Read Online Baseball Great by Tim Green - Free Book Online

franchise for the area, so I’m starting to set up meetings with the different coaches and trainers at the universities around here.”
    Josh let that sink in before he said, “And that stuff’s good, right?”
    â€œWhat? Super Stax?”
    Josh nodded.
    â€œYou think I’d have you taking it if it wasn’t?” his father said. “It’s proven. If you don’t like the banana, they got it in chocolate, too.”
    â€œNo, banana’s okay.”
    â€œJosh,” his father said, stopping at a red light and looking over at him. “I know it’s hard, but it gets easier. Trust me. Your body will adjust. Especially with the Super Stax. That’s what it’s for, to build muscle.”
    Telling his father about Rocky’s car at the hospital danced on the tip of Josh’s tongue, but the direction of the conversation made him certain it would sound stupid, so he dropped it. After a few minutes, he turned the radio on to fill the silence while he replayed the fight with Perkins in his mind. Before today, Josh had never been in a fight.
    When they got home, Josh choked down a glass of milk with Super Stax, then gobbled down two plates of his mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. He tried to play a game of Candy Land with Laurel while his mom cleaned up the kitchen, but Laurel kept chewing the cards. After that he polished off what little homework he had, kissed his parents good-night, and crawled into bed early with a copy of Heat . He only got through a couple chapters before his eyes grew heavy, and he fell asleep without bothering to turn off the light.
    Josh woke, and panic raced through his veins. Hisleft leg wouldn’t move. He rolled from the bed and hit the floor, the feeling returning in the form of a million needles. Every other muscle in his body shrieked with pain. Josh groaned and pawed at the bed to help himself rise. He limped down the narrow hall to the bathroom. His father was just coming out, wearing only the bottoms of his red and white striped pajamas. His father’s hair was a mess and his beard extra stubbly.
    â€œDad,” Josh moaned. “I’m sore all over. I can barely move. My shoulder.”
    Josh clutched his aching right arm.
    His father studied him for a few seconds with his lips pressed tight before he said, “Hang on. I got something to help you.”
    His father ducked back into the bathroom, and Josh followed him. His father opened the medicine cabinet behind the mirror and jiggled some pills out of a prescription bottle.
    â€œHere,” his father said, handing Josh a little octagonal yellow pill.
    Josh turned the pill over in his fingers and asked, “What is it?”
    â€œAnti-inflammatory,” his father said. “Go ahead. It’ll help.”
    â€œCan I?” Josh asked. “You don’t have to check with the doctor or anything?”
    His father frowned and made an impatient gesturewith his hand. “You think I don’t know about this stuff?”
    â€œNo.” Josh said. “I mean, yes. I know you know.”
    â€œYou’ll feel better,” his dad said, pushing past him and shuffling off toward his bedroom. “Medicine is part of sports. The higher you go, the more you have to get used to that. It’s just part of the game. Don’t worry. It’s safe.”
    Josh looked at the pill and the tiny numbers stamped on its face. He filled a paper cup with water and washed down the pill, then looked at himself in the mirror to see if anything had changed.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
    JADEN STARTED SITTING WITH Josh and Benji at lunch every day. Bart Wilson didn’t show his face around the neighborhood, and Sheila made a point of walking past Josh in the halls, just so she could turn up her nose. The second article Jaden wrote about Josh in the school’s weekly paper didn’t take up much space. It explained the situation with him joining the Titans in a sympathetic