The World Series Curse Read online

  Louie straightened up. “See? She’s not out to get us,” he said.

  Mike pulled out his phone. “I’m not sure about that,” he said. “Think of all the money she’ll lose if the Cubs win the World Series.”

  Ms. Sanders held up her hand. “Hold on,” she said. “I do make money selling Billy Goat Curse stuff. But that doesn’t mean I want the Cubs to lose!”

  Mike swiped through the pictures on his phone. “Aha!” he said when he spotted the one he was looking for. Mike held the phone up.

  “It sure looks like you’re planning on the Red Sox winning this year,” Mike said. “That’s why you had this other T-shirt made.”

  Ms. Sanders looked at the phone and then burst out laughing.

  “You think I’m the one causing trouble for the Cubs?” she said. “Just because you found that T-shirt?”

  Mike and Kate nodded.

  “Okay, well, explain this,” Ms. Sanders said.

  She reached into her bag and pulled out another T-shirt. This one was the same yellow color as the one Mike saw, but instead of Billy wearing red socks, it had a picture of him eating a pair of red socks. Underneath the picture it read: Time for a New Pair of Sox!

  “I have to design and print T-shirts weeks in advance so they’re ready right after the final game,” Ms. Sanders said. “I need both winning and losing T-shirts because I don’t know who will win! You only saw the losing one, but this is the winning one.”

  She handed the shirt with the goat chewing the red socks to Mike and Kate. They looked at it and gave it back.

  “So you’re not the one who untied the goat or called the umpires about the scuffed baseballs in Boston?” Kate asked.

  Ms. Sanders laughed. “No,” she said. “I want the Cubs to win as much as Louie does! I’d be happy to give Billy a year off. I would miss making some money, but I would pay anything to have the Cubs win the World Series.”

  “Well, I’ll do everything I can so we win,” Louie said. He looked at the smelly baseballs and nodded to the attendant. “Let’s get rid of those and get some fresh rubbing mud.”

  “I’m afraid you can’t,” said a voice from behind them. “That would be cheating!”

  Everyone turned to look. It was one of the umpires! Right behind him was Red Remy, the reporter.

  Louie wrinkled his nose. “But they stink,” he said. “We can’t use them in the game!”

  “You’re right,” the umpire said. “I’ll need to keep them as evidence. We’ve had a report that the Cubs are trying to cheat.”

  Red stepped forward. “I got a phone call from a man with a deep voice telling me the Cubs were not preparing the baseballs right,” he said. “But the man wouldn’t tell me his name.”

  The umpire gathered up the smelly baseballs. He put them in a bag, along with the jar of rubbing mud. Then he closed the bag and stared at Louie. “There will be a full investigation,” he said. “Once we find out who did this, they’ll be punished. If it was someone on the Cubs, the team may be disciplined!”

  The umpire left the room. Louie shook his head. “More bad luck!” he said. “The Cubs are doomed!”

  Red patted Louie on the shoulder. “Come on, Louie,” he said. “I don’t have to start work for a little bit. Let me grab your bat and we can go down to the batting cage to warm up. It’ll get your mind off this trouble.”

  Louie nodded. “I’ll see you two later,” he said to Mike and Kate. Then he winked at Mike. “I hear you’re rooting for the Cubs. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I could use some good luck.”

  Mike held up both his hands. He showed Louie four sets of crossed fingers. “I’ve got you covered, Louie,” he said with a big smile.

  Louie gave Mike a fist bump. “Thanks, Mike,” he said. He headed toward the door, where Red was waiting with Louie’s bat.

  Mike and Kate followed them out into the hallway. Then they found their way to Wrigley Field’s main walkway. All around, workers were busy getting the field and food stands ready for the sixth World Series game.

  Mike pointed to the outfield wall. “Looks like the ivy has all grown back!” he said. Wrigley Field’s outfield wall was covered in green ivy that had been planted to make the stadium seem like a park. It was so bushy that sometimes baseballs got lost in it! The last time Mike and Kate were at Wrigley, they helped figure out who had been cutting down chunks of the ivy.

  Since it was still a while before game time, Mike and Kate spent the next hour exploring Wrigley Field. They started by taking pictures of themselves in front of Wrigley’s giant hand-operated scoreboard.

  Mike scrambled underneath the scoreboard and looked at the metal ladder that disappeared into the bottom of it. During their last trip to Wrigley, Mike and Kate had gotten to go inside the scoreboard.

  Then Mike and Kate found their way to the upper level. They peered down over the side and watched fans stream into the stadium. Soon batting practice started. Mike and Kate watched as players hit one ball after another over Wrigley’s left field wall. The balls fell into the street below, where fans scrambled to grab them.

  When the game started, the Red Sox came out strong. The first batter, Eddie Storm, hit a single. The next batter nailed a double, knocking Eddie in for a run. The Red Sox were ahead by one!

  It wasn’t a good start for the Cubs. “Louie and the team should put a uniform on the goat and get him on the field,” Mike said to Kate. “Maybe that would bring some good luck.”

  “Well, Billy did hit your baseball pretty hard at Fenway,” Kate said. “He might be able to knock one out of the park here!”

  Mike laughed. He felt better a few innings later when Louie tied the game for the Cubs. But soon after, the Red Sox scored again.

  “Argh!” Mike said. “The Cubs just can’t catch a break.”

  “But maybe we can,” Kate said. “Let’s take a break and get some food!”

  Mike jumped up. “That’s a great idea,” he said. He and Kate found their way to a food stand. They bought two giant hot dogs covered with mustard, onions, and super-bright neon green relish.

  In the sixth inning, the Cubs fell further behind when a Red Sox player hit a double and knocked in two runners. That put the Red Sox up by three runs.

  When the Cubs got up to bat, they struck out one-two-three. The seventh inning wasn’t any better. The Cubs got two runners on base, but then three outs in a row.

  “Even I’m beginning to think the Cubs are cursed!” Mike said.

  With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, the Cubs got two men on base, and Louie came up to bat. A home run would tie the game!

  Louie took some practice swings. He dug his foot into the dirt and held the bat up high. He waved the tip of the bat in small circles above his shoulder.

  Then the Red Sox pitcher made a mistake. He threw a fastball down the middle. It was the perfect pitch for Louie! Louie unwound and swung the bat.

  CRACK!

  Louie’s bat connected perfectly with the ball. But the ball bounced weakly down the third base line because the bat exploded into a dozen pieces!

  Louie sprinted for first base while his teammates advanced.

  But seconds later, the home plate umpire held up his hands. Splinters of wood were everywhere, and something else had scattered across the field, too. The umpire picked up a few of the objects and called another umpire over. A moment later, they motioned to Louie and his manager.

  The crowd booed. Louie and the Cubs manager had a meeting near home plate with the two umpires. They examined Louie’s bat while another umpire tried to clean up the field.

  Louie’s manager began arguing with an umpire. The umpire pointed to the piece of bat in his hand.

  “I’m not sure about this,” the stadium’s announcer said. “But it looks like the umpire thinks Louie might have used a corked bat!”

  Instantly, a large “boo!” rose from the crowd. Cubs fans started a loud chant: “Lou-IE! Lou-IE! Lou-IE!”

  “What’s a corked bat?”
Kate asked.

  “It’s when someone hollows out the center of a bat and fills it with cork or something else bouncy,” Mike said. “It lets the player hit the ball faster and farther. But it’s illegal.”

  Louie’s manager continued to argue until the umpire took a couple of steps away. He swung his right shoulder back and threw his arm high over his head.

  Louie was being ejected from the game!

  “BOO!” yelled the Cubs fans. They pounded on the seats.

  Kate shook her head. “It’s not fair!” she said. “Louie wouldn’t cheat!”

  Mike nodded. “But it sure looks like there was something inside his bat,” he said. “Maybe someone messed with Louie’s bat just to get him thrown out!”

  After Louie walked off the field, the game continued. But losing Louie took all the life out of the Cubs and their fans.

  The crowd started to cheer a little in the ninth inning when the Cubs got up, but it was no use. The Cubs struck out one after another, one-two-three.

  The game was over. The Cubs had lost. The World Series was tied. Whichever team won the next game would win the World Series!

  As the crowd thinned out, Kate nudged Mike. “Look, Louie’s by the dugout,” she said. She hopped up and ran down the aisle. Mike followed.

  Louie was walking back and forth on the field searching for something. He finally picked up the handle of a bat from the grass along the side of the field. When he saw Mike and Kate, he walked over slowly.

  Louie didn’t look directly at Mike or Kate. Instead, he shook his head and motioned at the umpires on the far side of the field.

  “I can’t believe it! They’re suspending me for the last game!” Louie said. “I finally made it to the World Series, and I get kicked out now, when the Cubs need me!”

  “That’s horrible,” Kate said. “What happened to your bat?”

  Louie shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said. “It was fine during batting practice. Someone messed with it! Look what they put inside!”

  Louie tossed something to Kate. She caught it. It was a small, clear bouncy ball with sparkly gold stars inside it!

  “A bouncy ball?” Kate asked. She handed the ball to Mike.

  “Yup,” said Louie. “Someone hollowed out the bat and filled it with these. They make the baseball go farther. When the bat broke, these fell out all over the field. The umpires took the rest of them for evidence, but they gave this one to me.”

  While Kate and Mike examined the ball, Louie unwrapped the tape from what was left of the handle of his bat.

  “Just what I thought!” he said. “This isn’t one of my bats! I always carve my initials in the handle, under the tape.”

  Mike and Kate looked at the bat. There weren’t any initials. Someone had switched Louie’s bat!

  Louie turned to go. “I have to get back to my locker to pack up my things,” he said. “Maybe I’ll be sitting with you tomorrow watching the game.”

  Kate tried to return the bouncy ball to Louie, but he waved her off.

  “I don’t want that,” he said. “It’s bad luck. Maybe you two can turn it into some good luck for me before tomorrow!”

  Kate pushed a piece of paper across the table to Mike. “It’s all we have,” she said. “There isn’t much to go on.”

  Mike and Kate were in the pressroom at Wrigley Field. They had come early so Kate’s mom could do some work. Mike and Kate were still trying to figure out who was after the Cubs.

  Mike picked up the piece of paper. It was the note that Kate had found tied around Billy’s neck back in Boston.

  Kate tapped the note. “Check out the handwriting,” she said. “The d’s and o’s are boxy and square. All we have to do is find out who wrote this note and we’ll know who’s making the Cubs lose!”

  Mike let out a sigh. “But that could be anyone!” he said.

  Kate nodded. “But we know that it’s someone who travels with the team or had access to both stadiums. And it’s someone who can get into the clubhouse, because they swapped the mud.”

  “I wish we knew more about people who work for the Cubs,” Mike said.

  “Me too,” Kate said. She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “Hey, I know someone who does! Let’s go ask Red Remy.”

  Mike’s face broke into a wide smile. “Great idea,” he said. “High five!”

  They smacked a high five and then started walking down the long row of desks in the pressroom. Reporters’ names were written in black marker at each desk so they would know where to sit. Mike and Kate walked along the back row of workstations looking for Red’s name.

  Red wasn’t at his desk. He was standing on the next level with another reporter. They were talking and laughing.

  “It’s too bad it worked out this way,” Red said. “This should have been the White Sox’s World Series. Instead, we’re stuck with the Cubs.”

  Mike grabbed Kate’s arm and pulled her down under the rows of desks above Red. There was a small gap between the floor and the front of the desk. “Shh!” Mike whispered. Then he put his eye up to the small gap. Kate did the same thing.

  It was easy to see and hear Red and the other reporter from their hidden spot under the desk!

  “Back in Boston, it sure seemed like the Cubs were about to win the series,” the other reporter said.

  Red nodded. “I know,” he said. “But it’s good that Boston has come back. You know what I say. I’ve got two favorite teams: the White Sox, and whoever’s beating the Cubs!”

  The other reporter laughed. “Well, now that Louie Lopez is suspended, it looks like that will be the Red Sox tonight,” he said.

  Red giggled. “Just the way it should be,” he said.

  Mike’s eyes widened as he looked at Kate.

  “Follow me,” she whispered, and tugged Mike’s arm.

  She crept out from under the desk and shot back to the table across the room. Mike followed. When they got there, Kate pulled out the note from the goat again.

  “Did you hear that?” Mike asked.

  “Yes,” Kate said. “And it made me think of something. Hang on.” She stood up and fished around in her back pocket for something. A moment later, she pulled out another piece of paper and plopped it on the table next to the goat note. It was the index card that Red had written his contact information on for them back in Boston.

  Kate lined up the notes and studied them. Her eyes widened. She tapped the goat note. “Do you see what I’m seeing?” she asked.

  Mike stared at the notes and nodded. “Yup,” he said. “They were written by the same person.”

  Mike was right. The d’s and o’s in both notes were boxy and square. And the slope and spacing of all the letters and words matched. The handwriting was exactly the same!

  “Red’s the one who’s been messing up the Cubs!” Kate said. “And now we know why.”

  “Because he’s a White Sox fan!” Mike said. “He’s trying to sabotage the Cubs so the Red Sox can win!”

  “We’ve got to tell Louie,” Kate said.

  Mike was about to agree when something caught his eye. It was Red. He had a black bag slung over his shoulder, and he was opening the pressroom door.

  “We don’t have time,” Mike said. “Red’s taking off. We’ve got to follow him!”

  Kate and Mike followed Red as he wound his way through Wrigley Field. Red used his press pass to get by the security guards. Mike and Kate waited for a minute and then showed security the passes they’d gotten from Louie.

  Red stopped just outside the Cubs’ clubhouse. As he checked something inside his shoulder bag, Mike and Kate squeezed past some trash carts and hid behind a large pole. From their hiding point, they had a clear view of both Red and the door.

  “We’d better document this,” Kate whispered to Mike. She took out her phone and snapped a few pictures of Red. Then she turned on the video recorder just as Red reached into his bag and pulled out a small clear bottle of yellow liquid. He looked around to make sure no one
was watching, and then took the top off and smelled it. His face scrunched up, and he stuck out his tongue. Red quickly capped the bottle.

  “Are you getting this?” Mike whispered.

  Kate nodded. She continued to record Red as he pulled two more bottles out of his bag. Red checked again to make sure that no one was around. Then he opened the clubhouse door a crack and threw all three bottles inside!

  CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

  Mike and Kate could hear the bottles breaking open on the concrete floor. Red closed the door and moved around the corner. A strange smell wafted into the hallway.

  Red called out to the security guard farther up the hallway.

  “Help! Someone just threw something in the clubhouse!” Red said.

  The security guard came running. But he stopped a few feet away. “Oh, man! What’s that smell?” he asked. “It’s like rotten eggs.”

  Red pointed down the hallway. “A man with a red hat just came and threw some stink bombs inside the Cubs’ clubhouse!” he said. “I tried to stop him, but he got away.”

  “But he’s the one who just threw the bottles in there!” Kate whispered.

  “He’s trying to blame someone else,” Mike said. “He did the same thing when he let the goat loose! He’s the troublemaker!”

  “We’ve got to show this video to Louie,” Kate said. “He’s probably at the batting cage. We have to stop Red before he does anything else!”

  Mike and Kate sneaked back past Red and the security guard. They ran through the hallways to the Cubs’ batting cage. Louie was busy hitting pitches. Mike and Kate waved to catch his attention. Louie let the bat drop. He motioned for Mike and Kate to come over.

  “You’ll never believe what we just found!” Mike said. “Your friend Red is the one creating all the trouble for the Cubs! Check out this video!”