Baseball Joe, Captain of the Team; or, Bitter Struggles on the Diamond

by Lester Chadwick

  CHAPTER III

  THROWN AWAY

  On went the ball almost on a dead line to center, but rising as itwent as though it were endowed with wings. On and still on, as thoughit would never stop. The centerfielder had cast one look at it, andthen he turned and ran toward the distant bleachers in the back of thefield. He took another look over his shoulder and then threw up hishands in a gesture of despair.

  The ball cleared the bleacher rail, still going strong, and finallycame to rest in the top row, where it was hastily gobbled up andconcealed by an enthusiastic bleacherite, anxious to retain a mementoof one of the longest hits ever made on the Chicago grounds.

  Joe rounded first, going like a railroad train, but as he saw where theball was going he moderated his speed in order to conserve his wind andjust jogged around the bases until he reached the plate, where Barretthad preceded him.

  Again and again he was forced to doff his cap in response to theshouts of the crowd, who had forgotten all partisanship for the momentin the excitement of that mighty homer. And his teammates mauled andpounded him until he laughingly made them desist, and made his way tothe bench, where McRae and Robbie were beaming.

  "I've been thirty years in baseball, Joe," said McRae, "and I've seenlots of home runs. But if any one of them was finer than that whale ofa hit, I've forgotten it."

  "If it hadn't been for the bleachers in the way, the ball would begoing yet," grinned Robbie. "That swat will break Axander's heart."

  But the heart of the Cub pitcher was made of stouter material thanRobbie gave it credit for, and Axander settled down and preventedfurther scoring for that inning. But the Giants had two runs to thegood, and the way Joe was pitching made those two runs look as big as ahouse.

  For the next two and a half innings the game developed into a pitchers'duel. Neither side was able to tally, although a scratch hit put aGiant on first and a passed ball advanced him to second. It seemedquite possible that the game would end with the score still two to none.

  Joe came up again in the sixth, amid cries by the Giant rooters torepeat. But Axander was going to take no more chances. The memory ofthat screaming homer still lingered. The catcher stood wide of theplate, and Axander deliberately pitched four bad balls, regardless ofthe jeers of the crowd.

  It was the finest kind of a compliment to Joe's prowess, but he was notlooking for compliments. What he wanted was another crack at the ball.There was no help for it, however, and he dropped his bat and trotteddown to first.

  He watched Axander like a hawk, took a long lead off the bag, and onthe second ball pitched started to steal second. He would have made itwithout difficulty, but the Cub catcher threw the ball to the right ofthe bag, and the second baseman, in order to grab it, had to get in theway of Joe. There was a mix-up as they came together, and both wentdown. The baseman dropped the ball, and Joe managed to get his hand onthe base before the ball could be recovered.

  But when Joe attempted to get up on his feet, his left leg gave wayunder him, and he had to steady himself by catching hold of Holstein,the second baseman. The latter looked at him in surprise.

  "Trying to kid me?" he asked.

  "Not at all," replied Joe. "My leg's gone back on me. Must havewrenched or twisted it, I guess, when we came together."

  The umpire saw that something had happened and called time, whileMcRae, Robbie, and the other men on the Giant team gathered aroundtheir injured comrade in alarm and consternation.

  "Nothing broken, is there, Joe?" cried McRae, as he came running out tosecond.

  "Nothing so bad as that," answered Joe, summoning up a smile. "Guessit's only a sprain. But I'm afraid it puts me out of the running forto-day. I can scarcely bear my weight on it."

  The club trainer, Dougherty, ran his hands over Joe with the dexterityof an expert.

  "No breaks," he pronounced. "But a wrench to the leg and the anklesprained. No more work for you, Joe, for a week, at least. Here, someof you fellows help me get him over to the clubhouse."

  "Maybe after a little rest and rubbing I can go on with the pitching,"suggested Joe.

  "Nothing doing," replied Dougherty, laconically. "Get that right out ofyour noddle. Your work's done for the day."

  A rookie was put on second to run for Joe, and the latter was assistedto the clubhouse, where Dougherty and his assistants set to work on theleg and ankle at once.

  Gloom so thick that it could have been cut with a knife came down onthe Giants' bench. Here was another proof that the "jinx" was stillcamping on their trail.

  But there was no time for grizzling then, for the game had to go on.Jim and Markwith were sent out to warm up, while the Giants finishedtheir half of the inning.

  Joe's hit had not gone for nothing, for Ledwith, the rookie, got tothird on a fielder's choice, and came home on a long sacrifice fly tocenter. Iredell swung viciously at the ball and sent up a toweringskyscraper that Axander was waiting for when it came down. The inningwas over, and, despite the injury to their star pitcher, another runhad been stowed away in the Giants' bat bag.

  McRae selected Jim to finish the game in his chum's place.

  "Go to it, Barclay, and show them what stuff you're made of,"admonished the manager. "The boys have given you a lead of three runs,and all you've got to do is to hold those birds down."

  "I'll pitch my head off to do it," promised Jim.

  He only permitted three men to face him in the Chicago's sixth inning.All the attempts of the Cub coaches and players to rattle him at thesend-off resulted in failure.

  Mollocher, the first Cub at bat, let a speeder go past because it was atrifle wide. The next was a slow curve that the umpire called a strike.Mollocher looked surprised, but apart from glaring at the umpire madeno protest. He laced out at the next one and fouled it to the top ofthe grandstand for a second strike. The next ball he hit on the upperside, and it went for a harmless hopper to Barrett, who fielded him outat first.

  Greaves, who came next, refused to offer at the first, which was highand went as a ball. The next cut the plate for a strike. He fouled thenext two in succession, and finally sent a looping fly to Renton atthird.

  Lasker stood like a wooden man as Jim sent over a beauty for the firststrike. The second came over below his knees, and was a ball. He struckat the next and missed, and then Jim fanned him with a slow outcurvethat he almost broke his back in reaching for.

  It was good pitching, and showed that the Giants had more than onestring to their bow. The score was now 3 to 0 on even innings, and,with only three more innings to go, it looked as though the Giants weredue to break their long run of hard luck.

  "You're doing fine, Jim," encouraged Robbie. "Just keep that up andwe'll not only beat 'em but rub it in by giving 'em a row of gooseeggs."

  "Knock wood," cautioned McRae, giving three sharp raps with hisknuckles on the bench. "For the love of Pete, Robbie, cut out that kindof talk. The game isn't over yet by a long shot."

  Axander, as cool as an iceberg, put on extra speed and set down theGiants in their half in one, two, three order. Not a man reached first,and the last two were disposed of by the strike-out route.

  "Stretch" was the word that ran through the stands as the Chicagos camein for their half of the "lucky seventh," and the crowd rose as one manand stretched while cries of encouragement went up for their favorites.

  The charm failed this time, however, for though they gathered onehit off Jim, it counted for nothing, as the next three went out insuccession. Jim was certainly pitching airtight ball.

  But in the latter half of the eighth, after the Giants had failedto add to their score, there came one of the sudden changes thatillustrated once more the uncertainty of the national game.

  The head of the Cubs' batting order was up, and their supporters werefrantically urging them to do something.

  Burton did his best, and sent up a high fly to Curry at right. Itlooked as though it were made to order for the latter, who did not haveto budge from his tracks. The ball came down directly in
his hands--andhe dropped it!

  A mighty roar went up from the crowd, who had looked upon it as an easyout, which it should have been, and Burton, who had slowed up a little,put on speed, rounded first and started for second.

  Curry, rattled by his error, fumbled at the ball, and when he didrecover it lined it in the direction of second. But it went wide ofBarrett, and though Jim, who was backing him up, caught and returnedit, Burton was already on the bag.

  Gallagher, the next man up, popped a Texas leaguer that Burkett andBarrett ran out for.

  "I've got it," cried Barrett.

  "It's mine," shouted the burly first baseman.

  Each unfortunately believed the other and held back, waiting for hiscomrade to make the catch. As a result, the ball dropped between themand rolled some distance away.

  Burton, who had held the bag, started for third. Burkett retrievedthe ball and without getting set hurled it to third. It went highover Renton's head and rolled to the stands. Burton kept right on andcrossed the plate for the first run of the game. Gallagher, in thegeneral excitement, reached second.

  Pandemonium broke loose among the Chicago rooters.

  "We've got them going!" was the cry.

  "All over but the shouting!"

  Evans, the Chicago manager, sent in his best pinch hitter, Miller,and put a fast rookie, Houghton, on second to run in the place ofGallagher, who was of the ice-wagon type.

  To give his comrades time to recover somewhat from their demoralization,Jim stooped down to lace his shoe. He was a long time doing this, andthen was very deliberate in taking his place on the mound.

  He whizzed over a high fast one that Miller struck at and missed. Thenext he fouled off. The third just missed cutting the corner of theplate, and it went for a ball. On the next, Miller lay down a bunt thatrolled slowly along the third base line.

  It looked as though it were going to roll foul, and Renton gave it achance to do so. However, it kept on the inside of the line, and by thetime Renton had gathered it up, Miller had easily reached first.

  Wallace went to the bat with orders to wait Jim out, trusting to thehope that the latter would by this time be rattled, because the breaksof the game seemed to be going against him. But when two beauties insuccession cut the corners of the plate for strikes, while he stoodthere like a wooden Indian, he changed his mind.

  To make him hit into a double play, Jim made the next an outcurve. Ninetimes out of ten the batter hits that kind of ball into the dirt. Itran according to form this time also. Wallace hit a grounder that wentstraight to Larry Barrett at second. Larry set himself for the ball,while Iredell ran over to cover the bag for a double play.

  But just before the ball reached Barrett, it took a high bound, wentover his head and rolled out into centerfield. Gallagher scored,Miller reached third, and Wallace got to second on a long slide, justescaping being nipped by McGuire's return of the ball.

  With two runs in, no one out, and a man each on second and third, itlooked bad for the Giants. A single hit would probably score both ofthe occupants of the bags. Even two outfield sacrifice flies would doit.

  The din was tremendous as the crowds yelled in chorus, trying to rattlethe already shaky visiting team. But the noise subsided somewhat as Jimput on steam and set down Mollocher on three successive strikes.

  Greaves came up next, and lashed out at the first ball pitched, sendinga grasser toward first. Burkett made a good pick-up, stepped on thebag, putting out Greaves, and then hurled to Mylert to catch Miller,who was legging it to the plate. But although Mylert made a mightyleap, the ball went over his head and before it could be recovered bothMiller and Wallace had crossed the plate, making the score four tothree in favor of the Chicagos.

  And the Chicago rooters promptly went mad!