Chapter Two

If anyone had looked under Cody's seat at that moment they might have spotted a little, dirty, fawn-coloured bear. Not a real bear, of course, but a rather scruffy, bedraggled, portly teddy bear.
He was also a rather grumpy teddy bear.
After all, this was his place. He had been sitting here all day.
He had been waiting... and waiting... and waiting.
Waiting for the baseball to start.
And now, just when the game was about to get into full swing, someone had invaded his space.
A little boy, perhaps twice as tall as the bear, but nowhere near as big as the fat man with the hot dog sitting just in front of him, had plonked a big rucksack down right by the side of him.
Not only that, but the silly, round man had managed to drop a big dollop of red, sticky ketchup, not just down his shirt, but also onto the teddy bear's head. This was not the day the bear had planned.
Was it any wonder he was grumpy?
Still, if the fat man sat still for a minute there was just a chance that he would see what he was hoping to see. If he leaned slightly to his side, and rested against the bag, he could just make out the action by peering through the fat man's legs.
Yes! It wasn't the best seat in the house, but it would do for the moment.
As the pitcher, the man who throws the ball, warmed up on the little brown tump in the middle of the diamond - the mound it was called - the little bear began to record the action in his head.

"It's a lovely sunny day at Fenway Park and the crowd has flocked to the ball game," he said to himself. "It's the top of the second inning and the Oakland Athletics are in the field. Their pitcher, Horowitz, is hiding the ball behind his back. He winds up... his leg thrusts forward... and bang! he sends in a fast ball which Pedroiaa leaves alone. Strike one!"
Darkness.
A chunky, big, hairy leg, covered in a short, white sock and blue striped sneakers, now blocked the little bear's view. He wasn't best pleased. "Oh, Crackerjacks!" he muttered under his breath. It was a word he had picked up from his many days sitting around in the gloomy recesses of the stadium. A word that he heard, every now and again, shouted at the top of their voices by young human beings wearing stripey coats and hats and carrying big metal containers over their chests.
What was a bear to do?

Suddenly a cry went up.
"Hot dogs! Hot dogs!"
And, as if the bear had willed it, the chunky leg that had blocked his view straightened, moved to the side, and then disappeared. Suddenly the diamond was in full view again.
The bear grumbled but, if there was such a thing, this was a satisfied grumble. "Thank goodness for that," he said to himself.
Then he resumed his commentary.
"The pitcher is poised again. He throws a curve ball. Pedroia leans back and... smashes it into the air.
"It is going up, up, up into the sky. The fielders are looking up at it. One of them is running back, back, back. He is holding his hands in the air as he runs. But the ball is sailing over his head, it's still going up, up, up and... home run! It has gone clean over the green monster."
Now anyone who had never heard of the green monster might be a bit worried about the fact that a scary, grass-coloured giant had appeared at the ground. They might have expected the spectators to run from their seats, screaming and shouting and heading for the exits, knocking each other out of the way in an attempt to make their escape.
But this green monster was not dangerous. In fact, it was just a big, green wall that sat in one corner of the baseball ground. And if the batter hit the ball well enough that it sailed over the wall then it amounted to what was known as a home run. It meant the batter had hit a good shot and was allowed to run around the diamond until he got back to where he had started, thus scoring what was called a run. It was what every batter wished to do when he was thrown the ball by the pitcher. And Pedroia had scored a home run for the Red Sox.
The cheer was enormous. Even the little boy beside him had stood up and was clapping his hands together with excitement.
The little bear was no longer grumpy. In fact, there was a little twinkle in his eye.
It could have been caused by the reflection of the sun, but anyone who saw him at that moment might actually have thought he was smiling.