Mama Played Baseball
Reading
Mama played baseball by David a Adler, illustrated by Chris O'Leary. Throw the ball, mama said. I threw it into her glove. No, mama told me. Make me reach for it. Make me jump. I threw the ball just over my head. She reached and she caught it. I threw the ball again. This time, high over her head. She jumped, and caught it. We played a long time, then we sat on the steps. Mama held my hand. She looked at me and said, I need a job. While dad's away, I need to work. It was wartime. Dad was in the army fighting for our country. Mama said, I need your help practicing baseball because I hope to get a job playing in the women's league. What kind of job is that I wonder? Before the war, dad drove a truck for a milk company. Each morning he brought milk from farms to a plant where it was poured into bottles. That's a job I thought. Baseball is just a game. That night, at Sunday dinner, grandpa told me, I fought in the last war. He showed me his medal. Grandma said. You told Amy last night about the war, and your medal? Well, I did fight, and I did win a medal, grandpa said. He pointed to an old picture. He'd shown me that last night too. After dinner, we listened to news of the war on the radio. Then we listened to the Jack Benny show, dad's favorite. I wondered if that was listening to. The next morning we went in grandpa's car to a large baseball stadium. Grandma, grandpa and I sat in the stands, mama went on to the field. There were a lot of women there. They stood in a line, a man with a bat, hit a ball to them, if a woman missed the ball, the man said, thank you, and point it to a gate at the side of the field. That woman didn't make the team. Finally, it was mama's turn. The man hit the ball over mama's head just like I threw it to her when we practice. Mama reached for the ball and caught it. Then she went to the back of the line, each time it was mama's turn, she caught the ball. When the man pitched to the women who were left, mama swung twice and missed, then she hit the ball on the ground right back to the man. It wasn't a good hit. I was afraid the man would say, thank you and point to the gate. But he didn't. He told mama to come back the next day. Two days later, mama showed us her uniform. It was a pretty skirt, and a shirt with a fancy patch, long socks, a baseball hat, and shoes. If mama has a uniform, I thought she must be on the team. Mama got the job. That night we had a party to celebrate mama's new job. Grandma baked a cake and I covered it with icing and sprinkles. We kept the radio on as we ate. We listened to news of the war, and I thought about dad. It bedtime, mama told me she hoped the war would end soon, so dad would come home. I hope so, too. The next week, grandma and grandpa took me to one of mama's games. Her team was on the field. The ball was hit high over mama's head. She jumped and reached up, I jumped and reached up to mama caught the ball. When it was mama's turn to hit, I stood. The pitcher threw the ball and mama swung her back, I swung too, and hit grandpa's bag of peanuts. Peanuts flew everywhere. When I looked back on the field, mama was standing on second base. She had hit a double, and grandpa had changed his seat. Amy moves around too much. He whispered to grandma, Amy is just playing baseball along with her mama, grandma told him, when the game was over, I ran to mama, we won, I shouted. Mama hugged and kissed me. We were so happy. Grandma, grandpa and I went to lots of mama's games. But only the ones that were nearby. Mama traveled with her team by a bust of faraway games. I stayed home and drew pictures. I love to draw. After each game, people crowded around mama, they asks her to sign pieces of paper and baseballs. One day, when we got home, I asked mama to sign a baseball for me. You don't need my autograph. She said, oh yes, I do, I told her, I want it because you're a great baseball player, and because you're my mother. That winter, whenever the ground was clear of snow and ice, mama and I went outside. We wore winter coats. I wore woolen gloves. Mama wore her baseball glove. Mama gave me a baseball and told me, throw the ball, make me reach for it, make me jump. She practiced whenever she could. Baseball is by job, she told me, and I want to be good at it. It was my job to help her. Then one morning, the next fall, mama put on her uniform. Come with me, she said, I have a surprise for you. Aren't grandma and grandpa coming to the game? No, mama said. Just you and me, and we're going to the bus station, while we walked, I asked mama. Are you taking me to a faraway game? Mama didn't answer. She just smiled. When we got to the station we waited. Then, a bus stopped and lots of people got off, some of them were soldiers. Then I saw him, my dad was getting off the bus. Mama and I ran to him. We hugged and kissed him. Mama touched his cheek and said, you look so handsome and you are uniform. That's smiled and said, and you look so pretty in yours. When we came home, grandma and grandpa met us at the front door. Grandpa wore his uniform and metal, and inside was a big, welcome home sign, and a cake. After we celebrated and ate all the cake, I took dad's hand and said, now I have a surprise for you. You do dad said. Mama, grandma, and grandpa looked at me and asked, what surprise do you have? I didn't answer. I just told that to sit in his favorite chair. I went into my room and brought out my drawings. They were of mama playing baseball. These are great dad said. Mama is a great baseball player, I said. Then I turned on the radio. It was Sunday Night. I sat on dad's lap, and we all listened and laughed to dad's favorite program, the Jack Benny show. The war was over, my dad was home.