Lester Chadwick

“ It has to be, to make it the success it is," he added frankly, "though lots of people are opposed to the system. But I haven't been in it long enough to find fault, even if I wanted to—which I don't."
"But it seems queer that you can't stay with the Pittston team if you want to," said Mrs. Matson.
"I don't know as I want to," spoke Joe, slowly, "especially when I'll surely get more money with St. Louis, besides having the honor of pitching for a major league team, even if it isn't one of the top-notchers, and a pennant winner. So if they want to draft me, let them do their worst!" ”

“ Dugan's face fell, and Manager Watson flushed. He bit his lips to keep from making a retort. But, after all, the umpire was clearly within his rights.
In silence Dugan left the field, and the Reds, who were jubilant over the double play, came in from the diamond.
"The fat's in the fire now, for sure," sighed Rad, "with Dugan out of the game. Hang it all, anyhow!"
"Oh, we can't win every time," and Joe tried to speak cheerfully. ”

“ Have you lost your place?" exclaimed Clara. "And just after you have done so well, too; and helped them win the pennant! I call that a shame! I thought baseball men were better 'sports' than that."
"Listen to her—my little sister using slang!" laughed Joe.
"'Sports' isn't slang," defended Clara. "I've heard lots of girls use it. I mean it in the right sense. But have you really lost your place on the team, Joe?" ”

“ The ninth inning had started with the teams still even.
"We've just got to get that run!" declared Manager Watson. "We've just got to get it. Joe, you are to bat first. See if you can't get a hit!"
Pitchers are proverbially weak hitters. One ingenious theory for it is that they are so used to seeing the ball shooting away from them, and toward the batter, that, when the positions are reversed, and they see the ball coming toward them they get nervous.
"Ball!" was the umpire's first decision in Joe's favor. The young pitcher was rather surprised, for he knew the prowess of his opponent. ”

“ I'm desperately in need of money."
"Well, I'm very sorry, but I'm not in a position to be able to help you," said Joe, firmly. "Why don't you go to the manager of your team, and get him to give you an advance on your salary? That is often done. I'm sure if you told him your need he'd do it."
"No, he wouldn't!" growled Shalleg. "I've got to borrow it somewhere else. Then you won't let me have it?" and he glowered at Joe.
"I can't, even if I would."
"I don't believe it!" snarled the other. "And now I tell you one thing. I'm a bad man to be bad friends with. ”

“ From then on the Cardinals seemed to find themselves. They began coming back in earnest, and everyone "got the habit." Even Joe, proverbially poor hitters as pitchers are supposed to be, did his share, and, by placing a neat little drive, that eluded the shortstop, he brought in another needed run.
"One ahead now! That's fine!" cried Rad to his chum, though Joe "died" on second. "If we can only hold 'em down——" and he looked questioningly at the young pitcher. ”

“ Wonder if any other members of the Pittston team are slated to go? Can't be, though, or Gregory would have told me of it.
"And I wonder how much more salary I'll get? Of course I oughtn't to think too much about money, for, after all, it's the game I like. But, then, I have to live, and, since I'm in organized baseball, I want to be at the top of the heap, the same as I would if I were a lawyer, or a doctor. That's it—the top of the heap—the New York Giants for mine—if I can reach 'em," and he smiled quizzically. ”

“ I related how, after playing during his freshman year on the class team, Joe was picked as one of the pitchers for the varsity.
Then, indeed, he was proud and happy, but he knew it would not be as easy as it had been at Excelsior Hall. Every step upward meant harder work, but Joe welcomed the chance.
And when finally the deciding game came—the one with Princeton at the Polo Grounds, New York—Joe had the proud distinction of pitching for Yale—and he pitched to victory.
Joe's ambition, ever since he had taken an interest in baseball, had been to become a professional player. ”

“ Life came very easy to him, anyhow. "It's very nice of you to put us up, Joe. [36] By the way, how is your father since the operation?"
"Oh, he has almost entirely recovered. His eyesight is better than ever, he says."
"How lovely!" cried Mabel. "And how lucky it was, Joe, that your share of the money your team got for winning the pennant helped to make the operation possible."
"Yes, I sure do owe a debt of gratitude to baseball," admitted the young pitcher.
"Do you play ball?" suddenly asked the man on the seat beside Joe. ”

“ To make the contest a little more even the St. Louis team were to bat first, giving the visitors the advantage of coming up last in the ninth inning.
"Doolin up!" called the score keeper, and the lanky left-handed hitter strolled up to the plate, while Riordan, who was on deck, took up a couple of bats, swinging them about nervously to limber his arms.
"Strike one!" bawled the umpire, at the first delivery of the visiting pitcher. ”

“ Of course we chaps in the minor leagues aren't bid for, as are those in the big leagues. But we always hope to be."
"It seems funny, for one manager to buy a player from another manager," went on Reggie.
"I suppose so, but I've grown sort of used to it," Joe replied. "Of course the players themselves don't benefit by the big sum one manager may give another for the services of a star fielder or pitcher, but it all helps our reputations."
"Is the St. Louis team considered pretty good?" Reggie wanted to know. ”

“ This delighted Joe, and he longed for the time when he would be thought worthy of such notice. The audience entered into the fun of the occasion, and when the chief comedian came out, and, in a witty address, presented Manager Watson with a diamond pin, and wished him all success for the coming season, there were cheers for the team.
"Everybody stand up!" called Toe Barter, one of the veteran pitchers. "Seventh inning—everybody stretch!"
The players in the two boxes arose to face the audience in the theatre, and there were more cheers. Joe was proud and happy that he was a part of it all. ”

“ And, ever since then, whether I know there's a train due or not, I'm always careful of this crossing."
"It makes one feel ever so much safer to have a driver like him," spoke Mabel to Clara.
"Oh, we can always trust Frank," replied Joe's sister.
Laughing, shouting, singing and blowing the horns, the party went on its merry way, until the hotel was reached. ”

“ Joe planned to take Mabel for a ride, and Reggie, hearing of it, asked Clara to be his guest.
Two or three days passed, and Joe neither saw nor heard any more of Shalleg, except to learn, by judicious inquiry, that the surly and threatening fellow had left the boarding house to which Joe had taken him.
"I guess he's gone off to try his game on some other players in the League," thought the young pitcher. "I hope he doesn't succeed, though. If he got money I'm afraid he'd make a bad use of it." ”

“ Watson, intimating that if the boss wants to see the team come up out of the subway, Shalleg is the man to help."
"Some nerve; eh?"
"I should say so!"
It was a glorious sunny day, perhaps too hot, but that makes for good baseball, for it limbers up the players. The grandstand and bleachers were rapidly filling, and out on the well-kept diamond of Robison Field the rival teams—the Cardinals and the Giants—were practicing.
Mabel Varley and her brother had come to St. Louis, stopping off on business, and Joe had called on them. ”

“ For baseball is often an uncertainty.
Joe looked around at the grandstands and bleachers as he went out for warm-up practice.
There was a fair-sized crowd in attendance, but nothing like the throng that would have been present at a league game.
[163] "But I'll pitch before a big crowd before I'm through the season!" declared Joe to himself, though it was not clear how this was to be brought about.
Washburg had a good team, and knew how to make everything tell. They led off with a run, which, however, was due to an error on the part of two of the Cardinals. ”

“ She shook the snow from her garments, and made her way to where Joe stood, holding the reins close to the heads of the horses. It was still snowing hard, and with the cold wind driving the flakes into swirls and drifts, it was anything but pleasant. Had they been left behind by the horses running away, their plight would have been dangerous enough. ”

“ There was some discussion in the papers as to who would pitch the first game against the Phillies, and it was not settled until a few minutes before the game was called, when Slim Cooney was sent in.
"I guess Mr. Watson wants to make sure of at least the first one," remarked Joe, as he sat on the bench.
"Oh, you'll get a chance," Boswell assured him. "You want to keep yourself right on edge. No telling when you'll be called on." ”

“ He thought of John Dutton, the broken-down pitcher whose rescue, from a life of ruin, had been due largely to our hero's efforts, as told in the volume immediately preceding this.
"Being sorry isn't going to help," sneered Shalleg, and there was an ugly note in his voice. "I need money! You must have some left from your pennant winnings."
"I had to spend a large sum for my father's operation," said Joe. "He has had bad luck, too. I really have no money to spare."
"That's not so—I don't believe you!" snapped Shalleg. "You must have money, and I've got to get some. ”

“ He hit three players during the course of the game, and hit them hard.
"If they can't beat us any other way they're going to cripple us," said Rad grimly to Joe, as they sat on the bench.
"It does look that way; doesn't it?" agreed our hero.
The game went on, and, as might have been expected, the St. Louis team did about as they pleased. No, that is hardly correct. Even a country aggregation of players can sometimes make the finest nine of professionals stand on its mettle. ”

“ That opening game, between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Cincinnati Reds, was not remarkable for good playing. Few opening games are, for the teams have not that fierce rivalry that develops later in the pennant season, and, though both try hard to win, they are not keyed up to the pitch that makes for a brilliant exhibition.
So that opening game was neither better nor worse than hundreds of others. But, as we have to deal mostly with Baseball Joe in this book, I will centre my attention on him. ”

“ There was plenty of room for him to pass. Why should he try to hurt you?"
"I don't know," answered Joe, "unless he was put up to it by——"
"By Jove! Shalleg! Yes!" cried Rad. "I believe you're right. Shalleg is jealous of you, and he wants to see you kept out of the game, just because he didn't make the nine. And I guess, too, he'd be glad to see the Cardinals lose just to make Manager Watson feel sore. That's it, Joe, as sure as you're a foot high!" ”

“ I heard your sleigh-bells, and I was heading for them when I heard you upset. You can show me the shortest road to Riverside; can't you?"
"We can do better than that," spoke Joe, trying, but still unsuccessfully, to get a look at the man's face. "We've got plenty of room in the sled, and you can ride back with us, once we get it on the runners again. Come on, Reggie, give me a hand, if you will, and we'll get this cutter right side up with care." ”

“ He's been South with the team a lot of times, I hear."
"But I don't like to talk about myself," objected Joe.
"Don't let that worry you!" laughed Rad. "Notoriety is what keeps baseball where it is to-day, and if it wasn't for the free advertising we get in the newspapers there would not be the attendance that brings in the dollars, and lets us travel in a private car. Don't be afraid of boosting yourself. The reporters will help you, and be glad to. They have to get the stuff, and often enough it's hard to do, especially at the training camp." ”

“ Watson here?" he asked the clerk, inquiring for the manager.
"I think you'll find him in the billiard room," replied the clerk, sizing up Joe with a critical glance. "Here, boy, show this gentleman to Mr. Watson," went on the man at the register.
"Do you know him by sight?" he asked.
"No," replied Joe, rather sorry he did not.
"I know him!" exclaimed the bellboy, coming forward, with a cheerful grin on his freckled face. "He sure has a good ball team. I hope they win the pennant this year. Are you one of the players?" he asked. ”

“ Wessel responded to Shalleg. "I've seen him before."
Joe and Rad, with the two men, were comparatively alone now. The attitude and words of the fellows were so insulting that Joe almost made up his mind to defy them. But before he had a chance to do so Shalleg snapped out:
"You want to look out for yourself, young man. I'll get you yet, and I'll get even with you for having me turned down. You want to look out. Bill Shalleg is a bad man to have for an enemy. ”