different.
     Nobody can play baseball by himself, can he?”
    Bobby realized what she meant. “Of course not. But we’ve played a lot of baseball today, already. Can’t we wait till tomorrow?”
    Ann’s eyes snapped. “In the first place, I see that you don’t care whether Kirby gets picked on the All-Star team or not.
     Maybe you want Tony Mandos picked. In the second place, you need a lot of practice yourself, throwing. All right. Go swimming
     if Mom will let you, and I bet she won’t. I’ll play with Kirby myself. I can pitch.”
    Ann clutched Kirby’s arm and began to pull him toward the field where the kids played baseball. Bobby stared after them. He
     could not let Ann and Kirby be mad at him. Maybe he would want them to do something with him sometime.
    He uncrossed his