Thumb on a Diamond by Ken Roberts

real town,” said Susan softly.
    After everyone left, Robbie and I couldn’t sleep. We were excited. We were also in a hotel room with a television set.
    We left the television on all night, with the sound turned low. We kept the TV tuned to a sports channel so maybe we’d learn something about baseball in our sleep.

    8
THE FIRST GAME
    THE NEXT MORNING WE LEFT the hotel and stood at the corner waiting for a city bus – nine kids and two adults wearing baseball uniforms. Mr. Entwhistle had bought us uniforms and hats and given them to us at breakfast. On the back of each uniform was a picture from a different Bobbie and Bernice book. Mine had a picture of Bobbie and Bernice building the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Susan’s had a picture of Bobbie building a giant sleigh, from the book where Santa’s sleigh is overloaded and it crashes in the forest and Bobbie and Bernice have to build him another one so that all the kids in the world can get their presents. Mr. Entwhistle says it’s the Bobbie and Bernice book that sells the best but the one he likes the least.
    Four men and three women waited with us at the bus stop. They were probably going to work.
    â€œLook, a police car!” yelled Little Liam.
    We all turned to look, expecting the car to swerve to a stop and for the officers inside to race down the street chasing somebody. Most of us had never seen a police car except in movies and they were always chasing bad guys.
    We waved at the car as it slowly passed us.
    â€œAnd there’s a man walking a dog on a leash,” yelled Big Bette. The dog, a small white pile of fluff, strutted along with its head held high.
    We all started laughing. The dogs in our village would probably pull you around the village three times if you tried to put a leash on them. But in New Auckland there are no cars and no place to go even if a dog did decide to run away. Besides, our dogs have to run free. They help keep skunks and other small animals away from the village.
    There were eight different baseball diamonds at the park. We walked to number six. The team we were supposed to play was already out on the field, tossing balls and practicing. We couldn’t believe how far they could throw and hit.
    The coach from the other team jogged over to Dad. He was a tall man with a bushy brown moustache.
    â€œI’m Mr. Darling of the Kamloops Kangaroos,” he said to Dad. “And, hey, I know there are no kangaroos in Kamloops. Somebody just thought the two words sounded good together. You’re the team from up the coast?”
    â€œYes,” said Dad. “I’m Mr. Mazzei. I’m the coach.”
    Mr. Darling moved a clipboard so he could shake hands with Dad. Mr. Darling wasn’t looking at Dad, though. He was looking at our team.
    Robbie was putting on the catcher’s pads upside down. Big Bette was standing beside Dad, her uniform top so long that it looked like a dress on her. Nick and Little Liam were rolling in the grass and rubbing it with their hands. Susan and I were pulling at our uniforms, trying to feel more comfortable.
    â€œWe’ve just about finished warming up if you want to practice now,” said Mr. Darling from Kamloops.
    â€œActually,” said Dad, “why don’t you folks carry on for a little while longer? We’re not quite organized yet.”
    Dad didn’t say that the reason we wanted the Kamloops team to practice longer was so that we could see what to do when we were out on the field. We were pretty sure we understood the rules. We’d rented every baseball movie possible and watched them each about five times. We mostly watched them to see where people stood and what they did.
    The stories were always the same. Some team had no skill but managed to win the big game anyway. A small kid with glasses usually made the big catch or hit the ball after having struck out every other time.
    The movies taught us a lot. We