Page 1
"You animals take a break!" growled Coach Grizzly.
Page 2
D-Dog and Tommy-T dropped their bats and rushed to
their favorite spot of the park. Gator tossed a ball
in the air and waited for it to come back down.
"Wait up, guys," he said.
The three friends loved baseball, but they also loved
trading Monster League Player cards.
Page 3
"Do you have Yeti Berra?" D-Dog asked.
"I would never trade that!" Tommy-T said.
"Let's play Risky Picking."
"I would never make trades without
seeing the cards," D-Dog gulped.
"Don't be a baby," Tommy-T said.
"It's a very exciting game. You go first."
"Gator," D-Dog called. "Let's play Risky Picking!"
Page 4
The three friends gathered around as Tommy-T
fanned out his cards so that the Sammy Sorcerer
card edged slightly above the others.
D-Dog closed his eyes, picked a card,
and turned it over.
"Sammy Sorcerer? Aw, man!
I already have three of those!"
Page 5
Gator wanted a turn.
D-Dog said, "You better wait for Tommy-T to go."
Tommy-T was ready. He pressed his thumb and
index finger together and pulled a card. "Babe Brute!"
Page 6
"I don't believe it!" cried D-Dog.
Tommy-T had selected D-Dog's rare, 3-D monster
swinging a glow-in-the-dark bat.
"You're going to be sorry!" D-Dog stormed off.
Page 7
At practice the next morning Gator tried to catch
the ball he threw in the air. Tommy-T was first at bat.
D-Dog pitched so fast that it almost hit Tommy-T!
"Take it easy there, Dog," warned Coach Grizzly.
But D-Dog had fire in his eyes.
Page 8
"Come here, D-Dog," Coach called to him.
"It's not fair, Coach. Tommy-T took
my favorite card," D-Dog whined.
"Listen," Coach said. "I know all about trading.
Sometimes you get a bad card, but that's life!
What's great about trading is that you can always
trade again!" Coach went on,
"Don't let a game get you down."
D-Dog nodded.
Page 9
The next day D-Dog saw Tommy-T
show off his Babe Brute card.
"Hey, Tommy-T! I want to play
Risky Picking again."
"So you can lose again? Sure!"
Tommy-T laughed.
D-Dog ignored him.
"You go first."
Page 10
Tommy-T chose proudly,
but then his face fell.
"Sammy Sorcerer again?
Phooey!
I guess it's your turn."
Page 11
This time Gator had a turn.
"Sly Slobb! Guys this a great game!" he said.
After D-Dog picked, he couldn't believe his eyes.
"Yeti Berra! NO WAY!"
Tommy-T hid his face in his shell.
Page 12
"Don't worry," D-Dog smiled. "The great thing about trading
is that you can always trade again!"
Tommy-T peered out of his shell.
"You're right. Let's keep playing.
But no more Risky Picking!"
D-Dog, Tommy-T, and Gator
played all afternoon. And there was
no more trouble with trading.
