The Boy Who Saved Baseball

The morning of the game, the team wakes to discover that Cruz, his horse, and all his equipment are gone. Tom starts to saddle his horse and ride after him until others remind him that Cruz has a several-hour head start and nobody knows what direction he rode. The team rallies and says they will proceed, just as if Cruz were there. When Dante does not immediately appear, the team fears he has also abandoned them. However, Dante soon shows up with a new haircut, looking sharp.

Tom realizes that, with only nine players, he must now be in the starting lineup. He sits on the end of the bench and wraps his arm around himself. He says he cannot do it. Dante excuses all the other players from the dugout and sits beside Tom. He reassures Tom, saying, “…you’re a special guy, Tom. You got heart. I saw that the first time you ran down the mountain” (173). Dante tells him he believes in him and has moved him from ninth to seventh in the batting order and is putting him at first base.

The stands are filled with around 1,000 people. The two teams march in, led by a mariachi band from center field.