The World Series Curse Read online

  Also by David A. Kelly

  THE BALLPARK MYSTERIES

  #1 The Fenway Foul-Up

  #2 The Pinstripe Ghost

  #3 The L.A. Dodger

  #4 The Astro Outlaw

  #5 The All-Star Joker

  #6 The Wrigley Riddle

  #7 The San Francisco Splash

  #8 The Missing Marlin

  #9 The Philly Fake

  #10 The Rookie Blue Jay

  #11 The Tiger Troubles

  #12 The Rangers Rustlers

  THE MVP SERIES

  #1 The Gold Medal Mess

  #2 The Soccer Surprise

  #3 The Football Fumble

  #4 The Basketball Blowout

  Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse

  To all the independent bookstores (such as Newtonville Books in my hometown) that help connect readers with great books.

  —D.A.K.

  To David A. Kelly, thanks for creating such a wonderful series ofmysteries with characters that are so fun to read about and to draw!

  —M.M.

  “Baseball was, is and always will be to me the best game in the world.”

  —Babe Ruth

  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 © 2016 by David A. Kelly

  Cover art and interior illustrations copyright © 2016 by Mark Meyers

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

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

  Visit us on the Web!

  SteppingStonesBooks.com

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  Educators and librarians, for a variety of teaching tools, visit us at RHTeachersLibrarians.com

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Kelly, David A. (David Andrew). | Meyers, Mark, illustrator.

  Title: Ballpark mysteries super special. The World Series curse / by David A. Kelly ; illustrated by Mark Meyers.

  Description: New York : Random House Books for Young Readers, [2016] | Series: Ballpark mysteries | “A Stepping Stone Book.” | Summary: Mike and Kate must solve a mystery during a World Series between the Cubs and the Red Sox when someone starts ruining equipment, getting players in trouble, and even stirring up an old baseball curse.

  Identifiers: LCCN 2015038986 | ISBN 978-0-385-37884-0 (paperback) | ISBN 978-0-385-37885-7 (hardcover library binding) | ISBN 978-0-385-37886-4 (ebook)

  Subjects: | CYAC: Baseball—Fiction. | Blessing and cursing—Fiction. | Chicago Cubs (Baseball team)—Fiction. | Boston Red Sox (Baseball team)—Fiction. | Mystery and detective stories. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Baseball & Softball. | JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stories. | JUVENILE FICTION / People & Places / United States / General.

  Classification: LCC PZ7.K2936 Bal 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  Ebook ISBN 9780385378864

  This book has been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System.

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

  v4.1

  ep

  Contents

  Cover

  Also by David A. Kelly

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Copyright

  Chapter 1: A Goat Goes By

  Chapter 2: The Curse

  Chapter 3: A Double-Crossing Goat

  Chapter 4: A Close Call

  Chapter 5: A Muddy Mess

  Chapter 6: Cheating Cubs

  Chapter 7: A Bad Break

  Chapter 8: Corked!

  Chapter 9: A Note from the Suspect

  Chapter 10: A Called Shot

  Chapter 11: A Tiebreaker

  Chapter 12: A Winning Series

  Chapter 13: Trick and Treat!

  Dugout Notes

  “Quick, take a picture of me in the Ted Williams seat before other fans get here!” Mike Walsh said to his cousin Kate Hopkins.

  Mike and Kate were at Boston’s Fenway Park for the fifth game of the World Series. The Red Sox were playing the Chicago Cubs, and the Cubs were ahead three games to one. Boston needed to win that night’s game or their season would be over.

  Mike dropped down into one of the seats in Fenway Park’s bleacher section. The seats all around them were green. But the one Mike sat in was bright red.

  Mike pulled out an old-fashioned straw hat and slipped it on. Then he balanced a baseball on its brim and looked at Kate. Mike made funny faces as Kate snapped pictures and giggled.

  “That’s perfect!” Kate said. “It looks just like the ball is hitting you in the head!”

  “That’s the idea,” he said. He popped up from the red seat. “This is where Boston’s great hitter Ted Williams hit the longest home run at Fenway. It went through a fan’s hat!” Mike swiped through the pictures on Kate’s phone. “These are cool. I can post them on the website with the story I wrote about Ted Williams.”

  Mike and Kate loved baseball and visiting baseball stadiums. Mike even ran a website for kids about baseball.

  Mike took a few pictures of the red seat in a sea of green seats. It was still two hours before game time, so the stadium was empty. “That is where the fan was sitting when it happened,” he said. “The Red Sox made this seat red in celebration of that Ted Williams’ hit.”

  When Mike finished taking pictures, he and Kate headed back into the hallways of Fenway Park to meet up with Kate’s mom. She was a sports reporter. She had brought Mike and Kate with her to Fenway Park so they could watch the World Series while she worked in the pressroom. It was a dream come true for them!

  “Kate! Mike!” said a voice.

  “Hola,” said another.

  Mike and Kate turned around. It was Louie Lopez from the Chicago Cubs and Big D from the Boston Red Sox! They were just down the hallway with bats in their hands. Big D and Louie jogged over to the kids.

  Big D reached Mike and Kate first. “Hi, guys! Good to see you again,” he said. “My two favorite detectives.” Big D wore a big smile, like he always did. He was one of Boston’s most popular players.

  He was just about to give them a fist bump, when Louie reached out and did it first. Louie was the star center fielder for the Chicago Cubs.

  “Hey! You know Mike and Kate, too?” Big D asked.

  Louie nodded. “Sí,” he said. “Mis amigos. Mike and Kate are my friends. They helped us find out who was damaging the ivy at Wrigley Field!”

  “Muy complicado,” said Kate. “That was a tough mystery!” Kate was teaching herself Spanish. Her father was a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers and worked with lots of players from other countries who spoke Spanish.

  “Mike and Kate are great at solving mysteries,” Big D said. “They helped me find my stolen bat the last time they were at Fenway.”

  “That’s why I was hoping I’d run into them,” Louie said. He looked at Mike and Kate. “I need your help. Someone’s out to ruin the Cubs’ chance to win the World Series!”

  “Ha!” Big D said. “The only person who’s going to mess up the Cubs’ chance to win the World Series is me!” He pretended to give Louie a punch, and they play-wrestled for a minute. When they were done, they stood up and caught their breath.

  “We can settle this tonight,” Big D said, “on the field.”

>   Louie lowered his head. “We can try,” he said. “But someone is out to get us. Last night someone told the umpires that our pitchers were cheating by messing with the baseballs. The umpires found a bag with sandpaper and grease near our clubhouse. But I know that our pitchers weren’t cheating.”

  “As long as your pitchers weren’t cheating, it shouldn’t matter,” Big D said. He shrugged. “Maybe it was a Red Sox fan. They like to try to rattle the other teams. Anyway, don’t worry about it. We’ll each have another chance to win tonight!”

  Louie flexed his muscles. “I know,” he said. “That’s why I was just heading for the batting cage.”

  Before Big D could respond, they all heard a strange noise from behind them. There was a clattering of hooves on the concrete floor. It sounded like a horse galloping!

  “Help me!” someone called out. “Catch him before it’s too late!”

  Everyone wheeled around. They spotted a woman in a yellow T-shirt. The shirt had a big picture of a billy goat on its front. And there, just a few feet away from her, was a billy goat with big curled horns and a flowing white beard.

  And it was charging right at them!

  The goat blew past them. Big D and Louie Lopez took off running to catch it, but Kate zoomed ahead of them. The goat skittered around a corner and started down a long brick hallway under the Fenway Park stands. It was headed for an open doorway and the sunshine outside.

  Just as the goat was about to bound through the door, Kate snagged the length of cord that was dragging behind it and held tight. She slowed down and planted her heels. Her sneakers slid for a moment on the concrete, and then the rope drew tight. The goat struggled to reach the door, but suddenly it stopped tugging. Louie, Big D, and Mike pulled up next to Kate. By this time, the goat had found an old bag of popcorn to nibble on.

  “Thank you!” said the woman in the yellow shirt. She started scratching the goat’s ears and gave it a big kiss. It nuzzled her back.

  “What’s a goat doing at Fenway Park?” Kate asked. She scratched the top of the goat’s head gently.

  “You’ve never heard of the Billy Goat Curse?” Louie asked. “It’s followed us to Fenway. The guys on the Cubs think we might lose the World Series because of it!”

  Mike and Kate shook their heads.

  “I’ve heard about the Curse of the Bambino,” Mike said. “That’s when the Red Sox were cursed because they sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees.”

  “That’s a different one,” Louie said. “Ms. Sanders can tell you about the Billy Goat Curse. She’s the owner of the Billy Goat Diner in Chicago.”

  The woman in the yellow shirt stood up. She shook hands with Mike and Kate. “I’m Sandra Sanders,” she said. “A long time ago, the Cubs kicked my grandfather out of Wrigley Field because he brought his pet goat to the game. They said it smelled. My grandfather was angry that the Cubs made him leave, so he put a curse on the Cubs. He said the Cubs would never win another World Series because they weren’t nice to his goat!”

  Mike leaned over near the goat. He sniffed a few times. “Smells okay to me,” he said. “But what’s your goat doing here in Boston?”

  “Well, my grandfather died a long time ago, so the Cubs are trying to lift the curse by being nice to me and my goat, Billy,” Ms. Sanders said. “They’ve asked us to come to all the Cubs games this year. They hope that Billy will help break the curse, so the Cubs will win the World Series!”

  Mike looked at Big D. “But aren’t the Red Sox worried they’ll lose if the Cubs break the curse?” he asked.

  Big D waved his hand and laughed. “We don’t care about a goat,” he said. “Louie and his Cubs could bring a whole farm with them if they wanted. I don’t think it’s going to help them win the series this year.”

  “Well, we need all the good luck we can get,” Louie said. He reached over to pet the goat.

  Ms. Sanders handed Mike and Kate a business card for the goat. It read:

  LET THE BILLY GOAT IN

  AND LET THE CURSE GO!

  THIS YEAR OR NEXT, IT’S THE CUBS!

  The back of the card listed all the billy goat stuff Ms. Sanders sold, including Billy Goat Club memberships. It also gave the goat’s website, where fans could send comments or ask for funny advice from the goat.

  “Fans sure love the goat, even if they don’t like the curse,” Ms. Sanders said. “Billy and I keep really busy selling Billy Goat Curse hats, T-shirts, and more. If we’re lucky, someday the curse will be broken. But hopefully not before Billy retires!” Ms. Sanders gave a short laugh that was interrupted by a man running down the hallway.

  He was an older man in a blue dress shirt and a polka-dot bow tie. The man stopped right in front of the goat.

  “Red, what happened?” Ms. Sanders asked the man. “You were supposed to be watching Billy while I was at lunch!”

  Red brushed his hair back. “I was,” he said. “I checked on Billy a few minutes ago, and he was tied up just where you left him. There was a man in a blue jacket talking on a phone near him, but everything was okay until I came back just now. Billy must have chewed through the rope.”

  “Well, Kate here caught him, so we’re all set,” Ms. Sanders said.

  Louie slapped Red on the back. “Hi, Red! Good to see you,” he said. “Mike and Kate, this is my good friend Red Remy. He’s one of the most famous sports reporters in Chicago. Unfortunately, he’s a big fan of Chicago’s other major-league team, the Chicago White Sox. But at least he’s not a fan of the Boston Red Sox!”

  Red blushed and straightened his bow tie. He dropped his black messenger bag to the ground. “Well, the White Sox are my favorite team. But if they don’t make the World Series, I guess the Cubs are the next best thing,” he said. “But I hope next year it will be the White Sox!”

  While they were talking, Mike examined the goat’s rope. “Hey, this rope has a nice clean end. Someone must have untied him or cut the rope,” he said.

  Red laughed lightly. “Hmmm, it could have been that man in the blue jacket. I didn’t think anything of it at the time, but he was near the goat.”

  Mike’s eyes lit up. “What did he look like?” he asked. “Can you describe him?”

  Red thought for a moment. “He was about my height. He had sandy brown hair. He was wearing tan pants and a blue jacket,” he said. “And something about him looked a little shifty.”

  Kate leaned in to look at the rope while Red was answering Mike. Then she noticed the collar around the goat’s neck. There was a luggage tag attached to it. Inside was a gray piece of paper with writing on it. The words were printed in block letters in thin blue ink.

  “Um, Louie,” she said. “I think this is for you.” She pulled the luggage tag off the goat.

  “Why, what does it say?” Louie asked.

  Kate read the note.

  THE BILLY GOAT CURSE STRIKES AGAIN!

  Your Good Luck Goat Has Left the Building.

  The Cubs Will Lose the World Series!

  Louie’s shoulders sank. “See? I told you!” he said. “Someone’s out to get us!”

  Kate tried to give him the tag, but he waved her off. “No, it’s bad luck,” he said. “I don’t want it.”

  Kate studied the note. It was torn along its top. And the writing was neat, with letters that were more square than round. When she was done, Kate stuffed the note and the tag in the back pocket of her purple shorts.

  Louie nudged Red and pointed to Mike and Kate. “These two solved a big mystery for us at Wrigley Field a little while ago,” he said. “It would make a good story for you if they solved this mystery, too.”

  Red nodded. “Wow, that’s great,” he said. He picked up his black messenger bag and pulled out a pen and a stack of index cards. He wrote something on the top one and handed it to Kate. “Here’s my contact info,” he said. “Let me know if you come up with any ideas on who’s causing trouble for the Cubs.”

  “Um, sure,” Kate said. She looked at the piece of paper. It said: RED REMY,
CHICAGO SPORTS NEWS NOW, followed by his phone number. She folded the note and slipped it into her pocket.

  “Well, I’ve got to get Billy tied up again,” Ms. Sanders said. She nodded at Mike and Kate. “Thanks for catching him. Stop by tonight during the game and I’ll take a picture of you two with Billy!”

  Mike’s and Kate’s faces broke into wide grins. “Great!” Mike said.

  The group split up. Louie and Big D went to their batting cages to practice. Ms. Sanders left to tie up her goat. Red Remy went back to working on a story.

  When everyone had gone, Mike and Kate headed for their seats. The gates to Fenway had just opened, and fans were pouring in. The seats at the top of Fenway Park’s giant left field wall, known as the Green Monster, were filling with people waiting for batting practice. Groups of families with Red Sox hats, T-shirts, and even Red Sox shoes streamed past Mike and Kate.

  Kate’s mom was waiting for them at their seats, near first base.

  “Amazing view, Mrs. Hopkins!” Mike called out when he spotted Kate’s mom. Their seats were a few rows back from the infield, with a great view of the Green Monster and the Boston skyline.

  “I thought so,” Mrs. Hopkins said.

  Kate’s mom had bought some hot dogs for dinner. The three of them sat in their seats and ate as one Red Sox batter after another took batting practice. The crowd stood up and cheered when Big D hit two balls over the Green Monster seats and out of the park!

  Red Sox fans in red jerseys continued to fill in the seats as batting practice finished. The setting autumn sun gave a golden glow to the green seats. As the air grew a touch colder and the sky got darker, the huge neon Citgo sign outside the park lit up in bright neon red and blue. It was a perfect fall night for baseball.