Free Dugout Rivals by Fred Bowen

was called the Iron Horse because he appeared in 2,130 consecutive games during the 1920s and 30s and, like Ruth, was one of baseball’s greatest players. Gehrig had a career batting average of .340, with a walloping 493 home runs.
    Gehrig was at his very best during the 1932 World Series. He batted .529 with three home runs and eight runs batted in (RBI) to lead the Yankees in a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs.
    After Ruth retired, Gehrig helped the Yankees win three more World Series (1936, 1937, and 1938). But Gehrig didn’t win those championships alone. A marvelous young center fielder named Joe DiMaggio began playing with the Yankees in 1936. Joltin’ Joe batted over .320 and belted more than 125 RBIs in each of his first three seasons.
    Michael Jordan won ten National Basketball Association (NBA) scoring titles and six NBA titles while playing with the Chicago Bulls. But Jordan never won an NBA championship without Scottie Pippen.Pippen was not well known at first because he had attended a small college (the University of Central Arkansas). But in the pros, Pippen proved that he was a versatile forward who could score, rebound, and pass with the best of them. For example, in the Bulls first championship season (1991), Pippen averaged more than 21 points per game during the playoffs while grabbing almost nine rebounds and dealing out almost six assists. The Bulls also had other terrific players to help Jordan, such as forwards Horace Grant and Tony Kukoc, as well as guards Steve Kerr and B. J. Armstrong.
    In fact, Jordan’s Chicago teammates were so good that when he took time off to play baseball, the Bulls still won 55 games without him. That was only two games fewer than they had won the year before
with
Jordan.
    A star player’s teammates are important in all team sports. Many people believe that Joe Montana was the best quarterback in the history of professional football. Montana led the San Francisco 49ers to four SuperBowl championships and was named the Most Valuable Player (MVP) in three of those Super Bowls. But any quarterback needs receivers who can get open and catch their passes.
    In fact, Montana had one of the best of those receivers for many of his years with the 49ers. Jerry Rice owns the records for most career receptions, touchdowns, and yards gained from catching passes in the history of the National Football League. For years, Rice and Montana made a great team for the 49ers.
    And no quarterback, not even a great one like Montana, can complete passes and throw touchdowns unless he has time to set up and find his receivers. He has to have great offensive linemen blocking for him too.
    Soccer star Mia Hamm scored more goals (158) in international competition than any other player, male or female. Hamm’s U.S. national teams won the World Cup in 1991 and 1999 and the Olympic gold medals in 1996 and 2004.
    But again, Hamm was not alone out there on the field. No scorer in international soccer can dribble through an entire team. She needs teammates who can get her the ball when she has a chance to score. Hamm played with such American soccer standouts as Michelle Akers, Brandi Chastain, Kristine Lilly, and Abby Wambach. Hamm herself insisted that Lilly was the best all-around player on the legendary 1999 World Cup team.
    In baseball or any other team sport, every player must do his or her best to help the team win. Teams need the Babe Ruths and the Michael Jordans. But as Jake learned, they also need the Lou Gehrigs and the Scottie Pippens.

Special thanks to Samantha Frank
for her help in typing the original manuscript.

About the Author

    Fred Bowen was a Little Leaguer who loved to read. Now he is the author of many action-packed books of sports fiction. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in
The Washington Post
since 2000.
    For thirteen years, Fred coached kids’ baseball and basketball teams. Some of his stories spring directly from his coaching experience and his