Can One Brave Teenager Prove Everyone Wrong?

Fiction S C RL AN’ I T “G P !” I mage s ( d og) L A Y I mage s ( b a s e all d an glo v e); - iStock Can one brave teenager prove everyone wrong?

I mage s ( b utter); G etty iStockPhoto/ by Rebecca Behrens K rinke/iStock p hoto/ G etty M ichael p hoto/ G etty

26 Scholastic Scope • JANUARY 2015 ® ® THE LANGUAGE ARTS MAGAZINE READWRITETHINKCONNECT TM

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What does this AS YOU READ, story reveal about THINK ABOUT: stereotypes? INFERENCE How does the mitt seem to make the shoved my hand into the baseball narrator feel? How do N’ mitt, which was buttery soft and you know? worn at the seams. It had been my pop’s, and it was too big for me. T Mitts should fit snug on your hand, but mine would plop to the ground if I didn’t spread or grip my fingers. It didn’t matter, though—I could still catch just fine with it. I loved the feel of a fastball smackingI into my palm. Pop used to practice with me every night after WORD CHOICE Hangdog is an old- he came home from the bottling plant on Fort fashioned word the Street. But then one day he came home looking all author uses to help hangdog and headed straight to the kitchen table, create the 1930s shoulders slumped. I waited in the doorway, mitt setting. Use context clues to help you clutched in my hands, until my mother shooed me out determine what this of the room and shut the door. When I pressed my ear word means. What up against the thin wall, I was able to make out pieces other old-fashioned of what they were saying—the worst piece being that my words are in the story? father had lost his job. We didn’t practice anymore after that. And a few weeks later, Pop hopped a train out of town. He’d have better luck looking for work elsewhere; the Great Depression had hit Chattanooga, and all of Tennessee, hard. Thinking about that, I gave my gloved palm a soft punch. “Thataboy!” came a voice from the lot next door. Timmy Oglethorpe and his friends were playing ball. It had been so long since I’d caught a ball, my right arm practically itched. I stretched my fingers wide inside the glove and wandered out our back door. “Need an outfielder?” I called over. Timmy shaded his eyes and scowled. “You mean . . . you?” 

scope.scholastic.com • JANUARY 2015 27 and Hazel is fictional. Jackie Mitchellis real Hazel’s point ofview How could the game events. In thiscase, help youunderstand In historicalfiction, reveal about Hazel’s an author combines events from history What doesthisline What does hearing Jackie’s storyfrom does Chattanooga give Chattanooga “extra pep”?Why attitude toward real people and characters and about Jackie? 28 with fictional CHARACTER INFERECE need pep? Timmy? GENRE tic Scope • Scope Schola stic JANU Mr. Engel signedhertoacontract toplayfortheLookouts.” imagine how out.” thatlittlestuntwillturn Can you believe it?She hasreal moxie!”Mitchell. the ticket? You read thepapers, TheLookouts right? have hired to Jackie agirl pitch! a ticket.Before anyone couldsuggestthatmylittlebrother go, Iblurted, “Could Itake work toseeitplayed thenextday. Mrs. Oglethorpe cameover toaskifwe hadusefor when you can’t afford bacon,you definitelycan’t buybaseballtickets. been scraped out. We weren’t from thegrocer buyinganythingpricey anymore. And lastlickofpeanutbutterorjellymustardwhen theyemptied—every hadalready had beenpinchingourpennieseven tighter. There wasbarely outjars needtorinse Stadium, ticketclutchedinmyhand. just abouttheluckiestgalinworldasIheadeddown O’Neal Street toward Engel Yankees. The bignewswasthattheLookoutshadagirlpitcher! extra pep—butthisgamewaseven more special,and ithadnothingtodowiththe tochance major-leaguers seeourlocalteam battle would have alittle given ourcity was canceled. H A afternoon chill than at the nerve ofthem. chillthanatthenerve afternoon theirattentionbacktogame.turned catcher.” keeping up. “I hopeyou’re ready toseejustwhyyou can’t play ballwithusboys.” just to make hisshortlegshave to work harder. Unfortunately, hewaspretty goodat grateful forit,”very Isaid,even thoughIdidn’t wantto. 2015ARY That didn’t convinceMrs. Oglethorpe, butshedidgive metheticket. “It’s notastunt.Jackie’s acrackerjack pitcher—she’s trained withsomegreats—and Mrs. Oglethorpe tsked,eitheratmylanguageorthethoughtofagirlpitching. “I can’t But aftertheApril Fool’s gamegotrained out,Mr. Oglethorpe couldn’t afford tomiss Of course, itwassheerluckthatIhadatickettothegame. Since Pop left,mymother Thankfully, theskiescleared, andthegamewasrescheduled for Thursday. Ifeltlike I pulledtheglove offmyhandandstompedbackinside, lessatthelate shivering “Nah. Girls can’t playbaseball,” oneof Timmy’s saidwithalaugh. friends They not?”Icrossed myarms, huggingthemitttomychest. “Why “I’m good adarned He snorted. “You really thinka17-year-old outBabe girlpitcherisgoingtostrike “Jackie Mitchell? Nah. ofhers,With she’s thatsinking curveball ’emout.” goingtostrike girl’s“That gonnamakeafoolout of herself.” I shothimalook. “And whyisthat?” Timmy fellintostepwithme. to walk Itried asfast running, asI couldwithout I whirledaround tofindmyselfface-to-facewith Timmy Oglethorpe.“Yes, andIam torrents ofrain floodedtown andthebigbaseballgamethathadbeenscheduled pril 1,pril 1931: Fool’s areal April joke onusinChattanooga, me. stadium,alfway the to Iheard afamiliar after voice calling “Hazel! Iheard you’ve gotourextra ticket!” The Lookoutswere supposedtoplaytheNew York Yankees. Just the as

Courtesy of the Chattanooga Lookouts (Chattanooga Lookouts); Everett Collection/Newscom (Jackie Mitchell) Ruth? Babe Ruth?” I straightened my shoulders. “I really do.” “All right, Hazel, let me wager this: If you’re right, then you can play with us after all.” “I’m going to make you shake on that, just so you can’t weasel out of this after Jackie CHARACTERIZATION blows them away.” What does this Timmy and I stopped on the sidewalk, and I shook his grimy hand. Then we raced line tell you about the rest of the distance to join the crowds streaming into the stadium. I didn’t doubt that Timmy’s personality? What other details in Jackie could do it, but I still found myself wishing real hard, as I held out my ticket to the story help create enter, that she would do me—and all of Chattanooga—proud. his character?

o get a good view, I had to sit on the very edge of my seat Tand press my fingertips into the wood, pushing myself to sit up as straight and tall as possible. If I craned my neck and the man in front of me bent down to study his program, I could just glimpse the pitcher’s mound. But even though my view wasn’t perfect, the happy noises from the crowd and the smells of popcorn and frankfurters were. WORD CHOICE Next to me, Timmy waved his arms madly to get the attention of a vendor. He Think about what the word flanked means. hemmed and hawed about whether to spend his nickel on peanuts or Cracker Jack, Why might the eventually picking the colorful striped box. author have chosen “I wonder what I’ll get for the prize,” he said. this word instead I licked my lips and thought about the last time I’d gotten to fish around in a box of of another word or phrase, such as Cracker Jack for a baseball card or trinket. I didn’t have a nickel. The game would have to walking between? be treat enough. I turned away and squinted down at the field. What I saw made me gasp. “What?” Timmy sprayed a mouthful of molasses and crumbs dangerously close to INFERENCE my face. Babe Ruth and Lou I pointed at the field, where a tall man and a round man, both in unmistakable Gehrig are two of R uth) Yankee pinstripes, were warming up. “That’s Babe Ruth! And over there, Lou Gehrig!” the all-time greatest I thought fleetingly about how excited Pop would have been to see these great players. players in baseball. How does seeing Moments later, I gasped again as the girl of the hour emerged onto the field. Her them affect Hazel? G ehrig an d b e Ba entrance triggered hoots and hollers from the crowd, and people jumped up and down like popcorn as they tried to get a better look. Scrambling to my feet, I struggled to get a decent vantage point. Then I spotted her: slim, dwarfed by her baggy baseball uniform. Under a Lou Gehrig cap with a big Chattanooga “C” on it, her cropped hair was (left) and nearly as short as a boy’s. Yet Jackie was all girl, with a Babe Ruth pretty smile that she flashed at the roaring crowd as (right) she waved. Flanked by important-looking men, she made her M a ds ( C racker j ack s ); COR B I S Bettmann/ ( L ou way to the mound to warm up. She paused to pose N utty for the cameras, even pulling out a makeup compact and daintily powdering her nose. That made

C ourte s y o f Timmy go into hysterics. Gehrig and Ruth, 

scope.scholastic.com • JANUARY 2015 29 along with everyone else, watched as Jackie tested out her fastball. I couldn’t read their faces from so far away. But I imagine they Watch our Time Machine were worried—because, boy oh boy, could Jackie pitch. video about the 1930s at Scope Online! inally, the game started. I stayed at the edge of Fmy seat. The stands grew quiet; the loudest noise in my ears was the sound of Timmy gnawing on his Cracker Jack next to me. COMPARE AND First up was Babe Ruth. I peered down at Jackie, standing tall on the mound. How she CONTRAST hadn’t melted into a puddle of nerves, standing there and facing the legend, I couldn’t How does Jackie’s behavior compare understand. with that of the two I crossed my fingers for her. baseball stars she Jackie wound up her left arm like the crank on an ice cream churn, then finally let struck out? loose with her sinker. Ball. She wound up again and pitched. This time, Ruth swung and missed. The third time, he missed again—and, looking huffy, called the umpire over to inspect the ball. Jackie stood on the mound, cool as a cucumber. My heart fluttered. The umpire walked away, and Jackie wound up her slender arm to pitch one more time. I glanced out of the corner of my eye at Timmy. He wasn’t eating anymore, just watching the action on the field, slack-jawed. Jackie’s fourth pitch painted the outside corner—strike! The stands erupted. Ruth flung his bat in anger and disgust, then stomped off the field in a snit. I have never been prouder of someone in my whole life than I was of Jackie Mitchell at that moment. Next to me, a shocked Timmy dropped his Cracker Jack box on the sticky stadium floor, spilling popcorn and peanuts along with his misplaced pride. Up next was Lou Gehrig, who swung and missed three pitches. He left the field with a little more dignity. The third batter, Tony Lazzeri, walked, and then the manager yanked Jackie off the field.Waving, she blew a kiss to the delighted crowd as she was led away, and my heart soared.

PLOT Triumphant, I turned to Timmy. “Thatagirl!” How has Timmy changed? How has fter school the next day, I heard “Batter up!” echo from Hazel’s problem been the lot next door. I ran to the closet and grabbed my mitt. I slid my fingers resolved? A in, closing my eyes and picturing Jackie standing tall on the field the day before. I stepped out into the backyard with my shoulders thrown back and head held high. b at); iStockPhoto.com (han ds hake) “Hey, girlie, go home,” that same nitwitted friend of Timmy from the other day called out to me. He sounded a lot less confident than before, however. Timmy shook his head, though. “Nope—after that killer-diller Lookouts game, she

can join us.” I mage s ( b a s e all an d To that scowling boy, I smiled and waved, just like Jackie Mitchell had to the crowd. “I’m ready to play ball.” • s loane/ E +/ G etty j onathan

30 Scholastic Scope • JANUARY 2015 Informational Essay

have been allowed to play. Little League was Why Women boys-only until 1974, when the family of a 14-year-old girl won a lawsuit against the Should Play league for its policy. No woman has played on a Major League The ruling came on the heels of a famous Baseball team—ever. Is that about to law known as Title IX, which says that schools change? By Jennifer Shotz receiving money from the federal government must provide equal access to sports for male hirty-thousand voices rose in and female athletes. a chorus of cheers. Moms and dads clutched each other in Too Late excitement. Players bit their Title IX came along too late to help girls like Tlips in the dugout. Jackie Mitchell, a minor league player who But Mo’ne Davis blocked it all out. On made headlines when she struck out Babe Ruth the pitcher’s mound, the 13-year-old and Lou Gehrig during an exhibition game Baseball focused on doing what she had come to in 1931. Shortly afterward, the baseball star Mo’ne do: pitch a winning game. Davis, 13 commissioner reportedly voided Jackie’s It was the opening round of the contract, claiming that baseball was 2014 Little League World Series, too strenuous for women. and Mo’ne was about to make To date, no woman has played history. Not only was she the on a Major League team, but some 18th girl out of about 9,000 kids experts predict that a woman will to ever participate in the series—but do so one day soon. Maybe it that day, she also became the first will be Mo’ne Davis—or Chelsea girl in series history to throw a Baker, a Florida teen with a shutout. (A shutout is a game wicked knuckleball. Maybe it will in which the losing team doesn’t be you, or one of your friends. score a single run.) Whoever she is, her achievement Mo’ne’s team, Philadelphia’s will have far-reaching effects—far Taney Dragons, was eliminated beyond the team she plays for; far beyond, from the series a few days even, the sport of baseball. As Justine Siegal, later, but Mo’ne was already who made history in 2011 as the first woman a star. She appeared on the to pitch during batting practice for a Major national cover of Sports Illustrated, League Baseball team, puts it on her blog, “If the first Little Leaguer to do so. you tell a girl she can’t play baseball, what Forty-five years ago, Mo’ne wouldn’t else will she believe she can’t do?”•

writing contest A stereotype is an unfair but widely held belief about a certain group—such as all boys love sports. In an essay, explain the stereotype that Hazel faces. How is that stereotype disproved in both the story and the essay? How can that stereotype be harmful? Send your essay to Get this BASEBALL CONTEST. Five winners will get When Audrey Met Alice by Rebecca Behrens. activity Online G ene J. Pu s kar/ A P Photo ( M o’ne Da v i s )

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