Scotty's Spring Training

Scotty's Spring Training

" Hey, Scotty, your spring school break is short and it's a beautiful day here in Phoenix, " said Gramps. “ Can I pry you away from that game to play some catch?" " Umm, not yet, Gramps. I want to pitch to one more batter, " Scotty said. He was playing his favorite computer baseball game, All-Time All-Stars. This game let him make up his own teams. He could have great players from history play with, and against, great players of today.

Scotty loved looking up and memorizing the players' statistics. Knowing what each player did best helped him to make decisions during the game. He called the pitches and controlled the batters. For Scotty, All-Time All-Stars was much more fun than playing real baseball.

Scotty wasn't very good at real baseball. In T-Ball two years ago he couldn't hit the ball off the tee. Last year, he failed to catch most of the fly balls that were hit his way. He wasn't sure if he would even try out for Little League this year. “ Here's the pitch, " said Scotty. “ A fastball low and away. Strike two! "

“ Who's up?" asked Gramps. “ Cal Ripken Jr. He got two Most Valuable Player awards playing shortstop for the Baltimore Orioles in the 1980s and 1990s. But he also broke Lou ‘The Iron Horse' Gehrig's sixty-year-old record of playing 2, 130 games in a row. Cal played in 2, 632 straight games. " " You sure know your stats, " said Gramps. " Who's up next?"

" I'm going to pinch-hit for my pitcher, Cy Young, with Ichiro Suzuki. Suzuki is an awesome outfielder for the Seattle Mariners. He got 200-plus hits ten years in a row. In 2004, he set the Major League Baseball record for most hits in a single season with 262. " " That's right, " said Gramps. " He's really something to watch. How'd you like to see the real Ichiro Suzuki play?"