1 Take Me Out to the Ball Game

BLACK LAGOON ADVENTURES #10 THE LITTLE LEAGUE TEAM FROM THE BLACK LAGOON

CHAPTER 1 TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALL GAME It's baseball season. The sky is filled with little white balls, and the air with the swing of bats. All of my friends are pulling out their baseball gloves and pounding the pockets. I look for my mitt. It's not under my dresser. It's not under my bed. It's not in the refrigerator. I finally find it in the corner of the garage. It's as stiff as a board. It's so old—it's prehistoric! It's a fossil. I feel like an archaeologist finding a dinosaur bone. I'd be

better off using a paper plate or a pillow. But I put lots of oil on it and try to fold it around a ball. No way, it doesn't budge. OUCH!

Little League tryouts are this Saturday. Freddy's got it made. He's the only one who wants to be catcher. Eric's got it easy... his dad's the coach. Derek's a slugger—he hit the only home run last year. Penny and Doris will make the team because they're girls. And Randy just wants to keep score and figure out everybody's statistics. Last year, my batting average was zero. I walked twice, got hit by a pitch, and struck out ten times.

GIVE ME A SLIDER. DAD, I WANT TO BE THE STAR. I LOVE THE SOUND OF THE CRACK OF THE BAT. WE'RE GIRLS. CHANGE BATS. I'D BETTER START JOGGING.

The only reason I played at all was they needed someone to stand in right field. They hoped no one would hit the ball out there. I hoped no one would, too. You're out there all by yourself. You can hardly see the game. It gets lonely.