Baseball Great

Read Baseball Great for Free Online

Book: Read Baseball Great for Free Online
Authors: Tim Green
child on the way home.
    â€œI saw you hit,” he said. “You were great. You reminded me of me. Better. I couldn’t hit like that. You’re twelve, but you’re big enough and good enough to play with kids two years older, and those kids are the best around. This is going to work, Josh. I know it is. It’s what I needed.”
    His father looked over at him, and his face grew serious. “It’s what I never had.”
    Josh sat quietly for a minute before he said, “They said it won’t be so easy after lifting weights for an hour. I don’t know about the weights thing. I never did that.”
    His father waved a hand in the air as they pulled off the highway and turned up the hill into their north-side neighborhood.
    â€œI talked to Rocky about that,” he said. “People used to think kids shouldn’t lift until fourteen or fifteen; but all the experts are saying now that kids can start a lot earlier, especially with Super Stax. Josh, if I had what you’re going to get—this kind of training—who knows how far I could have gone? I guarantee I would have been in the Majors. You don’t realize it because you’re so much better than the kids you play with, but that’s the problem. You get out into the real world—the real world of baseball—and you realize you can’t just be good. You have to be great.”
    Josh said nothing until they pulled into their garage.
    â€œI’d rather play with my friends, Dad,” he said.
    His father shut off the car and stared at him. The engine ticked, and his father’s breathing filled the car. Finally, he said, “You have no idea, Josh. You think friends are important? You want to be a pro player, don’t you?”
    Josh nodded.
    â€œIn the big leagues?”
    â€œYes.”
    Josh’s dad gripped a handful of his son’s shirt and pulled Josh close.
    â€œThen you’ll do what I tell you,” his father said in a tense whisper. “What happened to me isn’t going to happen to you. If I had someone like Rocky, I’d be in Toronto right now. No, I would have been in New York with the Mets. I didn’t have the strength. I had all the talent but none of the training.”
    Josh watched his father’s eyes, the yellow rings expanding and contracting around the deep brown irises that made Josh think of the black holes in space, holes so dense and full of mass that they suck in everything—light, planets, even suns and stars—from light-years away. For a moment Josh didn’t recognize his father, so distant were those eyes. A shiver ran down his spine, and he realized his father was waiting for him to reply.

CHAPTER TWELVE
    â€œOKAY,” JOSH SAID.
    â€œGood,” his father said, releasing him and getting out of the car.
    Josh followed his father out the garage door, across the driveway, and into the kitchen. The smell of beef stew greeted them along with the smiling faces of both Benji and, to Josh’s surprise, Jaden Neidermeyer. Josh’s mom had set out two extra places at the small kitchen table, putting him between Jaden and Benji. Benji ate dinner with them often. Since Josh’s best friend lived alone with his mom and she worked most evenings, Benji had his own place at their kitchen table. Jaden, on the other hand, hadn’t even met Josh’s mom until twenty minutes ago.
    â€œYour friends were worried about you,” his momexplained as she bent over the high chair to put a bib on Josh’s little sister, Laurel. “Benji’s staying for dinner, so I invited Jaden, too. Benji, fill the glasses for me, will you?”
    Josh’s father said hello to their guests, then plunked the Super Stax down on the counter.
    â€œMake sure you get five tablespoons into your milk,” he said to Josh before disappearing to wash his hands. Josh washed his own hands in the kitchen sink before stirring the Super Stax into

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