What would they complain about next That our grass wasn’t green enough That our baseballs weren’t round enough I finished lacing the shoes and plopped them on the bench The Rogues still didn’t notice me Not even the guy who owned the shoes The food is pretty boring here too he said I miss the catfish fingers and hush puppies back in Rosedale said another player It was Damien Ricken He had just been called up from Rookie League Ricken was supposed to be a big-deal pitcher By the time the game started I didn’t care about seeding and school nights I just wanted the Rosedale Rogues to lose I wanted them to be sorry they ever came to Pine City I rooted for the Pines with all my might Unfortunately the Rogues were on fire They scored four runs in the first inning before the Porcupines even came up to bat Worse Damien Ricken struck out the first three Porcupines batters and was back in the dugout before I knew it So that’s the competition he asked the Rogues catcher Yep the catcher answered with a grin Damien noticed me watching Hey kid Where are the good places to eat around here Um I like the food here at the ballpark I said I wanted to make that clear I don’t eat while I’m pitching What about restaurants The Pine City Café I said I liked the pizza place better but grown-ups always liked the Café Don’t get your hopes up the catcher said It’ll be closed
by the time we get out of here Figures said Damien This town is all pines and no city The guys on the bench cracked up I was fuming but I kept my cool The pizza place is open late I told him The Porcupines never caught up They lost to the Rogues 7 2 The next night wasn’t much better It was my turn to work in the Porcupines dugout They were losing 6 1 by the fifth inning I’ll be glad when we’re done playing these Rogues said Mike Stammer the Porcupines shortstop He had just struck out for the second time that night I won’t miss them a bit Me neither said Tommy Harris The only thing I like about tonight’s pitcher is that he’s not Damien Ricken Man that Ricken guy has a good slider I really hope we don’t have to face him again this season You’d better hope we do see them again said Teddy Larrabee Teddy was the first baseman People call him Teddy the Bear Larrabee because he’s big and kind of hairy You’d better hope we see Damien Ricken’s slider too he added We’ll have to get past them to win the Prairie League championship I was hoping we could sneak by when they weren’t looking said Wayne Zane That’s not what I meant said Teddy Just sayin said Wayne Wayne was the catcher and he
thought he was the team comedian He grabbed his bat and went to the on-deck circle while Sammy Solaris the designated hitter went to the plate Sammy got a base hit The crowd cheered but the Porcupines were still behind by five runs Wayne strode to the plate Meanwhile Teddy headed for the on-deck circle I had his bat ready
