Mystery Coach (7 page)

He let the first pitch go by. It was high. The next pitch was in there and he laid it down. A clean bunt to third. The Piper
third baseman threw him out at first, but Tex was safe on second.

Steve flied out to short left, bringing up Mick. The cleanup hitter singled through second, scoring Tex, and Frank grounded
out.

Pipers 3, Blazers 1.

The second inning went scoreless, but the Pipers came back hot again in the top of the third, again scoring three runs.

“They’re hitting Bill pretty hard, Dad,” said Steve as he came in to the bench.

“Okay. So now you fellas hit Keller hard,” responded his father.

Chris grinned. Invalid or not, Mr. Herrick was acting as a real coach should.

Tex, leading off again, banged out a single. Chris expected a bunt sign from Mr. Herrick
but the acting-coach was looking in another direction.
Had he forgotten
? Chris wondered.
Should I bunt, anyway
?

He did.

“Foul!” yelled the ump as the ball arced back to the screen.

“Chris!”

Chris saw Mr. Herrick motion to him, looking rather disturbed, and he ran to the bench.

“Did you see me touch my cap?” asked Mr. Herrick.

“No. I thought you’d forgotten.”

“No, I didn’t forget,” answered Mr. Herrick. “We’re five runs behind. This is no time to bunt. Get up there and swing!”

Chris belted the third pitch for a single, advancing Tex to second base. Then Steve doubled, scoring Tex, and Chris held up
at third. Mick grounded out and Frank poled a long one to center. The fielder caught it.
Chris tagged up on the catch and raced home for another run. Wally walked and Jack Davis grounded out to end the half-inning.

Pipers 6, Blazers 3.

Neither team scored again till the bottom of the fifth when, with one out, Mick tripled to deep left center and scored on
Frank’s single over second. Spike Dunne, pinch-hitting for Wally, flied out. Then Ken Lane, pinch-hitting for Jack Davis,
got on base by virtue of an error.

“Bring ’em in, Don!” yelled Chris as Don Mitchell stepped to the plate. Don took a couple of mighty swings, then popped a
fly to the pitcher to end the threat.

The top of the sixth. The last inning. And the game looked dark as ever for the Blazers. Having Mr. Herrick coach the team
helped a lot, but he couldn’t
hit
for the Blazers; he couldn’t
catch
for them. He
could only advise what to do. It was up to them to do it.

Crack
! A long, streaking belt to deep center field. Mick dropped back … back … and caught it! One out.

Another long drive! A clean hit to left center going for two bases. A hit now would put the Pipers ahead by three runs.

Bill Lewis pitched hard to the next batter, got him to a three-two count, then struck him out. The next Piper socked a sizzling
grounder to Chris. Chris got in front of it, missed the hop, and the ball hit his chest. He quickly retrieved it and fired
it to first. Out!

“Nice hustling, Chris,” said Mr. Herrick as the second baseman ran in to the bench. “Now let’s get some hits.”

Bill, leading off, struck out. Tex belted a long drive to center, but to no avail. The Piper outfielder caught it on the run.
One
more out and that would be it. The Blazers would go down to their fourth defeat in a row, twice at the hands of the Pipers.

Chris liked the pitch coming in, swung and
crack
! A hard, shallow drive to right center. He rounded first and made it safely to second for a neat double.

Steve hit a scratch single, advancing Chris to third bas’ e, and Mick came up.

“Over the fence, Mick!” yelled Chris. They needed a long blast to tie the score, a homer to win the game.

Crack
! A blooping fly over third! Chris scored and Steve held up at second.

Pipers 6, Blazers 5.

Two more runs. They needed two more
.

Frank was up. So far he had grounded out, flied out, and hit a single.
If you’re ever going to do it, Frank, do it now
, pleaded Chris.

Wham
! A real hard, solid blow to deep left! The Piper fielder dropped back … back.… He couldn’t reach it! The ball dropped behind him, both Steve and Mick crossed
the plate, and Frank stopped at third for a beautiful triple—a triple that won the ball game.

It was over, and the Blazer fans screamed their throats dry as they swarmed onto the field and hugged the players who had
come through for them.

Then Chris, Tex, Steve and the rest of the team advanced upon Mr. Herrick like a horde, and one by one they shook his hand.

“Mr. Herrick, please coach us the rest of the season, will you?” asked Tex. “We need a guy like you.”

Mr. Herrick smiled. “Well … I don’t know,” he said modestly. “Some of you didn’t like a stranger telling you what to do.”

The place went silent all of a sudden. The
boys looked at each other, then at Mr. Herrick. And then, like a shot, the realization hit them.

“You’re the man on the telephone!” Tex yelled.

“That’s
right
!” the other guys chimed in, all except Chris.

Mr. Herrick’s smile spread wider and he nodded. “Right. I’m the man on the telephone,” he confessed.

“I thought you were,” Chris said. He turned and looked beyond the backstop screen and the grandstand, to the white house catercorner
across the street, the house where the Herricks lived. He looked back at Mr. Herrick.

“You watched us from your house,” he said. “That’s how you knew us and were able to tell us what we were doing wrong.”

Mr. Herrick nodded. “Yes. I was using
binoculars and I had Steve give me your names. That’s how I was able to call each of you.”

Chris turned to Steve. “Did you know he was doing it?”

“Yes. But I didn’t want to ask him to coach the team. I … I didn’t think you guys would … well … want him to.”

“Oh, no?” cried Chris. “What about it, guys? Do we or don’t we want Mr. Herrick as our coach?”

“YES, WE DO!” they shouted almost in one voice.

“There,” said Chris. “It’s settled.”

He smiled at Mr. Herrick. “Thanks, Mr. Herrick,” he said. “We really appreciate it.”

“So do I,” replied Mr. Herrick, smiling and blinking his eyes. “And from now on call me Coach.”

by Matt Christopher

What can a team do when all of its members know they are getting absolutely no coaching from a man they thought they could
depend on?

That was the question Chris Richards and the rest of the Blazers asked themselves when they found out to their amazement that
their coach, the strong force in back of last year’s team, didn’t seem to care anymore. To make matters worse, Steve Herrick,
one of the team’s best players, started talking about quitting the team and walking out with a few of the other players. Then
suddenly the mysterious phone calls began to occur. It seemed that each member of the team started to get instructions on
the phone from a mysterious voice that would only identify itself as “Coach.”

How the boys finally identify the mystery coach while at the same time come to understand how to get along as a strong team
unit is the subject of this fast-paced sports story from an author who has given enjoyment to many thousands of young readers
who hunger for exciting stories that are told simply and well.

Illustrated by Harvey Kidder

by Matt Christopher

Illustrated by Harvey Kidder

Sylvester looked like a poor prospect for the Redbird’s baseball team at their first practice. He was pretty bad at bat and
even worse in the outfield. He was ready to give up playing altogether when he met a stranger, Mr. George Baruth, who loved
baseball just as much as he did. Mr. Baruth told Sylvester he could become a top-notch player and began to coach him. In no
time at all this became true. Whenever Sylvester came to bat for the Redbirds, he hit a home run. Before long, Sylvester was
famous, and yet he had new problems. How could he handle the fame which the press had brought him? And what would happen when
Mr. Baruth went away as he said he would have to? Would Sylvester still have his good luck at bat? This is an entertaining
story of the rise of a phenomenal young baseball player. Sports fans will be especially intrigued by the mysterious Mr. George
Baruth and the special talent he gives Sylvester.

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Lucky Seven: Sports Stories by Matt Christopher