Ballpark Mysteries #9: The Philly Fake Read online

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Text copyright © 2014 by David A. Kelly

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2014 by Mark Meyers

  All rights reserved. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

  Random House and the colophon are registered trademarks and A Stepping Stone Book and the colophon are trademarks of Random House LLC. Ballpark Mysteries® is a registered trademark of Upside Research, Inc.

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  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Kelly, David A. (David Andrew)

  The Philly fake / by David A. Kelly; illustrated by Mark Meyers.

  pages cm. — (Ballpark mysteries; 9)

  “A Stepping Stone book.”

  Summary: Cousins Mike and Kate must help the Philadelphia Phillies’ mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, clear his name after the team’s bats begin to suspiciously break during games.

  ISBN 978-0-307-97785-4 (pbk.) — ISBN 978-0-307-97786-1 (lib. bdg.) — ISBN 978-0-307-97787-8 (ebook)

  [1. Baseball—Fiction. 2. Philadelphia Phillies (Baseball team)—Fiction. 3. Mascots— Fiction. 4. Cousins—Fiction. 5. Philadelphia (Pa.)—Fiction. 6. Mystery and detective stories.] I. Meyers, Mark, illustrator. II. Title.

  PZ7.K2936Ph 2014 [Fic]—dc23 2013024343

  Random House Children’s Books supports the First Amendment and celebrates the right to read.

  v3.1

  This book is dedicated to Mark Meyers, who’s done an incredible job of bringing Mike, Kate, and the Ballpark Mysteries to life through his illustrations.

  —D.A.K.

  For the O’Neals with love

  —M.M.

  “I’m not the manager because I’m always right, but I’m always right because I’m the manager.”

  —Gene Mauch, Manager, Philadelphia Phillies, 1960–1968

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Dedication

  Chapter 1 The Crack of the Bat

  Chapter 2 Broken Bats

  Chapter 3 The Liberty Bell

  Chapter 4 A Crack in the Case

  Chapter 5 A Perfect Match

  Chapter 6 The Lost Phanatic

  Chapter 7 Green Clues

  Chapter 8 A Fabulous Fourth

  Dugout Notes

  The Phillies’ Ballpark

  THWOOMP! THWOOMP! Two hot dogs wrapped in silver foil shot into the air.

  “Quick, catch ’em!” Kate Hopkins called to her cousin Mike Walsh. They were on the walkway overlooking the Philadelphia Phillies’ baseball field.

  But the hot dog missiles soared far to the right. They dropped straight into the hands of fans in the outfield seats.

  “Drat!” Mike said. “That wasn’t even close!”

  “Don’t worry,” Kate said. “He’ll be back.”

  The Phillies’ big green mascot, the Phillie Phanatic, was zipping across the field on the back of an ATV. He wore a red and white Phillies jersey with a star on the back instead of a number. Mounted in front of him was a cannon shaped like a huge hot dog. As the Phillie Phanatic zoomed by the third-base line, he aimed the hot dog launcher at the crowd. THWOOMP! THWOOMP! More hot dogs shot into the upper deck.

  Mike and Kate were visiting Philadelphia for a big Fourth of July weekend series between the Phillies and the Mets. Kate’s mom was a sports reporter, and she often took Kate and Mike with her when she traveled for work. Her friend Carol, who worked for the Phillies, had gotten them tickets for all three games.

  The Phillie Phanatic’s ATV circled around first base. “Try waving your flags,” Carol told them. “Maybe that will get his attention.”

  With the Fourth of July just two days away, the Phillies had given small American flags to all the fans at the ballpark. Mike and Kate waved their flags high in the air.

  “Over here! Over here!” they yelled. Finally, the Phanatic drove Mike and Kate’s way.

  “This is it,” Mike said. He handed his flag to Kate’s mom and got ready.

  The Phanatic stopped. He aimed his hot dog launcher right at Mike and Kate. He pulled the trigger twice.

  THWOOMP! THWOOMP!

  Two foil-wrapped hot dogs flew straight for Kate and Mike. They stretched up on their toes to grab them, but the hot dogs sailed right over their heads!

  Behind them, two fans caught the hot dogs. They ripped off the foil and took huge bites. Meanwhile, the Phanatic’s ATV zipped off the field as the players returned. The seventh inning was just about to start. The game was tied.

  “Sorry, guys,” Carol said. “Let’s head back to our seats for the rest of the game. The Phillies only have three innings to break this tie!”

  Before they had gone very far, Kate tugged Mike’s T-shirt. She pointed to a man in a colonial costume near one of the food stands. A small group of fans crowded around him.

  “Look,” she said. “It’s Benjamin Franklin!”

  Mike’s eyes grew wide. “Really?” he asked. “Maybe he could give me some pointers for my history class!”

  “It’s not the real Ben Franklin, goofball,” Kate said. “He’d be over three hundred years old. That man is an actor.”

  “I knew that,” Mike said, rolling his eyes.

  He and Kate wormed their way to the front of the group just in time to see Ben hold up a kite and a shiny brass key.

  “Does anyone know what I did with these?” Ben asked the group.

  Kate waved her baseball cap. “I know!” she said. “You proved storm clouds have an electrical charge.”

  “Exactly.” Ben Franklin nodded. “I also invented a lightning rod, a stove, and lots of other things. Can you guess one of them?”

  “Well, I know you didn’t invent baseball!” Mike said.

  Ben Franklin smiled. “No, but I did invent bifocal glasses,” he said, touching the old-fashioned eyeglasses he wore. “They help me see both far away and close up. Maybe those umpires from yesterday’s game could have used a pair!”

  The Phillies fans laughed.

  “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” Ben said, “I have to go fly a kite!”

  The crowd clapped and drifted away. By the time Mike and Kate made it back to their seats, the game had started up again.

  For the next couple of innings, it seemed like the Phillies couldn’t catch a break. They didn’t get any runs in the seventh. The Mets scored three in the eighth. By the bottom of the ninth, the Phillies needed three runs to tie and send the game into extra innings. The first batter got a single. But the next two batters struck out. One more out, and the Phillies would lose the game.

  Poodles McGuire, the Phillies’ tough little shortstop, stepped up to the plate. He was famous for making big hits just when the team needed them. Poodles let the first pitch go by.

  STRIKE!

  “Come on, Poodles!” Kate yelled. She waved her flag wildly. Mike stamped his foot and whistled.

  When the second pitch came in, Poodles swiveled his hips and swung with all his might.

  POW!

  Mike and Kate jumped to their feet. The ball blasted off the bat. It flew high over the outfield. Home run!

  As Poodles rounded the bas
es, a neon Liberty Bell behind the outfield lit up and swung from side to side. Bright blue stars in the bell flashed on and off. A great gonging sound echoed through the stadium.

  “Wow! What’s that?” Mike asked.

  Carol leaned over to explain to Mike and Kate. “It’s a giant Liberty Bell made of neon lights,” she said. “When a Phillies player hits a home run, it lights up and looks like it’s swinging back and forth!”

  Poodles crossed home plate. Now the Phillies were only behind by one run! Nolan Addison, the Phillies right fielder and power hitter, strode up to the batter’s box. The crowd roared. Nolan twisted his cleats in the dirt and waited for the pitch.

  The Mets pitcher didn’t waste any time. He hurled a fastball. Nolan swung from his heels. The bat struck the baseball with brute force. CRACK!

  But instead of the ball launching over the fence, Nolan’s bat cracked apart. The ball bounced weakly to the pitcher, but pieces of the shattered bat flew everywhere!

  “Watch out!” Kate cried. A large piece of the bat was coming right at them!

  Everyone ducked and covered their heads.

  SPROING!

  The chunk of Nolan’s bat hit the foul-ball net in front of them.

  Kate sat up first. “Saved by the net!” she said.

  “We’re safe, but the batter wasn’t,” Carol said. “Nolan was thrown out at first. The Phillies lost because of the broken bat!”

  “That stinks! Can’t they redo it?” Kate said.

  “Nope,” Mike said. “The rules say you have to keep playing when a bat breaks. A lot of times the batter gets thrown out because the ball doesn’t go very far.”

  As the fans around them began to file out of their seats, Carol stood up. “Well, it’s too bad the Phillies lost,” she said. “But how would you like to meet the Phanatic?”

  Kate’s and Mike’s eyes lit up. “That’d be great!” Mike said. “Maybe we can take his ATV for a ride!”

  Mrs. Hopkins laughed. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea,” she said. “But you can ask. Don’t forget your programs.”

  Mike and Kate picked up the two baseball programs they had bought before the game. Each had a big picture of the Phillie Phanatic on the cover. They made their way with Mrs. Hopkins and Carol through the stadium to a wide hallway below the stands. The area bustled with stadium workers. A short, squat man with a bushy beard nodded at Carol.

  “That’s the fifth game we’ve lost because of a shattered bat!” he said. “My grounds crew is beginning to wonder if it’s the Phanatic’s fault. You never know what type of joke he’s going to play next!”

  “I doubt the Phanatic had anything to do with the broken bats,” Carol said. “But thanks for the tip, John.”

  John grabbed a long rake and headed out a tunnel to the field. Carol turned back to Mike, Kate, and Mrs. Hopkins. “That’s John, the head groundskeeper,” she said. “Don’t mind him. He’s a bit jealous of all the attention the Phanatic gets.”

  Just then, Carol’s phone buzzed. She checked the screen. “I have to run up to the main office,” she said. “The Phanatic should be back any time now. Wait here. He wants to say hi to you.”

  Ten minutes after Carol left, Mike heard a beeping noise. The Phanatic drove up the hallway on a smaller ATV than the one he had used to shoot hot dogs. He pulled to a stop in front of Mike and Kate and gave them a big wave. When he saw their baseball programs, he grabbed a black marker in his right hand and reached for Mike’s program.

  “I think he wants to sign it,” Mrs. Hopkins said.

  Mike held out his program. The Phanatic took it in his left hand and scrawled a big Phillie Phanatic across the front. He did the same for Kate. Then he nodded at the back of his ATV.

  “You want us to climb on?” Kate asked. The Phanatic gave her a thumbs-up. Kate looked at Mike with a huge smile.

  “Can we, Mom?” she asked. “We’ll hold on tight!”

  “Sure,” Mrs. Hopkins said. “But if he asks you to drive, the answer is no!”

  Mike and Kate climbed on the small rack on the back of the Phanatic’s ATV. There was just enough room for them both to sit down. Their legs dangled over the edge.

  The Phanatic’s ATV zoomed off down the hallway. BEEP! BEEP! The Phanatic tooted the horn as they passed stadium workers cleaning up after the game.

  Mike and Kate held on tight. Their feet hung just above the concrete floor. It felt like they were going a million miles an hour.

  “Woo-hoo!” Mike cried. “I guess this is what it would feel like if our car didn’t have doors.”

  At the far end, the Phanatic turned around, and they sped back. Kate’s brown ponytail trailed out behind her. Her smile was as wide as the hallway. When they reached Mrs. Hopkins, Mike and Kate hopped off and gave the Phanatic a high five.

  “That was so cool!” Mike said.

  The Phanatic parked his ATV in front of a green door. A sign on the door read PHILLIE PHANATIC LOCKER ROOM. The Phanatic held up a finger, asking them to wait. Then he went inside and shut the door.

  “I guess he doesn’t like to talk,” Kate said.

  “But if he did, I’ll bet his voice WOULD … SOUND … LIKE … THIS,” Mike said in a deep monster voice.

  The door opened again, and a man with brown curly hair popped his head out of the room.

  “Hello there. Thanks for waiting. I’m Phil,” he said as he shook their hands. “I help the Phanatic out with everything he does.”

  Kate winked at Mike. “We understand,” she said. “Maybe you can tell him we said thanks for the ride!”

  Phil smiled. “Sure, but I think he already knows,” he said. “Would you like to see his locker room?”

  “Yes!” Mike and Kate said together.

  Phil stepped back and pulled the door all the way open. Mrs. Hopkins, Kate, and Mike went in. Another door in the back wall had a sign on it that read PRIVATE. Pictures of the Phillie Phanatic posing with famous people covered the wall to the right.

  Mike pointed at a big picture in the middle of the wall. “Wow, there’s the president!” he said. The Phanatic held a giant marker in his right hand and was signing an autograph.

  “And there’s Merri Monroe, the Olympic gymnast,” Kate said, pointing at the next photo. It showed a young woman standing on her hands next to the Phanatic. He was signing the bottom of her shoes.

  After looking at the pictures, Mike, Kate, and Mrs. Hopkins took in the rest of the room. In one corner were a chair, a desk, and a big couch. A second desk stood against the left wall. The man sitting at it swiveled around in his chair.

  “Hey, you’re Ben Franklin!” Mike said. “We saw you earlier with your kite.”

  Ben laughed. “That’s me,” he said. He waved his old-fashioned three-cornered hat at them. “It’s a pleasure to see you again.”

  “Ben shares the Phillie Phanatic’s locker room,” Phil said. “He comes to a lot of the Phillies’ home games, but you’ll also see him at historic sites around the city. People love to have their picture taken with him!”

  “That’s right. This weekend I’ll be at the tall ships festival at the river, on a ship called the Eagle,” Ben said. “You should stop by Penn’s Landing for the colonial costume contest on Saturday. The winner gets to throw out the first pitch for the Phillies’ big game on the Fourth of July!”

  “Really?” Mike said. “I’d love to throw out the first pitch!”

  “Maybe I could be Betsy Ross,” Kate said. “We’re going to see her house tomorrow.”

  “Good idea,” Mrs. Hopkins said. “We can look for costumes after we visit the real Liberty Bell.”

  Just then, Carol stepped into the room, clutching a couple of sheets of paper.

  “Sorry to interrupt,” she said. “But you have to take a look at this.”

  Carol handed Phil a letter. He let out a low whistle as he read it, and then dropped it on his desk. They all gathered around to read the note.

  Someone had cut out letters of all shapes an
d sizes from magazines and newspapers and glued them onto the page.

  “Oh no!” Kate gasped as she read the words.

  GET RID OF THE PHILLIE PHANATIC’S FRIEND PHIL. HE’S THE ONE MAKING THE BATS BREAK!

  “I haven’t done anything to the Phillies’ bats,” Phil protested. He pointed to the letter. “You know it isn’t true. Someone’s out to get me!”

  Carol stood near the door with her arms crossed. “That’s what I thought at first,” she said. “I didn’t believe you’d tamper with the bats.”

  “Maybe the Phillies’ security people can find out where the letter came from,” Mrs. Hopkins said.

  “I had them check it over last week,” Carol said. “They didn’t find any clues.”

  “You’ve had the letter for a week?” Phil asked. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I figured someone was playing a joke on you,” Carol said. “After security checked the letter, I thought we’d be able to forget about it. That’s why I didn’t mention it. But we just got another one, and I’m beginning to wonder.”

  Carol held out her other hand. In it was a second piece of paper. “Someone slipped this note under my office door during tonight’s game,” she said.

  The note looked just like the first one, with all different types of letters.

  STILL DON’T BELIEVE ME THAT PHIL’S YOUR PROBLEM? CHECK PHIL’S DESK. IT’S THE BREAK IN THE CASE YOU WERE HOPING FOR!

  Phil’s eyes grew wide. “What does that mean?” he asked.

  Carol crossed the room to Phil’s desk. “Can you open the drawers, Phil?”

  “I don’t believe this,” Phil said. “Someone’s really out to get me.” He pulled one drawer open after another. But they only held Phillie Phanatic stickers and pictures. After the last drawer, he shrugged. “See, nothing there.”

  “Then we need to check under the desk,” Carol said. “Kate and Mike, can you look?”

  Kate and Mike dropped to their knees. As Mike peeked under the desk, he sucked in his breath. “Oh boy,” he said.

  Kate scrambled forward and swept her arm under the desk.