It was the seventh inning stretch and the crowd of excited morphadoodles was cheering:

Master Blaster

Fends off disaster

He's a homerun  hitter

And no one runs faster

If the score is close

He's the guy you need

He's the home run king

And the sultan of speed

Gooooooooooooo Blaster!!!!!!

Master Blaster was his team's home run hero.  Every time he came up to bat the fans would go wild waiting to hear the loud CRACK as he hit the ball out of the part.  And this game would be no different.  Or would it?

In the visiting team's dugout, someone was eyeing him closely.  Someone who wasn't a fan.  It was Zookah, the powerful, mean-spirited anti-hero, whose only goal in life was to spoil everybody's fun.  Zookah - captain and pitcher of the opposing team.

 "OK, Zanies," he croaked to his henchmen who had crowded around him.  "That Master Blaster has got a swing like a rocket launcher. We've got to stop him from hitting the ball or we'll lose for sure."  He turned to face his team and added, "And you know what a sore loser I can be."  The Zanies cringed at the thought.

"I don't know how we'll ever stop him," said Stink Bug, the smelliest Zany, shaking his head. 

"Maybe this will give us the answer," cracked Zookah.  He held a piece of crumpled paper in the air.

"What's that, boss?" asked Snail Slime, the slipperiest Zany.

"It's Master Blaster's Doodle Data Sheet," he said triumphantly, "I stole it from the Lab.  The Zanies were in awe.

"How did you manage that?"

"Yesterday I had the weather on my side.  Because it smelled like spring, I knew that Dr.Stalk would open the window of the Lab to let in the breeze.  So I turned myself into a gentle wind and just blew inside.  I hung around the baseboards mixing up some dust bunnies in a corner until Stalk and Electra shut down for the night.  Once they were gone, I whirled back into myself, snatched the data and walked straight out the door under the cover of darkness."  The Zanies applauded.  Zookah silenced them with a crook of his eyebrow.

"Let's see," he said scanning the sheet.  "It says that his talent is hitting home runs." 

The Zanies croaked, "We already know that."

"He loves his dog Beethoven."

"We already know that."

"He's a whiz at frisbee."

"We already know that."

Then Zookah paused and continued slowly, "Well, here are some things that you DON'T already know.  His favorite food is coconut.  He dislikes pizza.  AND... he's afraid of monsters."  Zookah gave the Zanies a few minutes to digest the new information, then he asked, "Any ideas?"

The creepy creatures put their craniums together.  Snail Slime spoke first, "Maybe when Master Blaster is up you could throw a fastball that turns into a screaming monster's head the closer it gets to home plate.  He'd be so scared that he'd throw down his bat and make a beeline for home."

The Zanies nodded in one creepy clump, "Yeah! Yeah!  Yeah!"

"No!  No!  No!" he said.  "He'd take a swing at it with his bat and knock it out of the park!"

Stink Bug spoke next, "Uh maybe you could make super spicy pepperoni pizza pop up on home plate.  That smell is sure to distract him, and he won't keep his eye on the ball."

The Zanies nodded, "Yeah!  Yeah!  Yeah!"

"No!  No!  No!  He'd be in such a hurry to get away from it that he'd swing at the first pitch and smash it over the fence."

Then Spittle Bug had an idea.  "Maybe," he began, "just maybe, you can turn that baseball into a beautiful coconut that only someone loco for coconuts can see.  He'd never take a swing.  He wouldn't want to risk smashing it to smithereens.  As long as you pitch it in the strike zone, I guarantee you he won't swing.  You'll strike him out, and that will be the end of the Morphadoodles' home run king."

The Zanies nodded, "Yeah!  Yeah!  Yeah!"  Zookah smiled, and in a flash, put the plan into action.

The score was 7-7, bases loaded, and Master Blaster entered the batter's box.  The crowd jumped to their feet, waiting to see their hero hit a grand slam.  Zookah delivered the first pitch, a meatball right down the middle of the plate.  Master Blaster didn't move.  "Strike one!"  the umpire shouted.

The fans were confused.  "Come on, Master Blaster!  Keep your EYE on the ball!  You can do it!" yelled the usually calm Dr. Stalk.

The second pitch came whizzing right over the dish.  Again there was no swing.  "Strike two!" the umpire boomed.  "What is wrong with Master Blaster?  Why isn't he swinging?" Stalk wondered aloud.

Katarina, another coconut-loving Morphadoodle, heard Dr.Stalk and replied, "Why on earth would he want to hit that sweet, fragrant coconut?  It would be destroyed.  I'm sure he would rather eat it.  Do you think he would share some with me?"

"Of course!" shouted Dr. Stalk.  "That dastardly Zookah is up to no good.  He is using his magic to make Master Blaster see a tasty coconut instead of a baseball!"

With that, Dr. Stalk blinked his EYE and disappeared.  In a flash, he reappeared as a large, green eyeball in Zookah's glove.  Zookah gasped.  He heard Dr. Stalk's voice whisper, "You are not playing by the rules, Zookah.  I've known you to steal bases and throw foul balls, but this...this is outrageous!"

Zookah was so frightened by this surprising turn of events, that without thinking, he threw the "ball" which magically turned back into a regulation baseball.  Master Blaster was ready, and with a powerful swing and a loud crack of the bat, that ball went soaring up into the air, across the field, and out of sight.  A grand slam!  Master Blaster rounded the bases with Beethoven barking at his heels to the cheers and applause of his teammates and fans.

Master Blaster

Fends off disaster

He's a home run hitter

And no one runs faster

If the score is close

He's the guy you need

He's the home run king

And the sultan of speed

Goooooooooooooo Blaster!!!!!!!!