“There’s only one man in the country who can throw it, and I have my doubts about his doing the trick. That man is Frank Merriwell, and I’ve been trying to get in communication with him for a week. I’ll give him any kind of money to pitch for St. Paul the rest of the season.”
“You say there ain’t but one man kin throw the double-shoot?”
“Yes.”
“An’ he’s Frank Merriwell?”
“Yes.”
“Well, by gum! I’ll make ye change your mind if your ketcher kin hold me. The next feller I have ter pitch to will get the double-shoot, an’ don’t you fergit it.”
Already the first batter was up to the plate, and Webber was ready to deliver the ball. The visitors were desperate.
Webber’s first one was an out drop, which the batter caught and lifted over the infield for a clean single. Then the coacher opened up by first, and the excitement again grew feverish.
The rivalry between St. Paul and Minneapolis was intense, and this kind of a game was nerve-straining for the spectators.