5 Foul Ball!

5 FOUL BALL! Jack kept an eagle eye on all the players. He watched the Dodgers take their positions on the field. He watched the Braves batter choose a bat and head to home plate. He watched the Dodgers pitcher wind up and throw. The Braves batter hit the ball hard. It landed outside the foul line.

5个界外球！杰克密切注视着所有的运动员。 他看着道奇队在场上各就各位。 他看着勇士队的击球手选好球棒，直奔本垒板。 他看着道奇队的投手转身投球。 勇士队的击球手用力击球。 它落在了界外线外。

"Foul ball!" called the umpire. Jack jumped up and ran to get the ball. He tossed it smoothly to the umpire at home plate. Then he returned to his stool. Now and then the wind gusted through the ballpark. But each time, Jack grabbed his cap to make sure it stayed on his head. The pitcher pitched another ball. The batter swung his bat. He missed. "Strike!" The pitcher pitched again. The batter hit a ground ball. He dropped his bat and ran toward first base. The pitcher snatched up the ball and threw it. The first baseman caught it—just before the batter reached the base! "Out!" called the first-base umpire. The Dodgers fans cheered. The Braves fans booed. Annie picked up the player's bat and returned it to the dugout.

“界外球！”裁判叫道。 杰克跳起来跑去拿球。 他把球顺利地扔给本垒的裁判。 然后他回到他的凳子上。 风不时地吹过棒球场。 但每次，杰克都会抓住帽子，确保它戴在头上。 投手又投了一个球。 击球手挥动着他的球棒。他错过了。 “攻击!”投手再次投球。 击球手打出了一个滚地球。 他扔下球棒，向一垒跑去。 投手抓起球扔了出去。 一垒手接住了球——就在击球手到达本垒之前！“出局！”一垒裁判喊道。 道奇队的球迷欢呼起来。勇士队的球迷发出嘘声。 安妮拿起球员的球棒，把它放回了休息区。

Jack darted to home plate and gave new baseballs to the umpire. As the game went on, Jack and Annie stayed in the center of the action. But they never got in the way. Annie picked up bats that the players dropped and replaced them in the rack. Jack kept a close eye on all the baseballs. He counted the ones that went into the stands. He raced after foul balls. He carried three balls to the umpire for every three lost. Fans cheered and booed. If the musicians in the stands didn't agree with an umpire's call, they played "Three Blind Mice." Finally the Braves had three outs. It was time for the Dodgers to bat. Now their batboys would look after the balls and bats. Jack and Annie headed to the clubhouse to get more water and towels for their team. "Hey, kid!" A Braves coach pointed at Jack. "Move down the line." Jack understood perfectly. Holding on to

杰克冲到本垒板，把新棒球递给裁判员。 随着比赛的进行，杰克和安妮一直处于比赛的中心位置。 但他们从来没有妨碍过我。 安妮捡起球员们掉在地上的球棒，把它们放回架子上。 杰克密切注视着所有的棒球。 他数着那些进入看台的球。 他追逐界外球。 每输三球，他就拿三个球给裁判。 球迷们时而欢呼，时而嘘声一片。如果看台上的乐手不同意裁判的判罚，他们就演奏“三只瞎老鼠”。 最后，勇士队三次出局。 道奇队该击球了。 现在他们的球童负责看管球和球棒。 杰克和安妮去俱乐部为他们的队员拿水和毛巾。 “嘿,小子!”一位勇敢队的教练指着杰克。 “往下走。”杰克完全理解。 坚持下去

his cap, he jogged out to center field. Jack sat on a stool close to the stands. His job now was to retrieve ground balls outside the foul lines. Within minutes, a foul rolled into right field. Jack ran and grabbed it. He tossed it perfectly to a Dodgers batboy. "Yes!" Jack said to himself. He couldn't wait to throw again. He sat back on his stool, pressed his cap down on his head, and waited eagerly for more ground balls. But as the Dodgers kept batting, no more balls came Jack's way. For the first time, he had a moment to think. Why did Morgan send us to this particular game? Jack wondered. Why did she call it "a big day for baseball"? Why did Otis say it was a big day, too? So far, the game was pretty ordinary, Jack thought. It was even a little boring. Plus, how was being a batboy supposed to make him a great player? He had only

他戴上帽子，跑到中外野。 杰克坐在靠近看台的凳子上。 他现在的工作是接住界外线外的滚地球。 几分钟后，一个犯规滚进了右外野。 杰克跑过去抓住了它。他把球完美地扔给了道奇队的球童。 “是的!”杰克自言自语道。 他迫不及待地想再扔一次。 他靠在凳子上，把帽子压在头上，急切地等着更多的滚地球。 但是当道奇队继续击球时，杰克再也没有得到球了。 这是他第一次有时间思考。 摩根为什么让我们来玩这个游戏？ 杰克想知道。为什么她说今天是“棒球的大日子”？ 为什么奥蒂斯也说今天是个大日子？ 杰克想，到目前为止，这个游戏还很普通。 甚至有点无聊。 再说了，当个球童怎么能让他成为伟大的球员呢？ 他只有

thrown a couple of balls, and he wouldn't get to bat at all! "Hey, batboy!" a kid called from the stands behind him. More souvenir seekers, Jack thought. "An autographed ball!" another kid yelled. Jack ignored the kids' shouting. He refused to look over his shoulder. "A Dodgers cap!" "A Braves cap!" "Your cap!" The begging soon turned to heckling and booing. "Go home!" "Go back where you came from!" What do they mean? thought Jack. Can they tell I'm from Frog Creek? He tried to ignore all the shouting. But the hecklers sounded different now. Their voices had grown harsh and mean. They sounded like grown-ups, not kids.

扔了几个球，他根本就没机会击球！“嘿，蝙蝠小子！”一个孩子从他身后的看台上喊道。 更多寻求纪念品的人，杰克想。 “一个有签名的球！”另一个孩子喊道。 杰克没有理会孩子们的喊叫。 他拒绝小心翼翼。 “道奇队的帽子！”“一顶勇士队的帽子！”“你的帽子!”恳求很快变成了起哄和嘘声。 “回家!”“滚回你来的地方去！”它们是什么意思？ 杰克想。他们能看出我是从青蛙溪来的吗？ 他试图不去理会所有的吵闹声。 但起哄者的声音现在不同了。 他们的声音变得刺耳而刻薄。 他们听起来像成年人，而不是孩子。

"You don't belong here!" "Throw him out, ump!" Jack started to get angry. This was more than just annoying. "Get out of here!" another heckler shouted. Jack couldn't help it. He whirled around and yelled, "You get out of here!"

“你不属于这里！”“把他扔出去，小鬼！”杰克开始生气了。 这不仅仅是烦人。 “滚出去！”另一名起哄者喊道。 杰克没办法。他转身喊道：“你给我滚出去！”