Mikey the crab lived in Crabtown, Crabtana, in the Crab States of America. Mikey’s favorite thing to do in the world was play baseball. The only problem was that he wasn’t as big and as strong as any of the crabs in his town. This meant that Mikey never really got in his team’s games. He played for his hometown team the Crabtown Lobsters, and he was the worst player on the team. Mikey knew that he was the worst player on the team but that didn’t stop him from always trying his hardest. Whether it was in practice or the few times that he got into the game during the year when his team was either up by a lot or down by a lot, he always tried his hardest.
In the first game of the season the Crabtown Lobsters were playing their rivals the Crabville Crayfish. Mikey did not expect to get on the field, and wasn’t surprised when he sat on the bench the entire game. This didn’t stop him from cheering his teammates on and being the loudest one in their dugout for the entire game. The Lobsters ended up losing the game by one run on a walk-off hit from the Crayfish’s best player, Crabby the crab. Crabby was big and strong and very mean to everyone that he ever talked to. While he was the Crayfish’s best player, nobody on the field liked him except for their coach, and the only reason that their coach liked him was because Crabby was really good. At the end of the game when Crabby had the walk-off hit, his teammates didn’t even cheer for him, because none of them liked him and they knew that the hit would just make him even more c***y and more of a jerk. The only person that gave Crabby a high-five was the coach, everyone else just lined up to shake hands with the other team. While everybody was shaking hands, instead of saying “good game” like everybody else on the field, Crabby walked through the line saying “I’m better than you” to everybody.
After the game Mikey was walking home, when Crabby came up behind Mikey on his bike and shoved him. Mikey fell face first into the grass and got a cut on his face. When Mikey managed to pull himself together and get back onto his feet Crabby mockingly said to him, “Hey pipsqueak, you ever gonna get into the game? Or are you just that bad?” Crabby spit on Mikey’s foot and rode away laughing to himself, singing “We are the Champions”. This one moment really stuck with Mikey and made him determined to get back at Crabby the next time he had his chance. Mikey walked home with his head held high.
As soon as Mikey got home, he looked at his calendar to figure out when their next game against the Crayfish would be. He found out that if the Lobsters were going to face the Crayfish again, it would be in the championship game of the final tournament. Mikey decided that he was not going to waste a single moment of every day to make sure he got his chance to play the Crayfish again. After school he would come home and finish his homework as fast as possible. As soon as he was done, Mikey headed out to the field where he worked on his game. He worked to become a better hitter, read fly balls more accurately, and got bigger and stronger in general. He did this every day, but still never got the chance to play in any of the Lobsters’ games. This didn’t matter at all to him because the only game that he cared about was that last game against the Crayfish. So Mikey continued to work every day, and all of his teammates started to take notice of him.
Finally, the day had come. Both the Lobsters and the Crayfish had made it to the championship game in the final tournament of the season. It was a hard fought game, the score had gone back and forth the entire game. Both teams playing as if it were their last day alive. Crabby had pitched the entire game and was still pitching going into the last inning of the game. Mikey still had not gotten into the game and it was a tied.
There were two outs with nobody on base. Crabby was on the mound pitching. Tom the center fielder was supposed to be up to bat, but he had hurt his back the inning before and told coach that the pain was too severe for him to hit. Now the coach had to decide who was going to hit for Tom. It was between Mikey and another guy on the team, John. Coach said “does anyone have an opinion on who should bat.” Nobody said anything. Right as coach was about to pick John to be the one to step up and hit, John stood up and said, “I think that Mikey should be the one to hit. He has been working his tail off for the entire season in practice and out of practice and has always been supportive of everyone and I think that he deserves a chance.” A little unwillingly, coach changed his mind and decided that Mikey would get his chance.
Mikey stepped up to the plate and stared out towards Crabby. Crabby yelled at Mikey saying, “look who they decided to put in, the worst player on the team.” Then came the first pitch. It was a strike on the outside corner. Crabby wound up for the second pitch and blew it by Mikey, strike two. Again Crabby yelled out to Mikey, “well, it’s not looking to good for you pipsqueak. Just wanna give up now?” Everyone in the Lobster crowd was starting to lose hope for Mikey until the third pitch came. Crabby wound up and threw his hardest pitch of the game towards the strike zone. With a quick reaction Mikey stuck the bat out hoping to make contact. Sure enough the bat connected with ball in the perfect spot. The ball sailed over all of the outfielder’s heads and over the homerun fence easily. Mikey had hit a home run and won the game for the Lobsters! Mikey trotted around the bases confidently like he had hit a game winning homerun a million times, and when he reached home his teammates lifted him up above their heads while chanting his name. “Mikey! Mikey! Mikey!” They all screamed.
That night while Mikey was laying in his bed, he thought about what had learned throughout the past season. He thought long and hard until he figured out the best way that he could put it into words and that was “hard work pays off”. Mikey went to bed with a smile on his face because that moment of his life was the happiest moment of his life one that he will never forget.