The watching crowd was boisterous in its applause. This was the kind of baseball that filled their hearts with exceeding great joy at about this hour in the morning.
“One ball,” decided the umpire, who had closed his eyes and turned his back.
“One ball!” shouted Ready. “Why, he struck at it, Mr. Umpire.”
“But it wasn’t over the plate,” said the umpire, with dignity.
“That doesn’t make any difference. He struck at it.”
“Be silent,” commanded the umpire. “He had no business to strike at such a bad one. It is one ball.”
And that decision stood. The next pitched ball struck the batter in the small of the back.
“Dead ball,” said somebody.
“No; dead man,” said the umpire. “Take him off the field. Remove the corpse.”