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here to see me,” Spencer said with a sly smile. “Thanks for escorting her, Calvin. You can leave now.”
    â€œNice try,” Danielle said. “So what’s going on today? You guys just lazing around like usual?”
    â€œâ€™Bout time we caught a break,” Spencer replied. “Coach Wimmer has been driving us like a drill sergeant.”
    â€œI’m sure. Try training for the four-hundred-meters if you want to know tough.”
    â€œYou saying track is harder than baseball?”
    â€œWay harder,” Danielle said. “What do you run, like, sixty feet between the bases or something? I’m barely getting started by that time.”
    â€œYeah, well…” Spencer struggled to think of a response. “Baseball takes brains, too. Ain’t that right, Ventura?”
    Eddie nodded. He found it even harder to talk when there were cute girls around.
    â€œWell,” Danielle said, “I still think the real ‘major talent’ is on the track team.”
    Spencer changed the subject. “So, Calvin, what’s it like to be such a powerful journalist?” he asked. “Making these judgments and assessments of all the teams?”
    â€œI’m objective,” Calvin said. “I just get some help from insiders.”
    Spencer turned to Eddie and smirked. “ Insiders, he says. Maybe he just makes all that stuff up.”
    â€œLike what?” Calvin demanded.
    â€œLike, I don’t know. When you make fun of guys on the team. I mean, I can take it, but it made poor little Ramiro here burst into tears when you questioned his singing ability.”
    Calvin gave an embarrassed laugh. “It’s all documented.”
    â€œCan’t wait to see the next one,” Spencer said. “Probably be about Eddie hitting a foul ball or something.”
    â€œYou’ll have to wait and see,” Calvin replied. He looked at Danielle and nodded his head toward the river. “See you chumps later,” he said as they walked away.
    â€œWe’ll be here…. Come on back, Danielle, if Calvin falls off a pier or something.”
    Eddie spread out on the grass then, the sun feeling great on his skin. “Didn’t Calvin go out with Jessie once last summer?” he asked.
    â€œMight have,” Spencer said. “So did I…. Jessie’s got a real edge, though. Danielle’s always been sweeter.”
    Eddie leaned up on his elbows and looked over at Calvin and Danielle walking on the path along the river. He couldn’t imagine just hanging around with a girl, or especially going out for pizza or a movie. Guys like Spencer and Miguel were already shaving above their lips and had developed some muscles. They’d had girlfriends.
    He just wasn’t ready for any of that.
    Life was complicated enough, with homework and chores and baseball. He knew things would change before too long, but for now he was glad to still be a kid.

8
A Pitcher’s Nightmare
    O n Wednesday morning, Eddie grabbed a copy of the school paper as he entered his home-room. He scanned the back page for the baseball article. He’d written it, of course, but it was always nice to actually see it in print.
    Â 
    W EDNESDAY , M AY 17
    BASEBALL TEAM HOPES
    HOT STREAK LEADS
    TO POSTSEASON BERTH
    By Major Talent
    The Hudson City seventh-grade baseball team rolled to a pair of wins last week, inching closer to a spot in the league playoffs.
    The regular season ends this week with games at Liberty this afternoon and at home against Weehawken on Friday. The Hornets beat both of those teams in earlier match-ups.
    Hudson City has won seven of its past eight games, and its record stands at seven wins and five losses.
    â€œWe’re a hot team right now, but we can’t let our guard down,” said Coach Wimmer after Friday’s 5–2 win over Palisades.
    Earlier in the week, the team had topped Memorial, 6–4. Both Palisades and Memorial had