Bert Wilson's Fadeaway Ball Part 3

"Good work, boys," he said pleasantly, "that makes six full laps for all of us except Winters. We'll wait here, while he takes his other two."

The grin faded from Winters' face, to be replaced by a hot flush, as his eyes fell before the steady look of the coach. There was no help for it, however. He had been caught "red-handed," and with a sheepish glance at his laughing comrades, he started on his lonely run around the course while they stood and watched him. Twice he made the circuit and then rejoined his companions. The coach said nothing more, as he felt that the culprit had been punished enough, but the story was too good to keep, and Winters was "joshed" unmercifully by his mates. The incident deepened the general respect felt for the coach, and confirmed the conviction that it was useless to try to fool him, as he had "eyes in the back of his head."

He certainly needed all his keenness, in order to accomplish the task he had set himself. The time was wearing away rapidly, and before long he would have to rejoin his own team for the champions.h.i.+p season. There had been a good deal of rain, and practice in the field had been impossible for days at a time.

To be sure he had the "cage" for use in rainy weather. This was a large rectangular enclosure, perhaps twice as long as the distance from the pitcher's box to home plate. The sides were made of rope that stopped the batted b.a.l.l.s. There was ample room for battery work, and here, in bad weather, the pitchers and catchers toiled unceasingly, while the other players cultivated their batting eye, and kept their arms limber by tossing the ball about. But, at best, it was a makes.h.i.+ft, and did not compare for a moment with work in the open air on the actual diamond.

And the days that now remained for that were distressingly few.

So he drove them on without mercy. No galley slaves worked harder than these college boys for their temporary master. He was bound that not an ounce of superfluous flesh should remain on their bones at the beginning of the season. Gradually his work began to tell. The soreness and lameness of the first days disappeared. Arnica and witch hazel were no longer at a premium. The waistbands went in and the chests stood out.

Their eyes grew bright, their features bronzed, their muscles toughened, and before long they were like a string of greyhounds tugging at the leash.

He noted the change with satisfaction. Superb physical condition was the first essential of a winning team. His problem, however, was far from solved. It was only changed. He had made them athletes. Now he must make them ball players.

Individually they were that already, in the purely mechanical features of the game. They were quick fielders, speedy runners and heavy batters.

But they might be all these, and yet not be a winning team. They needed team work, the deft fitting in of each part with every other, the quick thinking that, in a fraction of a second, might change defeat to victory.

His quick eye noticed, in the practice games, how far they came short of his ideal. Flynn, the other day, when he caught that fly far out in center, had hurled it into the plate when he had no earthly chance of getting the runner. If he had tried for Ames, who was legging it to third, it would have been an easy out. A moment later Ames counted on a single.

Then there was that bonehead play, when, with Hinsdale on third and Hodge on first, he had given the signal for Hodge to make a break for second, so as to draw a throw from the catcher and thus let Hinsdale get in from third. Hodge had done his part all right, but Hinsdale had been so slow in starting that the catcher was waiting for him with the ball, when he was still twenty feet from the plate.

He hated to think of that awful moment, when, with the bases full, White had deliberately tried to steal second, where d.i.c.k was already roosting.

The crestfallen way in which White had come back to the bench, amid ironical cheers and boisterous laughter, was sufficient guarantee that that particular piece of foolishness would never be repeated. Luckily, it had only been in a practice game. Had it happened in a regular contest, a universal roar would have gone up from one end of the college world to the other, and poor White would never have heard the last of it.

The coach was still sore from this special exhibition of "solid ivory,"

when, after their bath and rubdown, he called the boys together.

"Now, fellows," he said, "I am going to talk to you as though you were human beings, and I want you to bring your feeble intelligence to bear, while I try to get inside your brain pans. They say that Providence watches over drunkards, fools and the Congress of the United States. I hope it also includes this bunch of alleged ball players. If ever any aggregation needed special oversight, this crowd of ping-pong players needs it. Now, you candidates for the old ladies' home, listen to me."

And listen they did, while he raked them fore and aft and rasped and scorched them, until, when he finally let them go, their faces were flaming. No one else in college could have talked to them that way and "gotten away with it." But his word was law, his rule absolute, and, behind his bitter tongue, they realized his pa.s.sion for excellence, his fierce desire of winning. It was sharp medicine, but it acted like a tonic, and every man left the "dissecting room," as Tom called it, determined from that time on he would play with his brains as well as his muscles.

As the three chums went toward their rooms, they were overtaken by "Reddy," the trainer of the team. With the easy democracy of the ball field, he fell into step and joined in the conversation.

"Pretty hot stuff the old man gave you, just now," he said, with his eyes twinkling.

"Right you are," replied Bert, "but I guess we deserved it. I don't wonder that he was on edge. It certainly was some pretty raw baseball he saw played to-day."

"Sure," a.s.sented Reddy, frankly. "It almost went the limit. And yet," he went on consolingly, "it might have been worse. He only tried to steal one base with a man already on it. Suppose he'd tried to steal three."

The boys laughed. Reddy was a privileged character about the college.

The shock of fiery hair, from which he had gained his nickname, covered a shrewd, if uneducated, mind. He had formerly been a big league star, but had fractured an ankle in sliding to second. The accident had only left a slight limp, but it had effectually destroyed his usefulness on the diamond. As a trainer and rubber, however, he was a wonder, and for many years he had been connected with the college in that capacity. It was up to him to keep the men in first-cla.s.s condition, and he prided himself on his skill. No "charlie horse" could long withstand his ministrations, and for strains and sprains of every kind he was famous in the athletic world. His interest in and loyalty to the college was almost as great as that of the students themselves. He was in the full confidence of the coach, and was regarded by the latter as his right hand. If one was the captain of the college craft, the other was the first mate, and between them they made a strong combination. He was an encyclopedia of information on the national game. He knew the batting and fielding averages of all the stars for many years past, and his shrewd comments on men and things made him a most interesting companion.

His knowledge of books might be limited, but his knowledge of the world was immense. He had taken quite a fancy to Bert and shared the conviction of the coach that he was going to be a tower of strength to the team. He never missed an opportunity of giving him pointers, and Bert had profited greatly by his advice and suggestion. Now, as they walked, he freed his mind along the same lines followed by the coach a little earlier.

"That was the right dope that Ainslee gave you, even if it was mixed with a little tabasco," he said. "It's the 'inside stuff' that counts.

I'd rather have a team of quick thinkers than the heaviest sluggers in the league.

"Why," he went on, warming to his subject, "look at the Phillies when Ed Delehanty, the greatest natural hitter that ever lived, was in his prime. Say, I saw that fellow once make four home runs in one game against Terry of the Brooklyns. I don't suppose that a heavier batting bunch ever existed than the one they had in the league for three seasons, handrunning. Besides Ed himself, there was Flick and Lajoie, and a lot of others of the same kind, every one of them fence-breakers.

You couldn't blame any pitcher for having palpitation of the heart when he faced that gang. They were no slouches in the field, either. Now, you'd naturally think that n.o.body would have a chance against them.

Every year the papers touted them to win the pennant, but every year, just the same, they came in third or fourth at the end of the season.

Now, why was it they didn't cop the flag? I'll tell you why. It was because every man was playing for himself. He was looking out for his record. Every time a man came to the bat, he'd try to lose the ball over the back fence. They wouldn't bunt, they wouldn't sacrifice, they wouldn't do anything that might hurt that precious record of theirs. It was every man for himself and no man for the team, and they didn't have a manager at the head of them that was wise enough or strong enough to make them do as they were told.

"Now, on the other hand, look at the White Sox. Dandy fielders, but for batting--why, if they fell in the river they wouldn't strike the water.

All around the league circuit, they were dubbed the 'Hitless Wonders.'

But they were quick as cats on their feet, and just as quick in knowing what to do at any stage of the game. What hits they did get counted double. They didn't get men on the bases as often as the Phillies, but they got them home oftener, and that's what counts when the score is added up. That sly old fox, Comiskey, didn't miss a point. It was a bunt or a sacrifice or a long fly to the outfield or waiting for a base on b.a.l.l.s or anything else he wanted. The men forgot about themselves and only thought of the team, and those same 'Hitless Wonders' won the pennant in a walk.

"Now, that's just the difference between dumb and brainy playing and that's what makes Ainslee so hot when he sees a bonehead stunt like that one this afternoon."

"I suppose that you saw no end of that inside stuff pulled off while you were in the big league," said Tom. "What do you think is the brightest bit of thinking you ever saw on the ball field?"

"Well," said Reddy musingly, "that's hard to tell. I've certainly seen some stunts on the diamond that would make your hair curl. Some of them went through, and others were good enough to go through, even if they didn't. It often depends on the way the umpire looks at it. And very often it gets by, because the umpire doesn't look at it at all. Many's the time I've seen Mike Kelly of the old Chicagos--the receiving end of the ten-thousand-dollar battery--cut the corners at third when the umpire wasn't looking, and once I saw him come straight across the diamond from second to the plate without even making a bluff of going to third. Oh, he was a bird, was Mike.

"I shall never forget one day when the Chicagos were behind until they came to the plate for their ninth inning. They were a husky bunch of swatters and never more dangerous than when they were behind. Well, they made two runs in that inning, tieing the score and then putting themselves one to the good. The Bostons came in for their last turn at the bat and by the time two men were out they had the bases full.

One safe hit to the outfield was all they needed, and they sent a pinch-hitter to the bat to bring in the fellows that were dancing about on the bases.

"It was a dreary, misty afternoon, and, from the grandstand you could hardly see the fielders. Mike was playing right that day, and the man at the bat sent a screaming liner out in his direction. He saw at a glance that he couldn't possibly get his hands on it, but he turned around and ran with the ball, and, at the last moment, jumped into the air and apparently collared it. He waved his hands as a signal that he had it and made off to the clubhouse. The umpire called the batter out and the game was over. His own teammates hadn't tumbled to the trick, until Mike told them that he hadn't come anywhere near the ball, and that at that very moment it was somewhere out on the playing field. It came out later, and there was some talk of protesting the game, but nothing ever came of it. When it came to quick work, Mike was certainly 'all wool and a yard wide.'"

The boys did not express an opinion as to the moral quality of the trick, and Reddy went on:

"Perhaps the slickest thing I ever saw was one that Connie Mack put over on old Cap Anson of the Chicagos, and, believe me, anybody who could fool him was going some. His playing days are over now, and all you kids know of him is by reputation, but, take him by and large, a better player never pulled on a glove. Well, as I was saying, Anson was playing one day in Pittsburgh and Mack was catching against him. It had been a game of hammer and tongs right up to the last inning. The Chicagos, as the visiting team, came to the bat first in the ninth inning. The Pittsburghs were one ahead and all they needed to win was to hold the Chicagos scoreless. Two were out and two on bases when old 'Pop' Anson came to the bat. There wasn't a man in the league at that time that a pitcher wouldn't rather have seen facing him than the 'Big Swede.'

However, there was no help for it, and the twirler put on extra steam and managed to get two strikes on him. The old man set himself for the third, with fierce determination to 'kill' the ball or die in the attempt. Mack walked up to the pitcher and told him to send in a ball next time, and then, the instant the ball was returned to him, to put over a strike. The pitcher did as directed, and sent over a wide one.

Of course, Anson didn't offer to hit it, but Mack caught it.

"'Third strike,' he said, throwing off his mask and s.h.i.+n-guards, as though the game were over.

"'Third strike nothing,' growled Anson. 'What's the matter with you, anyway?' and the umpire also motioned Connie back to the plate.

"'Why, wasn't that a strike?' said Mack, coming back to the plate. At the same instant the pitcher sent a beauty right over the center of the rubber. Mack caught it, and before Anson knew the ball had been pitched, the umpire said, 'You're out.'

"Holler? Say, you could have heard him from Pittsburgh to Chicago. It went, though. You see, Anson, looking at Connie without his mask or s.h.i.+n-guards, was figuring that he would have to get into all that harness again, before the game went on. He took too much for granted, and it doesn't pay to do that in baseball. I don't suppose he ever forgave Connie for making him look like thirty cents before that holiday crowd. And I don't suppose that Mack would have taken a thousand dollars for the satisfaction it gave him to tally one on the old man.

"You fellows wouldn't believe me, I suppose, if I told you I seen a dog pull some of that inside stuff once? Sure, I ain't fooling, although of course the pup didn't know he was doing it. It was in Detroit when a big game was on and the home team was at the bat. They needed three runs to win and there were two men on bases. The batter lined out a peach between left and center. There were no automobiles in those days, but a whole raft of carriages were down back of center field. A big coach dog saw the ball coming and chased it, got it in his mouth and scooted down under the bleachers, the left and center fielders yelling to him to drop it and racing after him like mad. He was a good old rooter for the home team, all right, though, and, by the time they got it away from him, the whole bunch had crossed the plate and the game was won. The home team boys found out whom he belonged to, and clubbed together and got him a handsome collar.

"Another funny thing I seen one time that makes me laugh whenever I think of it," continued Reddy, "was when a high fly was. .h.i.t to left field with three men on bases. It ought to have been an easy out and nine times out of ten would have been. But, as luck would have it, the ball slipped through the fielder's fingers and went into the outside upper pocket of his baseball s.h.i.+rt. He tried desperately to get it out, but it was wedged in so tight he couldn't. All this time the men were legging it around the bases. At last, Mitch.e.l.l--that was the fellow's name--ran in toward third and caught the batter, just as he was rounding the base on his way to home. He grabbed him and hugged him tight and they fell to the ground together. Say, you'd have died laughing if you'd seen them two fellows wrestling, Mitch.e.l.l trying to force the other man's hand into his pocket so that the ball could touch him, and the other fighting to keep his hand out. It was a hard thing for the umpire to settle, but he finally let the run count on the ground that Mitch.e.l.l had no right to interfere with him. Poor old Mitch.e.l.l was certainly up against it that day, good and plenty."

By this time they had reached the college dormitory, and the boys reluctantly bade Reddy good-by. They had been immensely amused and interested by his anecdotes, although they did not altogether agree with his easy philosophy of life. To Reddy all was fair in love or war or baseball, provided you could "put it over."

"But it isn't," said Bert, as they went upstairs. "Strategy is one thing and cheating is another. It's all right to take your opponent unawares and take advantage of his carelessness or oversight. If he's slow and you're quick, if he's asleep and you're awake, you've got a perfect right to profit by it. Now take for instance that case of Mack and Anson. Whether that was a strike or a ball was a thing to be decided by the umpire alone, and Anson ought not to have paid any attention to Mack's bluff. Then, too, because Mack usually put on his mask and s.h.i.+n-guards before the ball was pitched, Anson had no right to a.s.sume that he would _always_ do so. Mack acted perfectly within his rights, and Anson was simply caught napping and had no kick coming.

"But when you come to 'cutting the corners' and pretending that the ball was caught when it wasn't, that isn't straight goods. It's 'slick,' all right, but it is the slickness of the crooked gambler and the three-card monte man. It's playing with marked cards and loaded dice, and I don't care for any of it in mine."

"Right you are, old fellow," said Tom, heartily, clapping him on the back, "my sentiments to a dot. I want to win and hate to lose, but I'd rather lose a game any day than lie or cheat about it."

Which he was to prove sooner than he expected.

CHAPTER IV

THE TRIPLE PLAY