The Contract by Derek Jeter, Paul Mantell Read Free Book Online Page B

calm down, to take a deep breath and make his heart beat a little more slowly, so that he didn’t swing too hard and miss a ball he should be able to hit.
    The first pitch came in, and Derek let it go by. “Strike one!” the umpire called.
    â€œWay to look at one, Derek!” he heard his father call from the stands. “Now you’ve seen him!”
    Derek nodded, and tapped the plate with his bat. Here came the second pitch. It was halfway to home plate when Derek realized it was coming right at him !
    He tried to spin out of the way, but the ball plunked him square in the left arm, halfway between his elbow and shoulder.
    â€œOW!” Derek cried out in pain and collapsed to the ground, grabbing his arm where the ball had hit it. “Owww.”
    â€œTake your base!” the umpire said.
    Derek got up and jogged down to first, fighting back tears. He didn’t want to give the pitcher the satisfaction of seeing how badly he was hurting.
    Standing at first, Derek tried to rub the pain out of his arm. He saw his father and Sharlee in the stands, concerned looks on their faces. His dad stood up, pointed to Derek, and mouthed, “You okay?”
    Derek nodded, because even though he wasn’t really okay, he was pretty sure nothing was broken and that he would be okay soon enough. His dad sat back down, patting Sharlee comfortingly on the shoulder.
    Pete got into the batter’s box and watched the first pitch. As soon as the ball crossed the plate, Derek took off for second base. He could hear everyone yelling, but he never looked up. He just kept on running until it was time to slide—his dad had taught him how when he was still in T-ball—and then down he went, kicking up a cloud of dirt.
    â€œSafe!” the umpire called.
    Derek looked up to see that the catcher had never even thrown the ball. Over the cheers of his teammates, he could hear his dad and Sharlee whooping it up. “Attaboy, Derek!” Mr. Jeter shouted.
    He got up and dusted himself off. That was when he noticed that his arm had stopped hurting. Nothing like a stolen base to take away the pain, he thought with a grin.
    Derek’s steal of second base must have shaken the pitcher’s confidence, because on the very next pitch Pete smacked a fastball way over the left fielder’s head!
    Derek motored easily around third and scored, while Pete, who wasn’t exactly a speed demon, kept on chugging all the way around the bases. “Safe!” called the umpire as Pete slid under the catcher’s tag.
    All the Tigers let out a whoop, and Derek slapped Pete on the back along with the rest of them. They were teammates, after all, weren’t they? Besides, the Tigers were now ahead, 2–0, with only one out, and it was still the top of the first inning!
    Hey , Derek told himself, maybe we can compete for a championship after all.
    Ryan walked and Isaiah singled, sending Ryan to third. Ernesto followed with another walk, loading the bases!
    The whole team was standing in front of the bench, gripping and shaking the chain-link fence. The Tigers were already giddy with success, and it was only the first inning of the first game.
    Alas, Sims popped up to second, and Elliott struck out swinging at a pitch that was nowhere near the plate. All the Tigers groaned. They’d had such a good start and gotten only two runs out of it.
    Oh well , Derek thought. I guess two runs is better than none. He trotted out to second base for the bottom of the first.
    When he got there, he saw Pete already at shortstop, acting like he owned the position. “Focus, Derek!” he heard his father call out. Immediately, Derek snapped to attention as if he’d had an electric shock. Forgetting all about Pete, he stared in at the hitter and got into his defensive crouch, ready for action.
    â€œHit it here,” Derek muttered under his breath. “Hit it . . . right . . . here. . . .”
    As if in answer to a