Ballpark Mysteries Super Special #3 Page 4

  Mr. Hopkins laughed. “I don’t think that would be a great way for you to learn, Mike,” he said. “It’s better to take a test by yourself.”

  “I know,” he said. “But it would be a fun way to pull a prank on Mr. Lesch.”

  “I don’t think there’s any place you could whisper here and be heard,” Kate said.

  She was right. It was the bottom of the second inning of the final Subway Series game, and both the Yankees fans and Mets fans were going crazy. Whichever team won that night would win the series. Neither team had scored yet, but the Mets had one runner on base. Waleed Abdalati, the Mets shortstop, stepped up to the plate.

  “Go, Waleed!” Kate shouted. He had hit safely in each of the last ten games.

  The first two pitches were high and outside. Waleed didn’t swing at either. But the third pitch looked perfect. Waleed unleashed his powerful swing.

  WHAP!

  The ball flew high into the air. Waleed took off for first base. The ball sailed over the outfield fence. It was a home run! Waleed rounded first and ran for second. As he passed second, the other runner crossed home plate for a run. Then Waleed did, stomping on home plate as he scored!

  “Here comes the Home Run Apple!” Mike said. He pointed to center field.

  Unlike two days ago, the apple was bright red and had a colorful Mets logo on its front.

  “Looks like no one messed around with it today,” Kate said. She snapped a picture of it on her phone.

  When she sat back down, Mike nudged her with his elbow. “Now?” he whispered.

  “No, not yet,” Kate said. “Let’s wait until the end of the inning. I’ll ask my dad then.”

  “Okay,” Mike said. “Can I see the card he gave us?”

  Kate reached into her pocket, pulled out Rocco’s business card, and handed it to Mike.

  Mike flipped the card over. “Okay to visit!” the message on the back read, with Rocco’s signature below.

  The looping scrawl of the signature caught his eye. He studied the capital letter S. Then he pulled out his phone and found the picture he had taken of his signature in the visitors’ book at Yankee Stadium.

  Mike scrolled up a little to see the signatures above his. Then he zoomed in and glanced at the back of the business card. The swirly letter S’s matched.

  “ ‘Rocco Sampson’!” he said. “What was Rocco doing at the Yankees’ business office?”

  “What?” Kate asked.

  Mike handed her his phone and the business card. “Look at the signature a few lines above mine,” he said. “They’re exactly the same!”

  Kate stared at the visitors’ log and the card.

  “Rocco Sampson was in the Yankees’ office?” she asked. “But why?”

  Mike smiled. He reached over and zoomed in on the right side of the photo. Under the column of the form that said Reason for Visit, Rocco had written interview.

  “Because he was interviewing for a job!” Mike said. “He probably stayed for the game after. That’s why we saw him at Grand Central!”

  “But he works for the Mets!” Kate said. “He’s a Mets fan!”

  “He’s not a real Mets fan. He’s a Yankees fan!” Mike said. “That’s why he was wearing the Yankees hat with his Mets jersey!”

  Kate shrugged. “Maybe that’s okay,” she said. “There’s no law against being a Yankees fan!”

  “But it’s not okay to ruin the Mets’ Home Run Apple,” Mike said. “I’ll bet he’s the one who painted the pinstripes to support the Yankees! But I don’t know why he would have taken your mom’s notes.”

  “We have a lot to investigate!” Kate said.

  When the inning ended, Kate talked to her dad and got the okay to go check out the apple with Mike.

  But as she and Mike stood up to leave, a loud “Uh-oh!” rose from the nearby fans. They were pointing to the large video screen on the scoreboard.

  Instead of showing game highlights or player information, the screen was showing a video of the Mets’ famous mascot, Mr. Met. Mr. Met was a baseball player with a giant baseball for a head. Mets fans love Mr. Met, but they didn’t love this video!

  Loud choruses of boos rose up from the crowd. A smattering of Yankees fans cheered, but they were drowned out by the Mets fans’ negative reactions.

  Streaming across the giant scoreboard screen were videos of a Mr. Met bobblehead toy encountering trouble. The first video showed Mr. Met falling out of a tree and smashing to pieces. The second video showed Mr. Met being covered by teddy bears with Yankees jerseys. The third video seemed to show a New York Yankees sock monkey dropping Mr. Met in a toilet!

  Mike and Kate stopped in their tracks and watched the videos. Yankees fans were cheering, and Mets fans were booing.

  “Some Yankees fan must have hacked into the Mets’ scoreboard!” Mike said. “Boy, they’ll do anything to get the Mets!”

  Mr. Hopkins shook his head. “That might rile up the fans, but it’s going to take more than a few silly videos to throw the Mets off tonight,” he said. “I know it’s their night to win!”

  “Don’t be so sure of that, Mr. H,” Mike said. “The Yankees are the real winners in New York City! Check the World Series statistics!”

  Mr. Hopkins smiled and gave Mike a fist bump. “We’ll see about that tonight!” he said.

  A moment later, the videos stopped and the announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker. “Sorry for the video problem,” he said. A picture of the Home Run Apple appeared on the screen. “We’ll be back to the game shortly!”

  Kate tugged on Mike’s T-shirt. “See you in a little bit, Dad,” she said. “We’re going to check out the apple.”

  Kate’s dad waved goodbye, and Mike and Kate bounded up the steps to the walkway. Mike followed Kate as they wound their way through the Mets’ stadium to the scoreboard operations room. Kate showed the security guard the business card and Rocco’s signature, and the guard waved them into a long hallway.

  “It’s the second door on the left,” she said.

  Just before they reached the door, Kate stopped Mike. “Remember, we have to find my mom’s notes,” she said. “If he took them, they might be in his office.”

  Mike knocked softly on the white door labeled SCOREBOARD OPERATIONS. While he waited, he rolled his baseball from hand to hand. A moment later, Rocco opened the door.

  “Hey! Hello again!” he said. “You just missed a home run! You could have watched me press the button. Come on in.”

  Mike and Kate walked into the control room. It was filled with computer screens and TV monitors. Windows looked out onto the field and scoreboard. Two other people sat at the far end of the room behind keyboards, with headsets on.

  “Mike and Kate, right?” Rocco asked.

  Kate nodded. “Thanks for letting us stop by,” she said. “This is pretty neat.” She scanned the room and noticed a desk in the corner with a miniature Home Run Apple on it. Underneath the desk were piles of paper.

  Rocco led them over to a control panel filled with lights and buttons. He pointed to a silver lock mounted on the panel. A key was inserted into the lock.

  “There’s the control for the apple,” he said. “After we verify that the Mets have hit a home run, I use the key to turn that lock.” Rocco pointed to a nearby black switch. “Once the lock is turned, I flip open the cover of this switch. When I press the button underneath, the Home Run Apple pops up!”

  “Cool!” Mike said. “Can I take a picture?”

  “Sure,” Rocco said.

  Mike handed Kate his baseball and took a picture of the lock and the switch. “I’d love to have a button like that so I could press it and have it do my homework!” he said.

  “Is that all you can think of?” Kate asked as she handed the baseball back.

  Mike paused for a moment. “No…,” he said. He rubb
ed his tummy. “I can also think of a button that I could press and have apple pie pop up from my kitchen counter. That would be nice!”

  “Mmmm…,” Kate said. “I like apple pie, too. Maybe the button can deliver two slices!”

  Rocco laughed. “We don’t have that kind of button here,” he said. “But it sounds tasty.” He walked toward another area of the room. “Here, let me show you how the scoreboard works.”

  Mike started to follow him, but Kate nudged him with her elbow. She glanced at Rocco’s desk.

  Mike followed her eyes. He gave her a thumbs-up and motioned for her to follow Rocco. As she walked behind Rocco, Mike rolled his baseball from hand to hand again. But as he transferred the ball, Mike let it slip. He gave it a little tip so it would roll toward Rocco’s desk.

  BONK! The ball bounced across the floor, and then rolled to a stop under the desk.

  “Sorry!” Mike said. “I’ll get it.”

  Rocco brought Kate over to another set of computer screens. While he started to explain how they put the score up, Mike crawled under Rocco’s desk. He dug through the pile of papers on the floor. Underneath some old baseball magazines were printouts of the scores of baseball games. Finally, near the bottom, he spotted something different.

  Kate was pointing at the scoreboard and asking Rocco questions. Mike reached down and pulled out a stack of notebook papers from the pile.

  He glanced at the top page, grabbed his ball, and scrambled out from under the desk. He walked over to where Rocco was pointing at buttons on the control panel and then pointing to the scoreboard.

  “Rocco?” Mike said. “I found my baseball under your desk. But I also found this.”

  Mike held up the stack of notebook papers. The top page read PROPERTY OF LAURA HOPKINS.

  “Why do you have my mom’s notes?” Kate asked.

  Rocco Sampson stared at Mike.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Rocco said.

  “Yes, you do,” Kate said. “You stole my mother’s notes from the press box two days ago. And you’re the one who painted the Home Run Apple with Yankees pinstripes. You even told us that you knew the stadium would be empty the night before the first game. I’ll bet you snuck in and painted it yourself!”

  “And you’re probably the one who hacked into the scoreboard with all those videos of Mr. Met,” Mike said.

  Rocco leaned back against the chair in front of the scoreboard controls. “You can’t prove any of that,” he said.

  “Actually, we do have proof,” Mike said. “We heard you talking on the phone last night in Grand Central. You said that you set up a special surprise for the third inning!”

  “And we can prove another important thing,” Kate said. She borrowed Mike’s phone and pulled up the picture of the visitors’ log from Yankee Stadium.

  “You’re a Yankees fan!” Kate said. “You were there interviewing for a job yesterday. You’re pulling all these pranks on the Mets because you’re a Yankees fan.”

  Rocco stared at the picture and the pile of stolen papers that Mike was holding. Then he pulled out the chair and dropped into it. He let out a long sigh.

  “You’re right,” he said softly. “I did steal your mom’s notes, along with other stuff from the press box. And I did all those other things, too.”

  “But why?” Mike asked.

  Rocco shrugged. “Just because I work for the Mets doesn’t mean I like the Mets,” he said. “I’ve always loved the Yankees, but I couldn’t get a job with them. So I settled for a job with the Mets. But I kept applying to work with the Yankees. I knew they were going to hire me this time, so I wanted to pull some pranks on the Mets before I left. It was the perfect opportunity for a Yankees fan!”

  “But why did you steal my mom’s notes?” Kate asked. “What does she have to do with this?”

  “Nothing,” Rocco said. “I just broke into the press box to confuse the investigators. I didn’t want to steal anything valuable. I figured I would take a few books or notebooks and make it seem like whoever painted the apple also tried to rob the place. That would throw suspicion off me.”

  Kate crossed her arms and stared at Rocco. “Well, that was a bad idea,” she said. “You stole from the wrong person. Mike and I can figure out any mystery. Especially when it’s my mom who’s missing something!”

  * * *

  —

  Mike and Kate tracked down Emma at the Mets’ security office. They told her the whole story. Emma thanked them for being so clever and set out to find Rocco and investigate.

  “I’ll make sure he doesn’t pull any more pranks on the Mets,” Emma said as they left. “Or steal anything else!”

  Mike and Kate returned to their seats to watch the rest of the game with Mr. Hopkins and told him everything. The fifth inning was over, and the Mets had pulled ahead by three runs. The Yankees couldn’t find the magic they had the night before. By the time the ninth inning rolled around, the Mets were ahead by two. Although the Yankees got two runners on base, the next two batters struck out. Mike and the other Yankees fans in the stadium cheered loudly for Scooter Boyd when he stepped to the plate with two outs and two runners on base.

  But he lofted a weak pop fly on his first bat. The Mets shortstop caught it, and the game was over. The Mets had won the third Subway Series game, and they also won the series, two games to one! The fans exploded with cheers and shouts. Kate and Mr. Hopkins high-fived. “Way to go, Miracle Mets!” Kate said.

  Mike shrugged and waved his hand. “Don’t get too excited,” he said. “It’s just one series. I’m sure the Yankees will win next time! After all, they have a pretty good record.”

  When the fans thinned out, Mike, Kate, and Mr. Hopkins went to the press box to meet Mrs. Hopkins.

  When they spotted her, Mike and Kate ran over, gave her the notebook pages they had found under Rocco Sampson’s desk, and explained how they had caught him. Mrs. Hopkins was speechless. She gave both of them a big hug!

  “I can’t believe you caught the thief by overhearing him at the Whispering Gallery at Grand Central!” Mrs. Hopkins said. She shuffled through the notebook pages. “Thank you so much for finding my notes! Now I’ll be able to finish my book on time.”

  When Mrs. Hopkins was done working, the four of them left the stadium and took the number 7 subway train back to Grand Central Terminal. Kate’s parents led Kate and Mike through the passageways until they emerged onto Forty-Second Street.

  “Well, I’ve got to head back to Los Angeles tomorrow,” Mr. Hopkins said. “And the three of you have to get back to Cooperstown. But we have one more night together in New York City. Who’d like to go up in the Empire State Building?”

  Mike raised his hand and jumped up and down. “I would, Uncle Steve!” he said.

  “Ooh! I would, too!” Kate said. “But I want to be the Statue of Liberty first!”

  Mr. Hopkins looked at his watch. “I’m afraid we don’t really have time to see the Statue of Liberty on this trip,” he said. “Maybe next time.”

  “No!” Kate said. “I don’t want to see the Statue of Liberty—I want to be it!”

  Mr. and Mrs. Hopkins looked at Kate. “Are you feeling okay, Kate?” her mom asked. “Maybe we’ve seen too many baseball games.”

  Kate smiled. She pointed to a booth across the street. The sign on the front read:

  BE THE STATUE OF LIBERTY!

  COME TRY THE NEW YORK PHOTO EXPERIENCE.

  TAKE HOME A PICTURE OF YOU AS YOUR FAVORITE NEW YORK SIGHT!

  Mr. Hopkins laughed. “Okay, we have time for that before the Empire State Building,” he said.

  The photo booth had all types of special costumes and props so that visitors could take New York–themed pictures of themselves as souvenirs. A few minutes later, Kate had pulled on a green robe and put a large spiked foam crown on her head. She had a sto
ne tablet in one hand and held a torch up high in her other, just like the Statue of Liberty.

  But before the woman at the photo booth could snap a picture, Mike jumped in front of the camera. “Hang on!” he said. “I’ve got a better idea!”

  Mike ran over to the shelves stocked with different photo props and pulled out a baseball glove. He ran back to Kate and swapped the baseball glove for her torch. Then he swapped out the tablet Kate was holding with the Subway Series program she had bought at the baseball game.

  “What am I supposed to do with this?” Kate asked as she looked at the baseball glove.

  “Just hold it up like the torch,” Mike said. “You’ll see!”

  Kate sighed. She cradled the Subway Series program in her left hand and held up the baseball glove instead of the Statue of Liberty’s torch with her right.

  Just as the attendant was getting ready to snap the picture, Mike tossed his baseball up. The ball sailed in an arc in front of Kate.

  SNAP!

  The attendant took a picture.

  THWUMP!

  Mike’s ball landed right in Kate’s glove!

  “Woohoo!” Mike cried. “That was the greatest New York City Subway Series catch of all time!”

  New York Mets. The Mets are a National League team. They started in 1961, as an expansion team to replace the New York Giants and Brooklyn Dodgers, both of which had left for California in the late 1950s. In their first season, the Mets had a record of 40 wins and 120 losses, one of the worst regular season records of all time. They finished last or second-to-last every year until 1969, when they won the World Series. That year they were known as the Miracle Mets because they beat the Baltimore Orioles in a huge upset.

  New York Yankees. The Yankees are an American League team. They actually started out in Baltimore in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles. Then they moved to New York and became the New York Highlanders. Finally the team took the name the New York Yankees in 1913. They have won more division titles, pennants, and World Series than any other baseball team. Over the years, they have had many famous players, including Derek Jeter, Reggie Jackson, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, and more. Their biggest rivals are the Boston Red Sox and the New York Mets.