The 2012 Cubs "Dick & Jane" Reading Primer

Look! Look! It is a sunny day in San Francisco. Many people are going to see a baseball game!

They are happy before the game even begins, because some of them got a present when they got to the baseball stadium! It is a replica of a statue of a great player named Willie, who once played for the team dressed in orange and black. Even fans of the team dressed in blue are happy with this present. It is a nice souvenir.

The game begins! The two pitchers in the game are named Barry and Travis. And both of them are pitching extremely well! Their managers, Bruce and Dale, are happy!

For a time, it looks like the team in blue will have a very special kind of game pitched by Travis! But then Angel hits a ball toward Alfonso. Run, Alfonso, run!

But Alfonso cannot run. His legs hurt! Angel gets a hit and is on second base! The people cheering for the team wearing orange and black are happy! The people cheering for the team wearing blue are nervous. They have seen this happen before. A lot.

Travis throws a pitch to Hector and he swings and misses and strikes out! Maybe this won't be bad after all, think the people cheering for the blue team.

Oh! Oh! Look! Joaquin gets a hit! The ball is picked up by Reed! Angel is trying to score a run, but Reed makes a strong throw to Koyie. Angel should be out, and the game will keep going, with no run scoring!

Oh, no! Koyie drops the ball!

The people wearing blue are sad. They have seen this happen before. A lot.

Later, Alfonso runs after another baseball. Run, Alfonso, run! But Alfonso's legs are hurting. He cannot run fast enough to catch the ball. It drops and bounces very high. Even though that baseball did not produce a hit for the orange and black team, many of the people who like the blue team wonder why Dale won't let Alfonso rest his legs.

Barry keeps pitching. The blue team keeps not hitting! This is not news. Many of the people who like the blue team wonder why Dale won't put different batters in different places in his lineup, to give the blue team a better chance to win.

Look! Look! There is another hit going toward Alfonso! But he cannot run! Gregor is on first base, and Melky's hit is only a single. Even though Alfonso cannot run, the orange and black team should not score on this play.

Oh, no! Alfonso throws the ball to the wrong base! Gregor scores a run!

It did not happen today. It might not happen any day. The orange and black team scored two runs. The blue team scored none. And so the blue team and the people who cheer for them go home sad again, defeated again, for the thirty-fifth time this season. It has won just eighteen times.

It is a very unhappy math lesson.