Christy Mathewson

“ If the ball gets there before the batter, he’s out. If he gets there first he is still in the game. The player who throws to the base is credited with an assist, or a put out if he catches the ball before it hits the ground.”
“But why doesn’t the batter run if he hit the ball?”
“Foul ball,” said Hal. “A foul ball, that is a ball which strikes the ground outside of those white lines” (pointing to the foul lines left and right) “doesn’t count as a hit. For a hit, a ball must be fair, which means striking inside those lines. A foul ball counts as a strike, but if it is caught it’s an out.” ”

“ Presently the pitcher threw the ball. Ross was at bat. It was a ball and Ross didn’t strike at it.
“The people in the stands turned around to see who it might be.”
“Why didn’t he hit it?” asked Parker.
“It wasn’t the right kind of a ball to strike at,” replied Hal.
“Do they use different kinds of balls?” asked Parker.
“No, they use the same ball all the time.” Hal saw that he would have to explain about balls and strikes.
“You see, a batter can get four balls or three strikes. If he gets four balls he runs to the base. If he gets three strikes he’s out.” ”

“ He was watching the game. Six short innings of baseball had planted the seed out of which would some day grow a “full fledged fan.” He didn’t understand much of it, of course, but he had begun to feel the alternate strain and relaxation which everyone feels when watching a game. It has been the same for years with all of us.
When “our” side is at bat you are always hoping the batter will hit it safe. You watch the pitcher [180] wind up. Your muscles are tense. You see the ball leave his hands. You see the batter prepare to strike at it. ”

“ He strikes and misses. The umpire calls “one strike.” You relax. Again the pitcher delivers the ball. Again the muscles become tense. The umpire says “one ball” and again you sink back in your seat in perfect repose. By this time the pitcher is again ready. The third time the ball is sent toward the batter like a white streak. Somehow you feel he is going to hit it this time. As before, your muscles become tense. You hear a crack of wood against leather. You raise yourself up in your seat. It’s a foul fly back of the plate. You see the catcher throw off his mask and run up for the ball. ”

“ These fellows are just as much the heroes of the game to-day as they were at Lowell. They like to play the game for the fun there is in it as much as the profit. They like it for its thrilling situations and its excitement. They love to see the big crowds and when the stands are filled and they have to let the crowd out on the field they play their best and they all are just as anxious to win every game, as they were back in those good old days at Lowell. ”

“ Every year about this time there would be quite a gathering at the University of old Lowell graduates. They came to see the team work, in one or two games and in practice, and once each year the graduates would make up a nine of the old timers who had come, and challenge the new Varsity to a game. It was one of the traditions of the University that the old graduates’ team always won this game, notwithstanding their stiff knees, and other joints, to say nothing of their poor throwing arms. ”

“ Every block was like a stolen base to Hans. “How much will you loan me on this?” “As he did so a young fellow stooped down and picked up an envelope which had fallen out of Hal’s pocket.” “Who could have taken it?” “You must consider yourself off the varsity.” “Find that man with the blue glasses!” “Get the number of that machine.” “Again Ross muffed the ball.” “He stuck his left foot in the bag, whirled quickly around with his back to the ball, stretched out his right mitt, stuck it out in the air and caught the ball with one hand.” “Again the crowd went wild.” ”

“ The whole team was wild, but with a different kind of wildness. A fellow that could do that was a natural ball player. If he could make one stop like that he could make another. This game didn’t make so [114] much difference now—they had discovered a first baseman. Hughie knew it, the whole team knew it—and the opposing team knew it—they all sensed it. The fans in the stands may not have realized it, and Hal was sure he didn’t know what it was all about, in fact, he hardly knew yet what he had done. ”

“ The umpire said, “Batter up.” Then from the Lowell bench you could see the team arise quickly and trot out on the field. The Lowell “rooters” started a mighty cheer. The advantage of first field was theirs. It was only a slight advantage but their team thought it an advantage and that made it one.
A sudden hush falls over the vast multitude. You can almost hear a pin drop. Laird at the plate, and Black in the box. Again that first ball may be the all important one. On it may hang victory, or defeat for either side. The crowd sits back silent, waiting. They are ready. So are the players. ”

“ Last year Armour had played at Lowell and had lost, but they had a good time anyhow with their cheering and their singing, and especially after the game when the Lowell crowd entertained them.
That afternoon the team came nearer to defeat than at any time so far that year. The advantage of being champions had been partly offset by the big hostile crowd in the stand. The feeling of nervousness was shared by Hughie and the coaches over the one weak spot, first base, in what would otherwise have seemed to him a championship team. Dill had been tried and found wanting, and Ross was given the job. ”

“ Everybody thinks he can pitch. Only a few know how.”
“Well, I’m a Southpaw pitcher, and I was pretty good on the High School team out home. Southpaws are scarce.”
“Left handed, eh! You look quick, too. Think you might make a first baseman.”
“I’d rather pitch,” said Harold.
“All right, sir,” said Hagner. “You can pitch if you want to and if they want you, but if they give me a chance any place, I think I can stop them all right, and if I miss one occasionally, I think I can hold the job with my bat. What’s your first name? Mine’s John, but you can call me Hagner.” ”

“ Before Harold had time to answer, however, Jenkins had said the same thing practically.
“Getting ready for a baseball season isn’t quite like developing a football team,” said Hughie. “In football you have to get the team in shape for one or two big games, each of them requiring a terrific outburst of energy, without thinking about the morrow, but in the case of a baseball nine you have to develop your bodies to withstand the strain of a long series of games, mostly in warm weather, and you must start slowly and get into condition gradually, so do not try to do it all to-day. ”

“ Parker was serious. “There are nine men on each side. One side goes [174] out in the field and the other side is at bat. When there are three out they——”
“I thought you said nine were out,” broke in Parker.
“No, there are only three put out. I guess you were thinking about what I said that one team of nine players takes position in the field to catch the ball.”
“Does it take nine men to catch a ball?” asked Parker.
“No, only one,” said Hal, “but they have a man in each of the locations where the ball is likely to be hit.” ”

“ If you have had any luck with your recruits, we ought to have the best series of games of college ball ever played between two nines in the history of the sport, and with an even break of the luck, it will be the best team to win.”
Of course all of the reports from all sources were laid before a committee consisting of Hughie, Everson, Larke, Gibbie, and one or two others. It made even Hughie a little anxious. In the enthusiasm over his team he hadn’t given much thought to Lowell’s great rivals, because he couldn’t see how another school could have such luck as he had in finding stars. ”

“ Then, of course, Miner Black had to tell his remarkable catch story about Jimmie Siegel in a twenty inning game with Eastern Pennsylvania. How in the eighteenth inning with a runner on first base, the mightiest hitter of the Pennsylvania nine drove a hard hit ball to left center. Just at that moment, however, Siegel had put his hand in his hip pocket to get out his handkerchief, as the day was hot and the game was a hard one. ”

“ In the second half of the seventh inning of the game with Chadwick, this Lowell team just had to get at least three runs, so Hughie told the boys and he would be obliged if they would get a half dozen. Everson was the first man up and he got an infield hit to short which he beat by inches. Then the Lowell boys on the bench commenced to get busy, for they had sensed the “break.” There comes a time in almost every game of ball, which has become known as the “break,” when the game can be won for one team or the other. ”

“ As usual, Miner was long on control. Johnny Everson stepped to the plate. Miner served one up and bing! The ball went scurrying out to right field. Each fellow took his turn at bat. Boys like Delvin, Larke and Gibbs—standing up like veterans and cracking the hits out in fine shape, giving a little more running practice to some of the youngsters who had been sent out to the field to chase the balls. ”

“ The progress of the nine was quite satisfactory to Hughie and the coaches and they began to feel as though they had the championship again in their inside pockets, and they were right in thinking so, because never before in all the ball teams put together, in college or out, had there been so many individual stars on any one team. ”

“ With two men on bases if Hughie raises his cap, it is a signal for a double steal.
“When Hughie pulls grass with his right hand it means hit the next ball pitched, and when he pulls the grass with his left hand it means try to get a base on balls. If he lifts his left foot and whistles it means that right field is the best place to hit it, and if he does the same but with his right foot it means that the left fielder is out of position and the best place to knock the ball is there. ”

“ You fellows have helped me win the championship before. It’s all right about the football business, but this last year with you, we’ve simply got to have another winning nine. Let’s give a good old cheer for the football boys, and then let’s give another for the grand old game of ball, and then you go and tell all the fellows who can play ball that I want to see them in the cage next week, and tell all of them that think they can play ball to come, too. Sometimes some of these chaps who think they can’t do it turn out the best of all. ”

“ Jenkins, however, took Robb aside and told him quietly that instead of practicing law right away, he was going to play professional ball for a few years, that he had received such a tempting offer from the Tigers to manage their club that he could make more out of it than out of the law, and that professional baseball had been put on such a high plane in the last few years that it was as good a profession as any. He got Robb to agree to play ball with the Tigers, if he played on any professional team in the future. ”

“ Ty Robb and Honus enjoyed the sliding. These two stole more bases in practice and regular games than all the other men on the team put together.
The rules of the game give the runner absolute right to the base paths, otherwise a baseman could always block a runner. The average player, even though courageous, starts his slide when about fifteen feet from the bag, so that by the time the bag is reached the slider is not coming at very fast speed—he is almost stopped in fact, and it is easy for the baseman to tag him without much danger from spikes. ”

“ When Lowell University won the college baseball Championship in 1876 the victory was to a large extent due to the wonderful all-round work of Jerry Harriman. As a pitcher he had never up to that time had an equal, and he could play almost any other position on the team well. In those days a club would have only one pitcher and he was expected to pitch almost every game of the season, which often meant pitching every day in the week but Sunday. When not pitching he played an outfield position. ”

“ Once he had taken a girl cousin to see a game in California, and the foolish questions she asked him made him vow never to take a girl to a ball game again.
“What has that fellow got the cage on his face for?” was one of the first questions Parker asked.
“That’s Gibbie, the catcher,” answered Hal. “He stands behind the plate and he might get hit by a foul tip.”
“What’s a foul tip?” was the next question.
“A foul tip occurs when a batter strikes at a ball and almost misses it. The ball just touches the rounded side of the bat, and of course changes its direction. ”

“ Jefferson on the other hand had still to win the championship and was fighting hard for a reputation. She was inclined to conduct her games desperately, to try by the force of brawn to overthrow the champions.
For this reason the annual struggle over the Baseball Championship stirred up a lot of excitement and this excitement was felt throughout the city.
On the day of the great game, business houses closed early and everyone talked baseball. Everybody that could get in went to the game. Many were always turned away, for even the vast amphitheater seating fifty thousand was not big enough. ”

“ What is expected of a pitcher at bat? I don’t get that.”
“Pitchers generally bat poorly. Black struck out,” said Tim.
“Oh, I see! Gibbie is up next. Gibbie got a one timer (that’s a one-base hit, I guess) back of Wilson (let me see, where does Wilson play? Oh, yes, third!) . Gibbie got a one-base hit back of third (very plain) , Ross arched one to Knight (an arching fly) , Everson dropped one in front of the rubber (a bunt, I am getting on splendidly again) , Gibbie annexing the keystone bag (Gibbie got to second) , Little Arthur was there with a dew drop (dew drop? What’s a dew drop, Tim?) .” ”

“ It is a college story about baseball. The hero is a fine young fellow whom many fans will at once think they recognize as a popular player. He enters a big Eastern University from the far West, gets on the Varsity after many trying experiences, as extra pitcher, but by accident one day it develops his natural position is as fielder and he becomes a star and wins a scholarship, which insures his education. ”

“ Warcford in left is only a fair fielder, but a wonder with the bat. He comes from Kansas and is likely to make trouble at any time with his stick. He hits all kinds of pitching.
“You will have finally to deal with George Mellen in the pitcher’s box. He is better than ever. He has won twelve straight games this year and is [140] almost as good a batter as any man on the team. There is also a young pitcher named Cam who promises to be a wonder. For catcher they have a youngster, a freshman named Roger Brest. This fellow is a wonder also. ”