Frank Merriwell's danger

by Burt L. Standish

And now that Hodge was in college, he had chosen to accept Bart as a chum. If his former friends did not like it, he could not help it. He knew Bart Hodge’s nature, and he knew Hodge would need to be steadied by the hand of a friend after entering college, else he would be certain to fall under evil influences and go wrong.

Frank had used his influence to get Bart on the ’varsity nine because he believed Hodge a better backstop than any of the candidates for the position.

Yale’s catcher of the two preceding years had graduated and gone West, which left the position vacant.

Good pitchers are absolutely necessary on a good ball team, but the work of a good pitcher can be ruined by a poor catcher. The pitcher shines as the bright, particular star, but it is the work of the man behind the bat, almost as much as the pitcher’s own skill, that makes him shine.

A good catcher steadies and encourages a pitcher at all times, and particularly at such moments as the game is hanging in the balance so that a safe hit or a fumble may win it or lose it. At such a time, if the pitcher has perfect confidence in his catcher, he stands a good show of doing his level best; but if he lacks confidence, he may think the game is lost anyway, and fail to exert himself to his utmost.

Frank had first pitched to Bart on the old Fardale Academy nine, at which time the Fardale battery was a wonder and a terror to the ball teams of the surrounding country. Fardale had never lost a game with Merriwell and Hodge as the battery.

On the sporting trip across the continent, Frank found occasion to pitch to Bart again, and he discovered that Hodge had lost none of his cunning. Merriwell’s “Yale Combine” played against the regular Fort Worth professionals, Fort Worth having the famous “Dad” Morse in the box, and beat them by the remarkable score of two to one.

In this game the throwing and batting of Hodge was a feature, and Frank Merriwell was delighted to find Hodge in old-time form. On the following day, Merriwell and Hodge had acted as battery for Fort Worth, the Texans easily defeating the Little Rocks, who were the leaders of the Southern League.

Frank had the Fort Worth papers containing records of the games, and he had placed them before the baseball committee and the captain of the ’varsity nine, calling attention to the fact that in the two games Hodge had not had a passed ball, had not made an error, had obtained seven assists, six hits and two scores. A record to be proud of, considering the fact that he was in company that was considered very fast.

But Hodge was a freshman, which counted against him in the eyes of the committee. The other candidates for the position were a sophomore, a junior and a senior. It was acknowledged that the senior had slight show of getting on. It was not his first attempt to get under the bat. He had played an outfield position one year, and had been substitute catcher one year, but this counted against him, if anything, for he had never done anything particularly brilliant.