The bags were full.
Now the spectators broke out in derision of the new pitcher, who grinned and waved his hand.
“I ain’t seen no runs comin’ in yit,” he said, apparently not much disturbed.
“Take him out, Trueman,” advised the second-baseman.
But the captain shook his head.
“Nobody to put in,” he said.
The next hitter was caught by a sharp drop to start with, and fanned once. Then came one that looked fine, but it was a rise, and the batter struck under it. That meant two strikes and no balls.
Immediately the pitcher began to try all kinds of coaxers, but the batter declined to hit at any of them. Three balls were called.
“Now he’s in a hole!” cried one of the coachers. “He’s wild! He’ll never get it over!”
The batter appeared anxious to hit, but the jay decided that the fellow was not nearly as anxious as he looked. The queer fellow grinned at the batter, took all the time permissible, then seemed to throw the ball straight at him, uttering an exclamation as it left his hand.