The arrival of spring also meant that tryouts for Brookdale's Little League baseball team were about to begin. They were called the Brookdale Badgers and they consistently had one of the best teams in the entire area. They won the local pennant game more times than any of the other teams in their division and this year they wanted to put together a strong team to carry on their winning tradition. You had to be on top of your game to try out for the Badgers and nearly all of the guys in town went to any of the available local fields to start working on their pitching, batting and catching skills. Ho and his friends wanted to be on the Badgers too and they would meet after school using every free minute they had to practice. Ho, Johnny and their classmate Chester Brown developed a system of their own and built each other’s weaknesses into strengths in hitting and playing the field. Ho had a strong pitching arm and really worked hard on his fast ball, slider and curve ball pitches until he felt confident enough for the tryout. The guys began to study films of classic baseball games to pick up tricks and techniques used by some of the best Major League players. Because they spent so much time together both in and out of school the guys could work together on the field like a finely built machine. Half the time they hardly had to look at each other to know what to do when a fast ball was going to fly their way or if a guy was going to try and steal a base. Their system was almost telepathic and worked like clockwork when some of their other classmates were on the field together. When the big week of tryouts finally came, they would be ready!
The Badgers held their Tryout Week during the middle school's Spring Break. Signup sheets were handed out just before classes let out so that everyone could fill them out over that weekend and get their parent's signatures on them. The actual tryouts were held at the Main Field of Brookdale High School. This was done mainly because they had the biggest bleachers in town so that everyone who came to show their stuff could watch the competing students try and make the team. Numbers were handed out to everyone who came to try out and, luckily for them, Johnny, Ho and Chester were all called out together. This gave them the chance to show the Badger's coaches how well they could play together and prove to them that they had what it took to make the team.
After a few minutes of loosening up on the field the Head Coach let the guys take the positions they had listed on their Sign Up applications. Johnny went to First Base, Chester took over at Short Stop and Ho took the Pitcher's mound, all three brimming with excitement. Ho threw a few warm-up pitches to Charlie Jones at the plate and then the first batter walked up and took his position. Ho glanced over his left shoulder at Johnny for a quick second and threw a fast ball towards the plate. "Strike One!", yelled the Umpire. For the 2nd pitch Ho threw his curve ball but the batter caught a little piece of it, fouling it back. "Strike Two!" Then Johnny yelled, "Strike him out, Steve!" as Ho threw another fast ball that cleared the plate right down the middle. The batter swung with all his might but came up empty. "Yer out!", yelled the Umpire as Ho started to relax a bit at the plate.
But then a familiar figure showed up to bat. Eddie Dickerson sauntered up to the plate and took a few hefty practice swings, then stared directly at Ho trying to psyche him out. But Ho just looked Eddie in the eye and smiled and then surprised him with his slider which flew past Eddie's eyes. "Strike One!" Eddie stared daggers at Ho and spat on the ground, kicking up a cloud of sand. Ho leaned back, wound up his arm and threw a fast ball. Eddie swung hard, spun around and missed. "Strike Two!" "Oh yeah?", muttered Eddie as he got his bat ready for the third pitch. Ho looked again back at Johnny who nodded approvingly, then he got ready to deliver the final blow to Eddie's smoldering ego. He wound up, paused and threw another blazing fast ball toward the plate. Eddie caught just enough of the ball to send it flying directly toward first base where Johnny eagerly held out his glove for the easy out.
But Eddie was furious and began yelling out at Ho, "I'll kill you ya stinking commie! I'll beat you into the ground if you think you're getting away with that!" Eddie tried to run towards Ho but the Umpire grabbed him by the shoulders and tossed him to the ground. "We don't tolerate unsportsmanlike conduct on the Badgers!", barked the Umpire. "Take your gear and get outta here!!" Eddie grunted, "But...." "Now Dickerson!" and Eddie took his bat and glove and his battered pride and slowly walked home.
By the time tryouts were over at the end of the week, Ho, Johnny and Chester had all made the Badgers line up. They all met at Zeke's for a double helping of Frozen Custard to celebrate and laughed until it hurt! Their practicing together had paid off and got them the positions they wanted, but now the real work was dead ahead.
When the first meeting of the Badgers was held so that each player could meet with the coaches and get sized for their uniforms, Ho had a unique request for his uniform number. He asked the team manager if he could wear the number 13 on his uniform. "Why, Steve?," asked the puzzled manager. "That number is bad luck over here. You might jinx our chances of winning this year with a number like that on your back." But Ho laughed and explained, "In American culture the number 7 is lucky and 13 is unlucky. But in Chinese culture the number 7 relates to bad luck and even death. The number 13 is a very lucky number in my culture. Very strong! Maybe the Badgers could use a bit of good Chinese luck to bring us many wins this season!" The manager saw the sincerity in Ho's eyes and gave him his wish saying, "Maybe you're right. I've heard of many strange traditions in my travels around the world and some of them do work even if they're completely different from ours. You've got your Number 13, Steve. Let's hope some of that Chinese luck of yours helps us hit a few more homers this season!" "Thank you, Mr. Manager! I think it will do just that!", replied Ho as he happily went out to the mound to get in some practice with the 2 other pitchers on the team.
As the weeks wore on and the cool breezes of late spring quickly gave way to the warm, hazy days of summer, Brookdale Middle School became a bustling hive of busy students all nervously preparing for their final exams. Ho was spending some extra time tutoring some of his classmates who were using their free periods to get extra help with their math skills. He and Emily were sometimes joined by Johnny and Chester for some late night studying either at the public library or at one of their family's houses. Within a three week period the exams were over and all four close friends had happily been promoted to the 8th grade. That is all except for Eddie Dickerson who had barely passed his English exam by blindly guessing at most of the answers, but failed miserably on his math, science and history finals. Eddie's father was not at all happy with his son's bad grades and quickly enrolled Eddie into a remedial school in the neighboring town of Coronado. This sudden twist of fate soon turned out well for Eddie because their little league team, The Coronado Crushers, were in quick need of a new left fielder. It seems their regular player broke his ankle during a practice game just a week before and The Crushers badly needed a left fielder who was aggressive, good on the field and good at bat. Eddie jumped at the chance and got the position with some fast talking by his Dad to the Crusher's manager. A situation involving the manager owing Eddie's Dad some debts from a recent poker game sealed the deal and Eddie was on the team as the new star in left field.
The Brookdale Badgers were having a great season that year. Ho, Chester and Johnny became one of the tightest playing trios in the area leagues, helping the Badgers to secure the First Place spot in their Division. They were unstoppable and to boost team morale even higher the Badgers came up with a powerful team motto: Don't Badger A Badger! They had this motto emblazoned on banners that were sold at the concession stands at their local games. The local fans even made up a pair of giant banners with the Badgers motto that were hung on the fences in left and right field at their home games.
But then the biggest showdown game of the season was announced. Because they were the Number 1 Team in their division, the Badgers were going to play the Coronado Crushers on July 4th to decide who would be the best team in the entire county. For the next 2 weeks leading up to the big game both teams
held numerous practices to solidify their skills. They watched home movies of each other’s moves on the field, each player taking notes and correcting any possible mistakes that would lead them to a potential loss. Their managers made sure that teamwork was the bond that made their respective players work together, both on and off the field. And no bad attitudes were allowed during practice--period! Not even from Eddie who seemed to behave better when he was out in the field playing baseball.
Finally the afternoon of July 4th arrived. The sun hung high over Brookdale stadium and the temps hovered in the mid-80s with just a hint of a breeze coming in over home plate. The bleachers were tightly packed with fans of both teams by the time the National Anthem was played at 1 o'clock. Then the Home Plate Umpire yelled out, "Play Ball!!" and the game was quickly underway. The Brookdale fans cheered loudly as the Badgers took the field and began loosening up before the crowd. Emily had a seat with Ho's family just a few rows in back of home plate as the excitement of live baseball filled the air.
The first 4 innings were a slugfest between the team's pitchers. Danny Rogers took the mound for the Crushers for the early innings. He was a lanky kid with a solid curve ball and one of the trickiest sliders that anyone on either team had ever seen. But Ho was on the mound for the Badgers and neither pitcher gave up so much as a foul ball until Juan Rodriguez got up for the Crushers and hit a solo homer in the middle of the fifth inning. Ho finished that inning with a slow curve ball that Dave Toledo sent sailing right into Chester's glove before he whipped it over to Ricky Johns at 2nd to stop the advancing runner.
But then it was the Badgers turn to light up their bats. Johnny led off the sixth inning with a double that flew over the Crusher's second baseman's head into deep center field. Then Billy Matson hit a sizzler into the right field wall that sent him to take over second base and brought Johnny flying over the plate to tie the score. Two more hits followed and by the end of the inning the Badgers had a solid 4-1 lead over the Crushers. During the seventh inning the Crusher's third baseman, a big kid called Jake "Moose" McGinty hit the top of the right field banner with another solo home run bringing the Badgers lead to within two runs. But from there on out Ho and the Badgers held the Crushers to only those two runs. Their great fielding and teamwork were paying off and by the bottom of the ninth it looked like the Crushers were about to be crushed by Badger Power. They had 2 men on base due to a high fly ball hit by their shortstop and now it was down to the last batter to try and win the game and decide which team would be Number One. A hush came over the crowd as up to the plate, grinning widely, was none other than Eddie Dickerson. He looked straight at Ho and nodded in fake politeness. Ho didn't flinch a muscle and just watched silently as Eddie took a couple of practice swings at the plate, stepping forward to take his stance. Ho turned around towards Johnny at first and then let fly with a screaming fast ball. Eddie swung hard but the ball whizzed past him like a rocket headed for the sky! "Steeerike One!!" screamed the Umpire. Eddie glared at Ho, sweat dripping across his face. He readied his swing and then Ho delivered another fast ball, again missing Eddie's bat by mere inches. The crowd then rose to its feet and began cheering "Steve Ho! Steve Ho!" as Eddie looked at the ground and then at Ho and said, "Go ahead. Give me the best you've got.”
Ho turned to look first at Johnny and then over at Chester. The crowd suddenly fell dead silent as Ho wound up and hurled a curve ball right towards the plate. The sound of Eddie's bat smacking the ball sounded like a giant aerial bomb as the outfielders quickly ran into position. The base runners began to scramble around towards the plate as Eddie began to dive towards first base. And just when it seemed like the Crushers would win, the Umpire screamed, "Yer Out!!" as Andy Petrillo grabbed that ball as it fell out of the sky over right field. The game was over. The crowd went crazy and began to scream "Don't Badger A Badger!! Don't Badger A Badger!!" at the top of their lungs. And Eddie Dickerson lay on the ground and ate dust.
Ho's teammates quickly ran to the pitcher's mound and met in a giant-sized team hug and then picked up Ho on their shoulders and carried him over to their dugout. The Mayor of Brookdale strode proudly out to the pitcher's mound with a giant gold trophy in his hands up to where a microphone was quickly set up. "Ladies and Gentlemen, please give a winning cheer to this year's champions--The Brookdale Badgers!!". The team manager ran up to the plate and shook the Mayor's hand as cameras clicked away all around the stadium. The team members then formed a line from home plate to first base and each of them got a quick handshake from the Mayor. Then the Badger's manager yelled out, "Meet at Zeke's in 30 minutes! The frozen custard is on me, guys!!" as his team of happy players threw their hats in the air in celebration.
Before leaving the field that day the players from both teams met in front of the Crushers dugout to shake hands and congratulate each other. When Eddie Dickerson went to shake Ho's hand all his teammates looked on. Eddie fumbled for words for a second and then looked Ho in the eye and said, "You got me fair and square, Kid. And you know something? You are one hot pitcher! Put her there!" Ho grabbed Eddie's hand and replied, "I thought that ball would never drop! You nearly won the game for a minute, but...." and his voice trailed off as the two boys shared a good healthy laugh with one another. It was the start of a new understanding between the two and Eddie began to learn a new lesson in both teamwork and accepting a different culture.
When Ho turned around to leave, there was Emily waiting for him. She put her arms around him and whispered, "That's my winning Pitcher. " as she gave him a quick, warm kiss on the cheek. Ho gazed into her eyes for a moment and said, "Now I feel like a REAL hero!" and he gave her a short but affectionate kiss. The two of them walked hand in hand out to the Tang's minivan where Ho's family was waiting. Ho parent's smiled proudly at their son and then Ho's sister poked him in the ribs and said, "Don't let this get to your head, slugger! Today you might be a hero, but tomorrow you'll still be my punk little brother!!" The five of them piled into the van and headed straight over to Zeke's where mountains of tasty frozen custard were being devoured by everyone. Zeke even made special dishes of custard that looked just like baseballs for all the Badger players, complete with raspberry icing for the stitching around each ball and special cookies in the shape of little baseball bats. It was the perfect end to a long, hard fought season but once again The Badgers were on top!
Later that night the whole town came down to the Brookdale football stadium to watch a special 4th of July fireworks show. Eddie came up to Ho as the show was ending and said, "Great American fireworks, eh Steve?" "Nope." said Ho. "What do you mean nope?", yelled Eddie looking completely confused. "Gunpowder made in China in the 7th century. Fireworks made in China two months ago, then sent to America for great Chinese-American fireworks show.", said Ho, smiling. Eddie scratched his head for a minute and then said, "You're right. It's the best of both places!" They both laughed and then together said "Number One!"
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