OCR Text |
Show I BIFF'S SECOND CHANCE I By Don E. Wilhite BIFF tossed hit baieball shoes into his locker and flammed the door angrily. Quickly, he Jerked his sweater over his head and stomped out of the locker room. "Wow, Is he sore!" Freddy Johnson broke the silence as he turned away from the door and reached Into his locker for his T-shirt. "Well, let him be.' him and his big deal. He had to see the pros. Yeah, had to skip school the day before our big game. The best pitcher Franklin High's ever had and he let us down. If he'd've pitched we'd've won. Well. I don't blame coach for benching him." Biff's steps slowed as he rounded the corner of the stadium and headed home. "It isn't fair," he said aloud. "It Just Isn't fair." He lowered his head and viciously kicked a clod of dirt. "Biff," Coach had said that morning morn-ing when he'd been called Into the principal's office, "No one player Is as big as the whole team. You've broken the rules and that's all there is to it. I hope we can win the game this afternoon without you. but win or lose you're spending spend-ing the afternoon on the bench." Okay, so they hadn't won, they'd lost That should show them all how good he was. Funny though, the fellows had been awful quiet, they seemed to blame him, not Coach, for the loss, acted as If he'd let them down. Huh. a lot he cared, a fat lot of difference It made to him. Suddenly Biff remembered re-membered last fall when his Dad had taken him to see a big league game in St. Louis. Dad had been a big leaguer himself until he'd tried to stop a fast center drive and smashed all the bones in his left hand What was it Dad had said then about the players having to pay fines for breaking rules? "The team's the most important thing, every great ball player knows that." Biff remembered a lot of other things his Dad had told him about baseball. He remembered his first ball and glove on his fifth birthday birth-day The help, the practice ses sions, and always the talks, "Play for the team. Play with the team. Nine men on the team." It was dark when Biff walked up on the wide front porch of his home. Lights were burning In the dining room and he knew his family fami-ly wera at dinner. He wondered how he could face them all. He knew what Tlmmy, his little brother, broth-er, would be thinking. Lately he'd been in on the practice sessions and the talks with Dad. Quietly he opened the front door and slipped into the entrance hall. He went straight upstairs to his own room and threw himself across the bed. "What a dope I've been. Big, strong Biff Elliot, rules aren't for me, oh no, I'm the star pitcher. Franklin High couldn't play ball without me. Nuts, what a dope " Biff had lost track of the time so he didn't know how long he'd been in his darkened room when he heard a light knock at the door and his Dad's voice softly calling his name. "Biff, Biff, are you asleep? May I come In a minute, son?" Here it was, here came what he'd known all along would have to come and what he'd been dreading. dread-ing. "Yes sir, come in." His Dad looked a little tired, Biff thought, and a little sad as he switched on the desk lamp and sat on the edge of the bed. "Well, son, Franklin lost a tough one today." "Dad, Dad, I'm sorry, I've been such a darn fool." All the remorse that had built up in Biff since leaving leav-ing the locker room earlier seemed to burst out, and somehow he knew his Dad understood how he felt. "Maybe benching you was a little rough just for breaking one rule. You know I wanted to win this one Just as much as anybody. Biff, but you've got to remember that no one player is as big as his team. We're still in the running, son. If we can win next week's game we can still win the pennant What do you say?" "I say we'll whip the pants off 'em, Coach. Just wait and see." |