Hit & Miss by Derek Jeter Page A

high over his head. He stood there like a statue as the next pitch bounced at his feet. Then he stared at two more over his head.
    â€œTake your base!” the umpire said.
    Derek smiled and shook his head. Cubby was so short, it was hard to throw strikes to him. That was a huge advantage for the Sox—because Cubby was also fast .
    On the next pitch Cubby stole second base. “Yeah!” Derek shouted from the on-deck circle.
    Jason, batting second, hit a slow ground ball to the third baseman, who was playing off the bag. Jason was fast too, though not as speedy as Cubby. Jason beat the third baseman’s throw to first for an infield single, and Cubby wound up on third.
    Derek could barely contain his excitement. He’d been red-hot at the plate in practice. Now with two runners on, it was his big chance to start the season off right.
    He took a mighty swing at the first pitch, but the ball was high, and Derek barely made contact. The result was a weak fly ball to shortstop, and the first out of the inning.
    â€œAaargh!” Derek groaned as he headed back to the bench. How had he missed that pitch? It had been right there in his eyes!
    â€œThat’s okay, man,” Dave told him as he sat back down. “You’ll get ’em next time for sure.”
    â€œFor sure!” Vijay agreed. “Don’t worry. We’re going to score now anyway. You’ll see.”
    Derek sighed and nodded. Vijay was right. It was about what the team did, not about himself. He sat, watched, and cheered as Jeff, their cleanup hitter, flied to center field. Cubby tagged up and ran home after the catch, scoring the Red Sox’s first run.
    Isaiah came to bat next. He hit a shot down the first-base line for a double, and Jason scored to make it 2–0!
    Dave came to the plate next. “Go, Dave!” Derek yelled, standing up and clapping. “Hit it out of here!”
    Dave was clearly trying to do exactly that. He swung his long, loopy golf swing one, two, three times—without making any contact at all.
    â€œStrike three!” yelled the umpire, and that was the end of the top of the inning.
    Derek grabbed his mitt and trotted out onto the field, followed by the rest of the Sox. Jeff took the mound and started his warm-up throws. Jeff was usually pretty accurate. Today, though, he was all over the place. Derek guessed he was nervous.
    Well, they all were. It was the first game of the season!
    But that meant the Tigers would be nervous too, Derek thought, especially now that they were down by two runs.
    But after the first hitter made it all the way to third on a sizzling ground ball up the first-base line, and the second hitter reached on a dropped fly ball in left by Miles, the Tigers had a lot fewer reasons to be nervous.
    The number three hitter dug into the batter’s box. Derek pounded his mitt twice with his fist. “Hit it here,” he muttered. “Come on, right here . . .”
    Sure enough—as if the hitter had heard him—the line drive came screaming right at Derek’s head! He ducked and stuck his glove up, and the ball smacked right into the pocket!
    It all happened in a moment. Derek saw the runner going from third base to home, thinking that the ball, hit so hard, would surely have gotten past the shortstop.
    But it hadn’t . And Derek’s throw to third would have had him out easily— if Dave had been at third to catch it.
    But, no. Dave (who had already admitted he didn’t know all the rules of baseball) had no idea where he was supposed to be. He was standing well away from the base, cheering Derek instead of covering!
    Derek winced at the missed opportunity for a double play. He told himself he’d better give Dave a crash course in baseball rules if he wanted the Sox to be a winner this year.
    â€œCome on!” Jason yelled from second base. “Cover that bag!”
    â€œWake up!” Buster called from first.