The Astro Outlaw (7 page)

Commander Rice turned the lights back on.

“It’s just like we thought!” Mike said. “Tex hid the rock in the box of coal!”

“That’s right, Mike,” Mr. Ryan said. “He knew he was going to be caught by our guards, so he got rid of the moon rock. He hoped that we couldn’t prove anything against him. And, without you two, we wouldn’t have. We might not have even bothered looking at the security
video, since everyone saw him try to escape.”

“What’s going to happen to him?” Mr. Hopkins asked.

“Well, when we showed him this tape, Tex confessed,” said Mr. Ryan. “His hat store was losing money, and he needed to pay off some loans. He thought he could sell the moon rock.”

“What happened to it?” Mike asked.

“I’m glad you asked, Mike,” Commander Rice said. “It’s back at the Johnson Space Center now, safe in one of our vaults. I guess next time I take it out, I’ll have a guard with me.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” said Mike. “And I have another one. Next time you go up in space, you can take
me
with you! I always wanted to ride a rocket.”

Commander Rice laughed. “ ’Fraid not, Mike. You’ll have to figure out a way to ride a rocket on your own,” he said.

“Study and work hard, Mike. Then you can become an astronaut like Commander Rice,” Mr. Hopkins said with a smile. “Playing big-league baseball isn’t your only career option.”

“Hmmm-mmm.” Mr. Ryan cleared his throat. “Well, actually, I might be able to help you out with that request, Mike. As long as you keep an open mind about the word
rocket
. Let me show you something.”

Mr. Ryan led the group back out into the stadium. They walked up the same stairs where Mike and Kate had heard the tapping the day before. Mr. Ryan opened the door at the top, and they all stepped through it.

“So this is where you found Commander Rice,” Mr. Hopkins said. “Good work, you two!”

Mr. Ryan flipped the light on. He walked across the room and knocked loudly on the door marked
TRACKS. EMPLOYEES ONLY
.

“The Astros were so happy that you solved the mystery of the missing moon rock that we wanted to do something special for you,” Mr. Ryan said. “That’s why I’ve invited Jimmy to help us. He’s what some people, a long time ago, used to call a rocket engineer.”

With a squeak, the door opened. Jimmy was on the other side, dressed in blue overalls. He took off his blue-and-white train engineer’s hat.

“When trains were first invented, people thought they went as fast as rockets,” Jimmy said. “People weren’t even sure they’d be able to breathe when the train went above thirty miles an hour. So, we can’t help you catch a ride on a real rocket. But we
can
give you two a ride on a nineteenth-century rocket!”

“Cool!” Mike said. He and Kate gave each other a high five.

Jimmy the engineer led Mike and Kate out to the train. He hoisted them up into the cab and showed them how to make the train move
forward. Kate gave a big tug on the whistle.
WOOOO-WOOOO!
The sound echoed in the empty stadium. Kate’s dad smiled and waved from the far side of the tracks.

Kate put her arm over her cousin’s shoulders. “This has been a great trip,” she said to Mike, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “We got to see the Astros play. We helped find a real moon rock. And now we’re getting a train ride. I guess Texas is so big, anything can happen!”

Dugout Notes
The Astros’
Ballpark

The roof
. The Astros had one of the first roofs in the major leagues that could be opened. That’s important in Texas, where it can get pretty hot. The roof takes twelve to twenty minutes to open or close. The Astros even made the roof higher in the middle so baseballs wouldn’t hit it!

The Astrodome
. The Astros used to play in a stadium called the Astrodome. It was the first sports stadium with a domed roof. The first major-league game on imitation grass was played there. That’s why fake grass is sometimes called Astroturf.

Union Station
. One hundred years ago, trains were a big part of Houston’s growth. Today, Astros fans are reminded of that when they go to a game. The largest entrance to the Astros’ ballpark is Union Station, which once was Houston’s main train station.

The train
. When the Astros built their new ballpark in 2000, they put a huge old-fashioned train on top of the left-field wall of the stadium. It’s made to look like a train from the 1860s. Behind the train is a large coal tender. The train and tender weigh close to 50,000 pounds.

The gas pump
. The history of Houston isn’t just trains. It’s also oil. Discovery of oil near Houston in 1901 kicked off the huge Texas oil boom. Soon, Houston was home to many major oil companies. To honor that history, the Astros installed a large gas pump on an overhang above left
field. The gas pump is thirteen feet tall. It has red numbers on it that count the home runs hit by Astros players since the ballpark opened.

Tal’s Hill
. There aren’t many—or any—other major-league ballparks that have a hill in their outfield. But the Astros decided to put a small, wide hill in deep center field because some old ballparks had hills or uneven fields. Tal’s Hill rises at a thirty-degree angle. It’s so steep that outfielders have to be careful when they’re chasing a fly ball!

The flagpole
. Ballparks aren’t supposed to have obstacles in them, either. But the Astros’ ballpark has a flagpole in center field, on top of Tal’s Hill. The flagpole is also in play. That means if a baseball hits it, the play doesn’t stop. The fielder has to get the ball and make the out, if he can.

Crazy uniforms
. In the 1970s, the Astros were known for their uniforms. They had bright red, orange, and yellow stripes across the front and on the sleeves. They were very different from other teams’ uniforms. But the uniforms looked good on color television, which was new back then. Now the Astros only use the old colorful uniforms for special games.

Nolan Ryan
. Nolan Ryan was a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher. His pitches often clocked in at over 100 miles per hour. During his career, he threw seven no-hitters, making him the all-time leader. While playing for the Houston Astros from 1980 to 1988, he threw his fifth no-hitter. Three teams (the California Angels, the Texas Rangers, and the Houston Astros) retired his number, and he’s now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.