A Last-Minute Scratch

The crowd roared as the Kansas City Royals catcher Josh Robinson belted another ball high into the warm July night.

“I got it! I got it!” Kate Hopkins yelled. She ran backward across the outfield grass. Her cousin Mike Walsh and a gangly kid with dark curly hair started for the ball, too, but Kate waved them off.

PLOP! The baseball dropped perfectly into her glove. She showed it to Mike. Stamped on it in big blue letters were the words HOME RUN DERBY.

“Nice catch, cuz! Our first home run derby ball!” Mike said, pounding his fist into his glove. “If only we could stay out here to field balls during the all-star game!”

Kate and Mike were at the Kansas City Royals Kauffman Stadium for the all-star game. The all-star game was played each July in a different city. The best players from the American League took on the best players from the National League. The night before the all-star game was the home run derby.

The two cousins had flown in the day before from Cooperstown, New York, with Kate’s mother. Mrs. Hopkins was a reporter for the American Sportz website. Last summer Mike and Kate had volunteered in a special program that helped kids with disabilities play baseball. Some of the volunteers had been invited to chase balls in the outfield during the home run derby.

“I can’t believe I caught a ball hit by Josh Robinson!” Kate said. “He’s one of the best catchers in the league!”

“You bet he is,” said the gangly boy who had been chasing the ball Kate caught. His bright blue T-shirt had ROYALS written in white script across the front. “He’s my dad!”

The boy turned and pointed over his shoulders to the big white letters that arched across his back. They spelled ROBINSON. Underneath was 23.

“Your dad’s Josh Robinson?” Kate asked. “Really?”

The boy turned back around. “Yup,” he said with a smile. “My name is Andy.”

“I’m Kate. And this is my cousin Mike,” she said. “You should probably have this, then.” She flipped the home run derby baseball to Andy.

Andy shook his head. He tossed the ball back to Kate. “Nah, you keep it,” he said. “We’ve got plenty of baseballs at home. But this is the first time Dad’s been in the home run derby. What are you guys doing here?”

“We volunteered last summer in the Little League Challenger Division,” Mike said. “They invited us to the all-star game.”

Andy tipped his hat to Kate and Mike. “Cool,” he said. “My dad volunteers, too. He does magic tricks and tells baseball jokes when he visits kids in the hospital. They love it. You just have to watch it when he starts with the practical jokes! He likes playing tricks on people.”

CRACK! The sound of another hit echoed through the outfield.

“Heads-up!” Kate yelled. “Your dad nailed that one!”

The kids in the outfield ran back toward the right-field wall. But the ball sailed over their heads. It flew past a row of seats toward the longest fountain Mike had ever seen. It was just behind the outfield wall. A second black fountain curved along the outfield on the left side.

SPLASH! The ball landed in the right-field fountain. Jets of water surged fifteen feet up in the air, while red, yellow, and blue lights shone up from under the water.

“I guess your dad really went deep on that one,” Mike said. He elbowed Kate in the ribs. “Get it?”

Kate rolled her eyes at Mike’s joke. “Funny,” she said. “But not funny enough to gush over!”

Up at home plate, Josh waited for the next pitch. He was the sixth of eight batters in the home run derby. But he had the lowest score and only one out left. Unless he hit a lot of home runs, his turn would be done.

The next pitch was right over the plate. Josh popped the ball high to left field for an out.

“Shoot!” Andy said. “Only three home runs. That’s not enough to advance.”

“Sorry,” Mike said. “Want to stay out here with us? Big D is up next. We’re friends with him. We helped him find his lucky bat when it was stolen.”

“Cool!” Andy said. “Sure, I’ll stay.”

Big D from the Boston Red Sox strode to the plate. The stadium full of fans went wild. With his friendly smile and home run record, Big D was a favorite to win the derby. He stepped into the batter’s box. He swiveled his front foot in the dirt and took a few practice swings.

Mike, Kate, and Andy got ready. Part of Mike wanted Big D to nail home runs over the fence to win. But another part wanted him to hit some pop-ups for them to catch.

Big D let the first two pitches go by. But he unwound on the third pitch and sent it sailing to the left of the huge center-field scoreboard topped by a giant gold crown. The fans cheered wildly!

Kate, though, was watching Big D, not the ball. “What’s wrong with Big D? He’s dancing around like he’s got ants in his pants!”

She was right. Big D hopped around home plate as if his feet were on fire. He twitched his shoulders from one side to the other. Then he reached his bat over his shoulder and rubbed it up and down his back quickly as if he had an itch he couldn’t scratch. After a minute, he settled down and tried to hit again.

But something still bothered him. As the pitch flew over the plate, Big D’s shoulder twisted in a funny way and the bat weakly hit the ball down the first-base line. It was not his night.

Big D looked like a big dud. Pitch after pitch went by. In between them, Big D kept scratching his stomach and his back and rubbing his feet. Whenever he hit a ball, it dribbled into the outfield.

Big D’s turn ended quickly. He only scored one home run, the lowest score all night.

Kate winced. “That was awful! Big D should have hit a lot of home runs!”

Mike nudged Andy with his elbow. “Well, at least your father’s not in last place anymore,” he said.

Andy cracked a smile. “Hey, you’re right!” he said.

“Come on. Let’s go see what happened,” Kate said.

While the final batter stepped up to the plate, Mike, Kate, and Andy ran to the American League’s dugout. Andy jogged over to his dad, who was standing next to Sparky, the team’s manager.

“What’s going on?” Andy asked.

Josh shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “Maybe Big D’s allergic to all that prairie grass we have around here.”

Big D stood at the top of the dugout steps, scratching his arms like crazy. “Ah, looks like he’s just allergic to hitting home runs on his night off,” muttered Sparky. “I say you either get the job done or you don’t. Big D didn’t tonight. I sure hope he does better during the game tomorrow.”

Still, Big D smiled when he spotted Mike and Kate.

“Mike and Kate! Good to see you,” Big D wheezed, in between scratches. “I don’t need help finding my bat tonight. But I’d love if you could figure out why I’m so itchy.”

“Maybe it’s your uniform,” Mike said. “Once I was allergic to laundry detergent. It left a bunch of red marks on my arm.”

“Nah, we brought the uniforms with us,” Big D panted. “Arrrrgh! This is killing me! Mike, can you grab my water bottle from my locker?”

“Sure,” Mike replied. He scampered down the steps into the clubhouse behind the dugout. While he was gone, Big D leaned into the edge of the dugout and rubbed his back against it. Then he whipped off his hat and used both hands to scratch his head. Finally, Mike returned with the water bottle. Big D took three huge gulps and gasped for air.

“I’m still itchy, but that feels better,” he said, wiping his chin. “Thanks!” He went back to scratching furiously.

Mike made a funny face at Kate. It looked as if he had something important to say.

“Uh, Big D?” he said. “I found something in the locker room that you might want to see.”

Big D stopped scratching his legs. He looked at Mike.

Mike pulled out a small plastic bottle from his back pocket. He held it up.

Across the front, it read:

ITCHING POWDER