"Abner & Me" by Dan Gutman, Chapters 11–14

Young Stosh has time-traveled before…but this time he and his mom find themselves in the midst of the Battle of Gettysburg, searching for Abner Doubleday—a Civil War general. Stosh wants to find out for certain if Doubleday invented the game of baseball.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–6, Chapters 7–9, Chapter 10, Chapters 11–14, Chapters 15–19
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. gratitude
    a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
    “Is this the nurse of whom I’ve heard?” Doubleday asked. “I wished to meet the lady personally and issue my sincerest gratitude for the service she has rendered to our noble cause.”
  2. balderdash
    trivial nonsense
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  3. blather
    foolish gibberish
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  4. twaddle
    pretentious or silly talk or writing
    “Poppycock!” the general said, climbing back on his horse. “Me, invent baseball? That’s balderdash! Blather! Twaddle! Flapdoodle!”
  5. implement
    a piece of equipment or a tool used for a specific purpose
    Doubleday shook his head and examined the Sharpie again. Then he wrote his name on the ball and handed it to me.
    “Pennsylvania, eh?” he said, looking at me and Mom curiously. “I was not aware of such odd customs and implements here in Pennsylvania.”
  6. cope
    come to terms with
    The thing that struck me most was how happy they all seemed. It was like they had forgotten all about the horrible battle they had fought just hours earlier. I guess everybody copes with stressful situations in different ways.
  7. straggle
    go, come, or spread in a rambling or irregular way
    The tall guy was pretty good with the bat, but then he fouled one off deep into the woods. After some good-natured cursing, the players went to look for the ball. A few minutes later they straggled back out of the woods. Nobody had found it.
  8. sheepishly
    in a manner showing embarrassment or shame
    “Ya wanna high pitch or a low pitch?” he said slowly, as if I was stupid.
    “I get to choose?” I asked. “Lordy! Of course ya get to choose,” said the ump. “Ain’tcha never played baseball before?”
    “High,” I said sheepishly. I’ve always been a high ball hitter.
  9. exertion
    use of physical or mental energy; hard work
    “Say, General!” called out one of the players. “Perhaps you would like to take a turn as striker?”
    “No thank you,” Doubleday said. “I do not much cotton to the physical exertions.”
  10. lob
    propel in a high arc
    “Keep your eye on the ball, sir,” I suggested. “Don’t try to kill it. Nice and easy.” I lobbed the next one in right over the plate, as soft as I possibly could. Any six-year-old could have hit it.
    But Abner Doubleday couldn’t.
    “Strike three!” the ump yelled. “You’re out, sir!”
  11. authentic
    not counterfeit or copied
    My dad would be mad that I hadn’t brought back an authentic Abner Doubleday–signed baseball, but I had done the best I could.
  12. obscure
    make unclear or less visible
    It was dark now, except for a big full moon and more stars than I had ever seen in my life. It was beautiful.
    There were no city lights to obscure the view of the stars.
  13. fife
    a small high-pitched flute similar to a piccolo
    Out beyond the trees, I could hear music very faintly. There were bugles and fifes and harmonicas playing, but mostly it was just men singing.
  14. intimidate
    make timid or fearful
    Their biggest guy was coming up to the plate, holding that huge bat he swings around like a toothpick just to intimidate pitchers.
  15. backfire
    emit a loud noise as a result of an explosion of fuel
    “I noticed that you jumped a little with every crack of the bat too,” he said. “And when that car backfired back on Whitherspoon Street, you just about jumped through my sunroof.”
    I guess he was right. Ever since I’d gotten back from Gettysburg, loud sounds had startled me.
Created on Mon Feb 09 20:22:23 EST 2026 (updated Wed Feb 11 20:46:04 EST 2026)

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