“Wow. I never thought of it like that.” Derek had hit way better than .333 for his Little League career. He felt a sudden flush of pride go through him.
“You know, Derek, you seem pretty wound up yourself lately,” his dad said, taking him by surprise. “Maybe you should consider some of this stuff too.”
“I’m fine, Dad. It’s Avery I’m worried about.”
“Well, then, tell Avery to go out there and just have fun. Tell her that her brother would be proud of her, no matter what happens. Win or lose.”
Derek nodded. He knew his dad was right.
Mr. Jeter continued, “I seem to recall that your teams haven’t won championships every time. But you’re still crazy about baseball.”
“That’s for sure,” Derek said, grinning.
“And you’ve still got big dreams for yourself, right?”
“Totally!”
“You know, I had big baseball dreams, just like you.”
“I know, Dad.”
“I didn’t get there in the end, but maybe you will, Derek. Anyway, I wouldn’t have traded that time for anything. And I enjoyed every minute.”
“Thanks, Dad,” Derek said, getting up and giving him a hug. “Thanks for that.”
“Remember, it’s fine to be serious about things. It’s fine to care with all your heart. But you’ve got to be able to enjoy the ride, win or lose. Always go out to do the best you can and have fun along the way.”
Chapter Nine GIANT KILLERS?
Swinging a pair of bats to limber up, Derek looked into the stands. There was his mom, talking to Vijay’s parents. The Patels had Saturday off for a change and seemed excited and happy to be there.
And there was Avery’s mom, standing in the back row of the bleachers, next to the older boys who served with her as Avery’s cheering section. Avery’s mom had been at almost every game, but Derek had never really met her, except to shake hands once.
But one thing about her—she was into it. Right now she stood facing Avery, her hands on Avery’s shoulders as the two of them leaned their heads in together. It looked to Derek like a very private, very intense pep talk. When it was over, Avery’s mom worked her daughter’s shoulders, then clapped them one last time. Avery nodded, blowing off big breaths like they were clouds of tension.
Derek wondered if Avery’s mom was as stressed out as her daughter was.
“Yanks, huddle up!” Coach K called out. Derek joined the rest of the team as they gathered around for their pregame pep talk.
“Okay, guys,” said Coach Stafford. “This is our biggest game yet.”
“Yeah! Yeah!” The Yanks were already psyched to the max. Derek joined in, raising both bats in the air.
“Now, these guys are really good,” the coach went on. “You remember them from the regular season. They’re undefeated for a reason. So… I don’t want you to be too disappointed if we don’t win today.”
Huh? Derek couldn’t believe his ears! Was their coach really trying to prepare them to lose?
“I want you to remember, guys—and girl,” Coach Stafford added with a nod to Avery, “we’ve already had a great, great season. Right?”
There was a weak echo from a few of the kids, but Derek could tell they were already getting bummed out by their coach’s tone. Wasn’t this supposed to be a chance to rev them up? Why was he trying to let them down easy—in advance?
Now more than ever, Derek wished it were his dad and Chase who were leading them into battle. But Derek also knew that you go to war with the coaches you have, not the ones you wish you had.
“I want you all to go out there today and just have fun,” Coach Stafford finished. “Have a blast—and may the best team win. Hopefully, the ball bounces our way, right?”
He clapped his hands twice, but nobody else joined in. “Okay, let’s do our cheer! Here we go—hands in.” They piled their mitts on top of one another and yelled, “Goooo, Yanks!” Then they broke off to play ball.
Derek glanced over at Avery. She looked as upset as he felt.
Well, of course! Sure, you had to enjoy every moment. But Derek only knew one way to compete—full-out. And he knew that went double for Avery. “Hey,” he said, trying to get her to smile. “Just like we do it on the Hill, right? Nice and loose.”
Avery almost smiled, but not quite. At the last minute she turned away, to be alone again for one final moment with her private thoughts.
She and Derek had both shown up early today, as planned, to practice their double-play pivots and footwork. Vijay had come along, to help them out by playing first base.
After half an hour of drilling, their timing in the infield felt almost automatic. Derek only hoped it would help during the game.
As the playoff team with the worse regular-season record, the Yanks were the visitors today. Derek grabbed his bat and went to the on-deck circle, while Mason dug in at home plate.
Derek knew that the Giants had been routing opponents all season. They’d scored a ton of runs, and they had two shut-down pitchers—which was two more than most teams in the league.
It was going to take the Yankees’ best effort to win this game. And more—it was going to take some luck and creativity to keep up with the mighty Giants. The Yankees were going to have to cash in on any breaks they got.
And they got one right away! Mason reached for a low outside pitch and sent a looping fly to short left. It fell just out of reach of the shortstop and third baseman, who nearly collided in the process.
Derek picked up some dirt from the ground and rubbed it between his palms, in case they were sweaty. With this pitcher you had to swing your hardest just to keep up with his fastballs, and
