Pee Wees on First (5 page)

“Now nine of us will play nine of you,” he said.

There were more than nine parents there. And more than nine Pee Wees. There were thirteen Pee Wees! Thirteen minus nine left four! Maybe Molly could be one of the four who did not have to get up to bat! But if she did, it wouldn’t matter,
she thought. With her fat bat she would have better luck.

“All of you will get a turn,” said Mr. Peters. “We will alternate.”

“Rat’s knees,” said Molly.

“Just keep your eye on the ball,” said Jody. “And you won’t have any trouble.”

“That’s what my dad said!” said Molly. “But it didn’t help.”

First Roger got up to bat. He swung the bat with every pitch. But the bat did not hit the ball. He struck out. He ran to first base, but Mr. Peters made him go back.

“Your dad is a bad pitcher,” Roger muttered to Molly.

“He is not!” shouted Molly. “He played in college, he’s a pro.”

Roger looked like he might cry.

“Roger always has to be the best at stuff,” said Mary Beth. “Or he acts awful.”

Next Rachel got up to bat and hit a home run. She sailed around the bases
like she did it every day. Even though her dad didn’t like sports.

Some of the other Pee Wees got up to bat and missed. It did not look good. So far Rachel was the only one to score.

The other team got up to bat, and Mrs. Baker hit a home run and tied the game. The parents cheered! Then Lisa’s mother hit a home run and the parents’ team was ahead!

“Yea team!” shouted Tim’s uncle and Mr. White.

When it was the Pee Wees’ turn, Sonny got up to bat. “Yea Stone!” chanted the Pee Wees.

Sonny actually hit the ball, but as he ran to first base he tripped on his too-long pants and fell. Mrs. Kelly threw the ball to first base and Sonny was out. The Pee Wees booed, and Sonny began to cry.

“I told you that uniform would get in your way,” said his mother.

Jody was up next and swung from his wheelchair. His dad stood behind him to push the wheelchair around the bases, if Jody hit the ball. The Pee Wees cheered for Jody, but he hit a foul ball and was out. Molly was surprised that her hero could let them down! Well, even her dad wasn’t perfect at everything. She knew because her mom said he couldn’t change a flat tire on the car if his life depended on it.

Things did not look good for Molly’s team.

In the next inning, Tim got to first base. Then Lisa got a hit. Then Tracy got a hit. The three bases were loaded! And now Molly was up to bat!

“Yea Duff!” shouted the Pee Wees.

“Rat’s knees,” said Molly. If she missed the ball and struck out, they would lose the game. If she hit a home run, four players would score! It was up to her to save the day.

M
olly took her bag and walked to home plate.

“Keep your eye on the ball!” called Jody. He held up his hand. He had his fingers crossed for luck.

“Hey, what’s in the sack, Duff? Your lunch?” yelled Roger.

The Pee Wees laughed.

“I brought my own bat,” said Molly. “The others are too thin.”

Molly reached into her bag. She took out her fat bat. She grabbed it by the handle and swung it back and forth,
ready for the pitch. The team was counting on her, and now just maybe she could do it!

The Pee Wees stared at her bat.

Mr. Duff, the pitcher, stared.

The other parents stared.

“That’s a tennis racket!” shouted Rachel. “You can’t use a tennis racket to hit a baseball!”

“Why not?” asked Molly. “It’s just like a baseball bat only fatter.”

Roger hee-hawed like a donkey. “It’s not legal! Hey, she’s out!” he shouted. “Get her out of the game.”

“She’s on our team, and she can use what she wants!” said Ashley, stamping her foot. “You can’t hit the ball,” she reminded Roger. “You ought to be glad if Molly can.”

“I never read in any rules that it was illegal to use a tennis racket to hit the ball,” said Jody. “Have you, Mr. Peters?”

Mr. Peters had to admit he had not read that you could
not
use a tennis racket.

No one had. Mr. Duff finally threw the ball, and Molly hit it with her fat bat! The first time she tried! It went high and it went far! It flew over the trees and out of the park! Molly threw down her fat bat and ran around the bases.

Tim scored and Lisa scored and Tracy scored! Then Molly ran across home plate, and the Pee Wees had won the game!

“Molly, Molly, she’s our man!” chanted the Pee Wees.

Jody’s dad boosted Molly up on his shoulders and carried her off the field while everyone whistled and shouted and clapped.

“You won the game for us!” said Jody. “That was really good thinking.”

Jody was such a good friend! He had helped her win. It didn’t matter as much
to her, now that she wasn’t handicapped too. She didn’t need a wheelchair to get attention. She was a hero without wheels! It felt good.

Even Roger acted pleased, thought Molly. But he did remind her that he still thought it was illegal.

“I think Molly ought to get a tennis badge, as well as a baseball badge!” said Jody, laughing.

Dear Jody! What a good friend!

Everyone went back to Mrs. Peters’s house. She and Mr. Peters and the Stones served coffee and milk and fruit juice and snacks to everyone there. Then Mrs. Peters rapped on the table and held up the badges.

“I think every one of the Pee Wees deserves a badge. Everyone has a scrapbook and most of you hit the ball.”

When there was some booing, she added, “You all did as well as you could.
And the Pee Wees definitely won the game.”

Mrs. Peters called the names of each Pee Wee, and pinned the baseball badge on each of their shirts. It was red, and it had a thin bat on it. Beside the bat was a ball.

“There’s yarn in that ball,” said Molly when she got her badge.

The Pee Wees laughed. Except Jody.

“She’s right,” he said. “Baseballs are filled with yarn, and covered with real leather.”

“Molly and Jody have really done a lot of work,” said Mrs. Peters. “They both know a lot about baseball!”

Molly felt warm and good all over. She had hit the ball. Even if it was with a fat bat instead of a thin bat. Jody was her friend. And she had the biggest scrapbook of all the Pee Wees.

There was only one thing that still bothered
her. And that was Baby Ruth. Molly had to find out how a little baby girl named after a candy bar could hit 714 home runs!

She waved her hand to ask Mrs. Peters. As she was waving it, Brett Brady came up to her. She had not even known he was there!

“Congratulations,” he said to her. “You were a regular Babe Ruth out there today. You know, he was a hero too. He played with the New York Yankees for fifteen years!”

He?
thought Molly. Brett called Baby Ruth
he!
How could a man be called Ruth?

“There won’t be another like the old Babe,” Brett went on. “But you were close. Maybe we should name a candy bar after you! The Babe-Duff bar!”

“Molly?” said Mrs. Peters. “Did you have a question?”

Molly didn’t realize her hand was still up!

“No,” she said. “Not anymore.”

So Ruth wasn’t a baby after all. And she wasn’t a girl and she wasn’t named after a candy bar! The candy bar was named after her!

Rat’s knees! You learned something new every single day when you were a Pee Wee Scout!

(to the tune of
“Old MacDonald Had a Farm”)

Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun,

Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

We sing and play when work is done,

Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

With a good deed here,

And an errand there,

Here a hand, there a hand,

Everywhere a good hand.

Scouts are helpers, Scouts have fun,

Pee Wee, Pee Wee Scouts!

Pee Wee Scout Pledge