The Astro Outlaw
Page 4
“But how?” Kate asked. “We watched him the whole time.”
“I don’t know. But the runner didn’t think the second baseman had the ball, either,” Mike said. “Let’s look for hiding places.”
They started at the gas pump. But there was no place to hide anything. Its white sides were smooth. Around it on all four sides was a tile floor.
Next, they retraced Tex’s path.
“When he saw the police, he left the pump,” Kate said. “Then, when Commander Rice called his name, he started running.”
Kate bounded down the hallway, taking big Tex-like steps. She stopped halfway and waited for Mike to catch up.
“He almost made it to the main entrance,” Kate said. She pointed to the doors ahead of them. The security guards were still checking the fans who were leaving. Kate looked at the train display to their right. “But he bumped into the display first.”
Mike’s eyes lit up. He jumped forward and imitated Tex slamming into the display. He careened off into the center of the hallway.
“It knocked him off balance,” Kate said. Mike spun around a few times. “And then he fell.” Mike slumped to the ground. Kate came up and stood over him. Mike was pretending to be knocked out. “Somehow the rock disappeared. Unless …”
She noticed a piece of crumpled paper next to Mike’s foot.
Kate stepped on it and flattened it against the floor. She shrugged. “Unless he wrapped it up in a sheet of paper and then dropped it, like it was trash. I’ll bet that’s it! Help me look for a balled-up piece of paper!”
Mike opened his eyes and popped up. “Great idea!” he said, scanning the floor. Plenty of paper littered the floor. Kate and Mike scurried around picking up one piece after another. Each one they opened was empty. Then Mike spotted a large ball of yellow paper by the train display.
As Mike bent down to scoop up the paper, he leaned on the box of coal. He picked up the paper, but like the others, it was empty. Mike tossed it in a nearby trash can. He dipped his hand in the box of coal again. Most of the pieces felt smooth and glassy.
Suddenly, he knew.
“Kate!” he called. “It’s not a piece of paper we’re looking for! It’s a rock!”
Kate looked over at Mike. “I know it’s a rock,” she said. “How does that help?”
A big grin spread across his face. “It’s just like the hidden-ball trick!” he said. “To fool the runner, you hide the ball in a different glove. To fool the police, Tex hid the moon rock with other rocks!”
Mike pulled his hand out of the coal box and held it up for Kate to see. Sitting in his palm was a baseball-size hunk of black moon rock!
Houston, Problem Solved!
“What does Commander Rice want to show us?” Mike asked Kate’s dad. Mr. Hopkins had just parked the rental car in an empty parking lot across the street from the Astros’ ballpark. Later that afternoon the three were going to the airport. Kate and Mike had a flight to New York, and Mr. Hopkins was returning to Los Angeles.
“He just said to stop by this morning before we left,” Kate’s dad said. He shielded his eyes and looked for the Union Station entrance. The hot sun shimmered in waves off the blacktop.
The stadium was deserted, but a security guard let them in. He brought them to a room on the upper level. Commander Rice and Mr. Ryan welcomed them.
“We’re glad you could come back,” Mr. Ryan said, standing up. “We wanted to let you know that Tex has been arrested for the theft of the moon rock. Take a look at this.”
Mr. Ryan dimmed the lights and pressed a button on a nearby computer. A short movie was displayed on the large monitor on the wall. The scene showed baseball fans walking near the main entrance.
“This was taken by a security camera. Shortly, you’ll see our friend Tex come into the picture,” Mr. Ryan said. He pointed to the top of the image with his stubby fingers.
For a few seconds, the video showed only fans walking by. Then Mike, Kate, and Mr. Hopkins could see a commotion near the top of the frame. The video slowed down as Tex ran toward the entrance. People moved out of his way. Before he reached the train display, they saw his hand dart out of his pocket. As he crashed into the box of coal, he dropped a black object into the box. Then he spun off in circles and fell to the floor.
Commander Rice turned the lights back on.
“It’s just like we thought!” Mike said. “Tex hid the rock in the box of coal!”
“That’s right, Mike,” Mr. Ryan said. “He knew he was going to be caught by our guards, so he got rid of the moon rock. He hoped that we couldn’t prove anything against him. And, without you two, we wouldn’t have. We might not have even bothered looking at the security video, since everyone saw him try to escape.”
“What’s going to happen to him?” Mr. Hopkins asked.
“Well, when we showed him this tape, Tex confessed,” said Mr. Ryan. “His hat store was losing money, and he needed to pay off some loans. He thought he could sell the moon rock.”
“What happened to it?” Mike asked.
“I’m glad you asked, Mike,” Commander Rice said. “It’s back at the Johnson Space Center now, safe in one of our vaults. I guess next time I take it out, I’ll have a guard with me.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” said Mike. “And I have another one. Next time you go up in space, you can take me with you! I always wanted to ride a rocket.”
Commander Rice laughed. “ ’Fraid not, Mike. You’ll have to figure out a way to ride a rocket on your own,” he said.
“Study and work hard, Mike. Then you can become an astronaut like Commander Rice,” Mr. Hopkins said with a smile. “Playing big-league baseball isn’t your only career option.”
“Hmmm-mmm.” Mr. Ryan cleared his throat. “Well, actually, I might be able to help you out with that request, Mike. As long as you keep an open mind about the word rocket. Let me show you something.”
Mr. Ryan led the group back out into the stadium. They walked up the same stairs where Mike and Kate had heard the tapping the day before. Mr. Ryan opened the door at the top, and they all stepped through it.
“So this is where you found Commander Rice,” Mr. Hopkins said. “Good work, you two!”
Mr. Ryan flipped the light on. He walked across the room and knocked loudly on the door marked TRACKS. EMPLOYEES ONLY.
“The Astros were so happy that you solved the mystery of the missing moon rock that we wanted to do something special for you,” Mr. Ryan said. “That’s why I’ve invited Jimmy to help us. He’s what some people, a long time ago, used to call a rocket engineer.”
With a squeak, the door opened. Jimmy was on the other side, dressed in blue overalls. He took off his blue-and-white train engineer’s hat.
“When trains were first invented, people thought they went as fast as rockets,” Jimmy said. “People weren’t even sure they’d be able to breathe when the train went above thirty miles an hour. So, we can’t help you catch a ride on a real rocket. But we can give you two a ride on a nineteenth-century rocket!”
“Cool!” Mike said. He and Kate gave each other a high five.
Jimmy the engineer led Mike and Kate out to the train. He hoisted them up into the cab and showed them how to make the train move forward. Kate gave a big tug on the whistle. WOOOO-WOOOO! The sound echoed in the empty stadium. Kate’s dad smiled and waved from the far side of the tracks.
Kate put her arm over her cousin’s shoulders. “This has been a great trip,” she said to Mike, ticking off the reasons on her fingers. “We got to see the Astros play. We helped find a real moon rock. And now we’re getting a train ride. I guess Texas is so big, anything can happen!”
Dugout Notes
The Astros’
Ballpark
The roof. The Astros had one of the first roofs in the major leagues that could be opened. That’s important in Texas, where it can get pretty hot. The roof takes twelve to twenty minutes to open or close. The Astros even made the roof higher in the middle s
o baseballs wouldn’t hit it!
The Astrodome. The Astros used to play in a stadium called the Astrodome. It was the first sports stadium with a domed roof. The first major-league game on imitation grass was played there. That’s why fake grass is sometimes called Astroturf.
Union Station. One hundred years ago, trains were a big part of Houston’s growth. Today, Astros fans are reminded of that when they go to a game. The largest entrance to the Astros’ ballpark is Union Station, which once was Houston’s main train station.
The train. When the Astros built their new ballpark in 2000, they put a huge old-fashioned train on top of the left-field wall of the stadium. It’s made to look like a train from the 1860s. Behind the train is a large coal tender. The train and tender weigh close to 50,000 pounds.
The gas pump. The history of Houston isn’t just trains. It’s also oil. Discovery of oil near Houston in 1901 kicked off the huge Texas oil boom. Soon, Houston was home to many major oil companies. To honor that history, the Astros installed a large gas pump on an overhang above left field. The gas pump is thirteen feet tall. It has red numbers on it that count the home runs hit by Astros players since the ballpark opened.
Tal’s Hill. There aren’t many—or any—other major-league ballparks that have a hill in their outfield. But the Astros decided to put a small, wide hill in deep center field because some old ballparks had hills or uneven fields. Tal’s Hill rises at a thirty-degree angle. It’s so steep that outfielders have to be careful when they’re chasing a fly ball!
The flagpole. Ballparks aren’t supposed to have obstacles in them, either. But the Astros’ ballpark has a flagpole in center field, on top of Tal’s Hill. The flagpole is also in play. That means if a baseball hits it, the play doesn’t stop. The fielder has to get the ball and make the out, if he can.
Crazy uniforms. In the 1970s, the Astros were known for their uniforms. They had bright red, orange, and yellow stripes across the front and on the sleeves. They were very different from other teams’ uniforms. But the uniforms looked good on color television, which was new back then. Now the Astros only use the old colorful uniforms for special games.
Nolan Ryan. Nolan Ryan was a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher. His pitches often clocked in at over 100 miles per hour. During his career, he threw seven no-hitters, making him the all-time leader. While playing for the Houston Astros from 1980 to 1988, he threw his fifth no-hitter. Three teams (the California Angels, the Texas Rangers, and the Houston Astros) retired his number, and he’s now in the Baseball Hall of Fame.