Then they went back to their positions, and the first batter of the Minneapolis team was at the plate.
The first ball pitched by the jay amazed the batter, for it started with a curve out, but seemed to change its course and shoot in with amazing speed, crossing the plate. The batter had not looked for anything like that, and he stood with the bat lifted, letting the ball pass. The catcher, for all of his little talk with the pitcher, was unprepared, and the ball got past him, after hitting his mitt.
“Strike!” gasped the umpire, who had a good eye, but who seemed more astonished than anybody else.
“Thought you said you’d hold it!” exclaimed the pitcher. “Put your fins on it and fasten ’em there.”
The face of the catcher showed his chagrin, for all of the cage he wore.
“Try it again,” he said.
“Yes, try it again!” growled the batter.
In the stand behind the catcher there was great excitement. One man was wildly declaring that the ball had curved like a wiggling snake, and several others agreed with him, while yet others asserted that it was an optical illusion.
The jay grinned as he pressed the ball into his hand to deliver it again. He looked at the catcher and nodded, and the catcher braced himself.