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Theres Nothing Like BASEBALL By Angela Johnson Slide 2 GENRE Realistic Fiction This is a made-up story that could happen in real life could happen in real life but did not. Slide 3 INFERENCES Inferences are good guesses. You can make an inference You can make an inference when you take what you when you take what you already know about already know about something and add it to what you read. Slide 4 As you read use your inference chart. What I already know What I learned by reading Make a good guess or an INFERENCE Slide 5 Read to find out: Explain why you think baseball is important to Emma. Slide 6 VOCABULARYfor Theres Nothing Like Baseball Slide 7 uniform Special clothing that all members of a group wear Slide 8 pitched Throw a ball to a player Slide 9 imaginary Existing only in the mind Slide 10 tryouts Tests to get on a team or in a play Slide 11 coach Person that trains people to play sports Slide 12 practices Players do action over and over to gain skill Slide 13 startingBeginning Slide 14 baseball A game played with a ball and a bat and two teams of 9 players Slide 15 Theres Nothing Like Nothing Like BASEBALL BASEBALL Slide 16 Even before I could hold a bat or a glove, I loved baseball. I would sit in the sunshine and soft grass with my best friend, Jamal. Sometimes his cousin Nikki sat with us, too. Slide 17 I always knew that Id I always knew that Id play baseball. play baseball. Baseball was coming when the ice dripped drops from the roof. Slide 18 Baseball was coming when coming when the tulips in the tulips in the park poked the park poked through the through the ground. ground. Slide 19 Then, baseball was here. My brother Greg oiled his glove. He threw balls to glove. He threw balls to his friends in the park. his friends in the park. He let me wear his cap. He even pitched to Mom when it rained. Slide 20 Slide 21 Those times still happen, but now I dont just watch. but now I dont just watch. In the morning I wake up In the morning I wake up thinking about the baseball thinking about the baseball field. field. I can almost smell the freshly cut grass. cut grass. Slide 22 I eat breakfast smiling. I think about the sound the bats make rattling together bats make rattling together in the bat bag. in the bat bag. Slide 23 Sometimes I skip down the sidewalk. I swing imaginary sidewalk. I swing imaginary bats and wait for the light bats and wait for the light to change. to change. I can almost hear the shouting in the bleachers. shouting in the bleachers. Slide 24 Slide 25 Jamal and I sit in the grass at the team meetings. Its at the team meetings. Its just like when we were just like when we were little, dreaming about little, dreaming about baseball. baseball. Now we are playing on the same team! same team! Slide 26 We leave the field throwing baseballs up in the air. baseballs up in the air. We count how many times in a row we can catch in a row we can catch them. them. Slide 27 We both laugh when we drop the balls. They roll drop the balls. They roll down the sidewalk into the down the sidewalk into the market, and we chase after market, and we chase after them. them. Slide 28 I stand in my uniform and look in the hall mirror. look in the hall mirror. I smile as I think of my brother in his baseball brother in his baseball uniform. uniform. Slide 29 I look at the picture of Mom in her uniform. in her uniform. She was eight, like I am now. like I am now. Slide 30 I play on Rexs House of Fins and Fur baseball team. Rex and his wife Sophie sponsor our team. They own the pet store by the market. Slide 31 Rexs House of Fins and Fur Slide 32 Rex and Sophie bring snacks to all of our practices. And they clap for everybody no matter what. Slide 33 I like to think about baseball the way Rex and Sophie do. They think you Sophie do. They think you should try to be the best, should try to be the best, but most important to but most important to them is that everybody them is that everybody gets to play. Slide 34 A shortstop is what I want to be. Ive wanted to be one ever since I saw my mom jump up real high to catch a ball. Slide 35 It was one summer night on the field. I saw her catch the hardest hit baseball Id ever seen. Slide 36 Shortstops are fast. A shortstop must reach to catch the high pops and dive to get the ground balls. A shortstop has to watch the whole infield. Slide 37 The only problem is that Jamal wants to be a shortstop, too. I ask Jamal about the tryouts for our positions. Slide 38 Who do you think will be shortstop? I dont know, he says. I hope its you, I say. Jamal says, I hope its you, Emma. Slide 39 But I dont say that the thing I want most in the thing I want most in the world is to be the starting world is to be the starting shortstop. shortstop. Slide 40 My stomach feels bad later that night when I wake up that night when I wake up from a baseball dream. from a baseball dream. Im happy in the dream but Jamal isnt. Slide 41 Its the first time Ive ever felt bad about baseball. felt bad about baseball. For the next few days, the grass doesnt smell as grass doesnt smell as good. The sound the bats good. The sound the bats make doesnt make me smile. make doesnt make me smile. Slide 42 Mom asks at dinner, Hows baseball practice going, baseball practice going, Emma? Emma? I mash my beans with my potatoes and cover my potatoes and cover my chicken with it. Slide 43 Mama smiles at my brother. Hows your practice going, Greg? Greg? He talks about his batting average. He wants to pitch average. He wants to pitch more, too. more, too. Slide 44 Greg says, Emma, after dinner I can pitch a few dinner I can pitch a few to you. I think how theres nothing better than when Greg better than when Greg pitches to me Slide 45 but Im still thinking about Jamal and me, too. Jamal and me, too. Only one of us will get our wish. Slide 46 The sun shines bright the next day at tryouts. I stand next day at tryouts. I stand beside Jamal and Nikki. beside Jamal and Nikki. The coach says The coach says good luck to everybody. Slide 47 I catch a base hit and throw to the catcher. throw to the catcher. Jamal dives and catches a bounce to second. Two outs. Slide 48 I throw another batter out. Nikki jumps for a line Nikki jumps for a line drive. Our whole team is drive. Our whole team is covered in dust. We are all covered in dust. We are all smiling at the end of smiling at the end of tryouts. Theres nothing like tryouts. Theres nothing like baseball. baseball. Slide 49 The coach holds a meeting when were done. Ill be when were done. Ill be playing second base. playing second base. Jamal will play first. Nikki will play shortstop. Nikki is better at shortstop Nikki is better at shortstop than anybody. than anybody. Slide 50 She can always jump the highest and make the highest and make the best plays. Jamal and I walk home together as the sun together as the sun starts to set. Slide 51 We talk about how much fun the games will be as fun the games will be as we toss the ball to each we toss the ball to each other. other. This time of the day is the best part of all because best part of all because Slide 52 theres nothing like baseball. Slide 53 STOP AND THINK Emma wants to be the starting shortstop for her team. Why is this a problem? Slide 54 STOP AND THINK Why does Emma think that the grass doesnt smell so good after her bad dream? Slide 55 STOP AND THINK Why do you think baseball is so important to Emma. Slide 56 STOP AND THINK Rex and Sophie think that everybody on the team should get to play. Why is this important?