Christy Mathewson

“ The Chenango infield was talking hearteningly to Chase and each other, Jim Wheelock’s drawl mingling with Vic Despaigne’s sharp staccato. There were two umpires that day and Wayne was wondering how the one on the bases stood the heat in his blue flannel attire, with his coat buttoned tightly from chin to waist. Chase wasted one and then put a second strike across. Medfield’s adherents cheered and the chatter in the field increased again. Then there was a crack and Chase put up a lazy gloved hand, turned and tossed the ball to Jim. One out! ”

“ He remembered that when his school team had returned from that disastrous contest with Athens High gloom thick enough to be cut with a knife had enveloped them. After all, playing ball was sport and not business, and why should they be downhearted over a defeat? Whether they should or not, they certainly were not. Even Jordan, who had so ignominiously failed in the box, seemed no whit upset, nor did the rest hold it against him. ”

“ Two boys and a dog sat at the edge of a little wood and shiveringly watched the eastern sky pale from inky blue to gray. One of the boys was white and the other was black; and the dog was yellow. The white boy was seventeen years old, the black boy sixteen, and the yellow dog—well, no one knew just how old he was. The white boy’s name was Wayne Torrence Sloan, the black boy’s name was Junius Brutus Bartow Tasker, and the dog’s name was Sam. ”

“ Pattern turned from Big Tom’s indignant countenance to Wayne. “When you think you’d like to play ball for a living, you tackle the manager of a real team. Tell him you want a try-out. He will give it to you if he’s any good. If he isn’t you don’t want to join him. These two-by-twice ball teams don’t get you anything but a lot of hard work and you can stay in one of them until you’re gray-headed without doing any better for yourself. ”

“ But Wayne had a grievance now and, feeling a good deal more homesick than he had thought he ever could feel, and a lot colder and emptier than was pleasant, he nursed it. “I couldn’t stay there any longer and slave for that man,” he said. “I stuck it out as long as I could. Ever since mother died it’s been getting worse and worse. He hasn’t got any hold on me, anyway. Stepfathers aren’t kin. I had a right to run away if I wanted to, and he can’t fetch me back, not anyway, not even by law!”
“No, sir, he can’,” agreed June soothingly. ”

“ If one is tired enough such luxuries as beds and blankets may be dispensed with. Wayne and June slept more uninterruptedly that night than for many nights past. Toward morning they were conscious of the cold, for Wayne’s coat and an old gunny-sack discovered in a corner of the shed were not sufficient to more than cover their feet and legs. Sam, curled up in Wayne’s arms, doubtless fared better than the boys. ”

“ Again Toonalta secured a hit, her fifth, after one man was gone in the first half of the next inning. It was Gore, shortstop, who performed the feat, and it was Gore who gave as pretty an exhibition of base-stealing as one ever sees. He stole second when the Toonalta catcher struck out and blocked Hoffman’s throw and then stole third a moment later. Gas got the ball to White as quick as he could, but Gore was already sliding his cleats against the bag. Even Medfield cheered that exploit, realising the next instant that, even with two down, everything predicted another tally for the enemy. ”

“ On an amateur team you play for the love of playing and nothing else. On a professional team you play for the love of playing plus a fat salary.”
“I see,” murmured Wayne. “But could I—I mean would you——”
“Sure, if I needed the money,” was the answer. “I wouldn’t be a professional ball player and expect to stick at it all my life. You can’t do it. The pace is too hard. But if I had the ability and could command a good salary for playing ball [132] I’d do it, and keep my eyes open for something better. ”

“ Then June chuckled. “I reckon I’ll jus’ have to ask that Mister Man to throw in a coffee grinder, too!” he said. “Ain’ there no way to make coffee out of that, Mas’ Wayne?”
“There must be,” was the answer. “If we can’t do it any other way, we’ll grind it with our teeth! You run along and see what you can find, June, and I’ll try to think up a way of grinding the coffee.” ”

“ If you’re going in for professional baseball playing, Wayne, you’ve got to get experience, and one team’s about the same as another, so long as you get your salary. You can’t afford to choose and pick, I guess, because it isn’t easy for a youngster like you to get a try-out. If a chance comes to you, grab it. After all, it doesn’t make much [200] difference where you start. If you’re any good you won’t stay long in the bushes. The main question is: Do you want to be a ball player? ”

“ Wayne explained and the man chuckled. “It’s a fine-sounding name all right,” he said. “How’d you like a job here with me, Sloan? I been looking for a feller for a week. There’s a guy up to Springdale that wants the place, and he’s coming down this afternoon to see me, but—I don’t know.” Jim looked out the window and whistled a tune thoughtfully. “He mightn’t do at all,” he went on after a moment, “and if you say you want to try it——”
“I do!” said Wayne promptly. “That is, if you think I could.” ”

“ Centre and left fielder were on the ball together and left fielder made the throw in, but it arrived only when Wayne was stretched in the dust with one toe on the bag. On third, Billy White was listening to excited instructions from Hoffman, while, from the sides of the field, came pæans of delight. Those spectators who had wandered from their seats or points of vantage fought their way back again, crowding and pushing and questioning. Joe Taylor was sending in Brewster for Despaigne, and Hunt, the Toonalta catcher, in spite of his confident reassurances to Ellis, looked disquieted. ”

“ A long train of empty box cars was backing toward him at a brisk speed, the locomotive out of sight at the far end. Wayne hurried his pace and reached an empty track in plenty of time, and was for paying no more heed to the string of [105] empties until a shout behind him brought his head quickly around.
On the roof of the first car a man was doing two things at once. He was yelling at the top of his voice and swinging himself over the end of the car to the ladder there as fast as he could. A few yards distant, squarely in the middle of the track, stood a boy of five or six years. ”

“ There was lots of fun to be had, for many of the players, Wayne amongst them, had not handled a ball since the summer before and the “hot ones” made them wince and yell, something that always brought laughter from the rest. Soon a dozen or so were at it and the ball passed from one to another, up and down the road. Occasionally a fly would go up and a mad scramble ensue in which hats fell off and the ball, as like as not, [126] escaped them all. Wayne thoroughly enjoyed that half-hour and resolved to buy a baseball on his way home so that he and June could pass. ”

“ Already four hits had been made off Marks, proving that he was far from formidable, and yet when Wayne, swinging his bats between bench and plate, saw LaCroix match his wits against Marks’ and come off second best in the contest it seemed futile for him to hope to succeed. LaCroix swung at one and missed it, judged two balls wisely, fouled into the first base stand for a second strike and then let go at one and popped it nicely into shortstop’s glove. Wayne dropped one of the two bats he had been swinging and stepped to the rubber.
Two out, a man on second and a run needed to break the tie! ”

“ You’ll run up against some rough ones on the team who will probably make life a perfect misery for you at first, and you’ll get the short end of a lot of decisions until the umpires see that you are real. I don’t want you to think that minor league ball playing is all bread and treacle, Wayne. ”

“ Sloan. You see, you’re young yet: can’t be more than eighteen, eh?” Wayne shook his head again. There was, he felt, no necessity of being more specific. “Well, I’ve seen fellows play rattling ball at eighteen and be no good at all when they were twenty. Seemed like they just outgrew it. I ain’t saying that’s your way. But it don’t do to promise too much just at first. And then again, Steve’s the man that has the last word. He’s manager, you see, and what Steve says goes. All I can do is send you up to him and tell him to give you a try-out. If he likes you he’ll treat you fair. ”

“ Wayne got his bat from an anxious-faced June, a June too downhearted to even put a “conjur” on it, listened to Taylor’s instructions to “just meet it, Sloan, and try for the hole between first and second,” and took his place in the trampled dust of the box. Ellis was cautious and deliberate and was putting everything he had on the ball. Wayne let the first one go by and was sorry for it, since it cut the outer corner of the plate and went for a strike. Then Ellis tried him on a wide one, waist-high, and followed it with a second strike, a drop that fooled the batsman completely. ”

“ Collins was a quick, nervous youngster, inclined to be sarcastic. Wayne liked Jim Wheelock best, although for a while he was never sure whether Jim’s remarks were serious or otherwise. It was Jim who praised Wayne’s throws to first base as they tramped along Whitney Street.
“You peg the ball across like you were looking where you were sending it,” drawled Jim. “Playing first would be a cinch if they all did that, Sloan.”
“Jim’s idea of playing first,” said Hal Collins, “is to stand on the bag and pick ’em off his chest. He hates to reach for anything.” ”

“ Travelling as they had travelled, on foot or stealing rides when the chance offered, makes a philosopher of one, and instead of objecting to the fate that had overtaken them when a suspicious train hand had flashed his lantern into the gloomy recesses of the box car, they had departed hurriedly and in silence, being thankful that the exodus had not been forced on them long before. ”

“ But when one becomes really possessed with the longing to have a garden it takes a great deal to discourage one. Wayne set Sam down and walked around the car and frowned intently over the problem. After all, he didn’t need a very big patch for his garden, and by filling in a few low places along the sunny side of the car and digging out the turf—turning it under would be better, but it entailed more labour than he felt capable of that lazy-feeling morning—he could have a patch about [93] four yards long by a yard wide, quite big enough for his needs. ”

“ I told Chris to find me an outfielder who could hit and he goes and sends me a second baseman! And robs the nursery, too! The man’s crazy! You might as well beat it, kid. Back to the crib for yours.”
“I’m old enough to play ball, sir,” answered Wayne.
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“Nothing doing,” replied the man wearily. “I can pick them up any day like you.”
“But he said you’d give me a try-out, Mr. Milburn. He—he promised me that. He wrote another letter to you yesterday——”
“He said he did. He’d tell you anything. What would you expect of an idiot who will ship you a second baseman when you want an outfielder? ”

“ With two gone, a hit out of the infield was imperative and the Damascus catcher tried his best to get it. That he didn’t was no one’s fault but Wayne’s, for he started the ball off his bat at a mile a minute and streaked down the base path, while the other bags emptied like magic. Four yards to the left of first base sped the ball, ascending as it went. LaCroix stabbed at it and missed it by inches and [295] it was Wayne, who had started with the sound of the hit, who leaped into the air behind LaCroix and brought joy to the stands and sorrow to Damascus. ”

“ Eventually the dog learned that he was not to follow, that his duty was to remain behind and guard the domicile, and he became reconciled.
“Carhurst,” as Wayne dubbed the new home, was slowly but steadily rehabilitated. Now that there was money for the purpose the boys set out to turn the abandoned horse car into a real place of residence. Every day witnessed some improvement. The missing stovepipe was early replaced with two sections purchased at a junk dealer’s emporium and with a five-cent can of blacking June made stove and pipe shine like a new beaver hat. ”

“ I’m not angry. You can’t make me angry.” Mr. Milburn scowled alarmingly. “Anyway, wouldn’t a bunch of boneheads like those over there make anyone angry? I’d like to see anyone keep sweet-tempered with that bunch of ivory-domed, flat-footed, slab-sided cripples on his hands. There isn’t a ball player in the lot! Not a single, solitary one! They don’t know ball from beans, and they don’t want to! Angry! Great Scott——”
“Well, don’t you want to hire a ball player, then, sir?” asked Wayne innocently.
“Hire a——” Mr. Milburn sputtered and waved impotent hands about his head. Then: “Get out!” ”

“ This man Farrel is banking on you learning the game and turning out well in a couple of years. He thinks that if they can get hold of you now and sign you up at a small salary it’ll pay them to do it on the chance that you’ll be of real use later. I dare say there are lots of chaps who play just about the same sort of game that you do right now. Personally, I think you’ll make good. You sort of—sort of—well, I don’t just know how to say it, but you sort of look good. There’s a certainty in the way you handle the ball and the way you handle yourself that’s promising. ”

“ Then: “By Jove, I don’t believe she did that time!” he laughed. “Perhaps old What’s-his-name was some good, after all!”
“Doctor Kearny—he’s the veterinarian at home—says that the profession is making faster strides nowadays than any other,” said Wayne. “He says the day is past when the man who can’t make a living any other way can become a dentist or a veterinary surgeon. He says treating horses and cows and dogs and things is a heap harder than giving pills to persons. I’d rather cure a horse or a dog any day than a human being.” ”

“ Wayne led the way to a sheltered nook in the lee of an empty shed near the railroad and seated himself on a discarded wheelbarrow. June followed suit and Sam began an excited search for rats. The town was wide-awake and [29] very busy now. Smoke poured from neighbouring stacks and chimneys and the roar of machinery came to them from the big factory close by. Trains passed and locomotives shrieked and clanged their brazen bells. Drays and trucks moved noisily along the cobbled street in the direction of the freight yard, piled high with goods in bales and boxes. ”

“ Joe Taylor tried hard to land safely but only succeeded in dropping an easy one into shortstop’s glove and Colton brought the inning to an end by banging a low fly to right fielder. Jim never got beyond first, but as every man up had connected in some fashion with Ellis’ delivery the home team’s respect for his skill fell to zero.
In Toonalta’s second things began to happen at once. The brown-stockinged first baseman hit between Wayne and Jim Wheelock for a base and only a fine stop and throw by Joe Taylor kept him from taking second. ”

“ Five times out of ten it is questionable policy to put a new pitcher in when bases are full and any sort of a hit means runs. As often as not such a procedure proves to be jumping from frying pan to fire. Had Toonalta chosen to substitute a pinch-hitter for Brook, Joe was ready to switch pitchers, but failing that he decided to trust to Chase and, more especially, perhaps, Hoffman. ”

“ Usually Arthur Pattern stopped for him on his way past the freight house and they walked uptown together. Wayne saw his circle of acquaintances grow from day to day, thanks to Arthur, and it wasn’t long before he could truthfully echo June’s sentiments and say that he “liked this yere place right smart.” And finally, as May was drawing to its end, he secured what he had hoped for from the first, an invitation to join the Chenango Base-Ball Club squad and show what he could do. ”

“ But if he thought to find Wayne asleep he was disappointed, for the boy wheeled and caught the descending ball and threw it to the plate. The throw was short and Steve Milburn barked across at him: “Keep ’em up, Sloan!” Captain Cross met him and walked back with him to the trampled ground behind the base line. “I’ll take the throws from the plate, Sloan, but if I can’t get in for them it’s up to you. Anything’s yours this side of the bag, but don’t crowd LaCroix too much. I’ll give you the signals on the runners. Just keep steady and you’ll do all right, kid. Come on now! Get into it!” ”