“Fairly good—fairly! Why, he’s a ripper, a bird, a wonder! His match ain’t never pitched the horsehide in these parts.”
“Perhaps not; we won’t argue about that. From his letter, I should judge that Riley really means to put up a fight for Locke, or Hazelton, whichever you choose to call him. He states that, unless the man is immediately released to him, he will make a formal protest to Anson Graham, president of the league, and he has requested me to call the attention of the directors of our local association to the matter.”
“Nothin’ but wind. He won’t push it, for he ain’t got a leg to stand on.”
“He likewise states that, in case we use Lefty again, the protest will contain a request that all games in which Locke plays on any Northern League team except Bancroft shall not be reckoned in the percentage record of such a team. Now, Mr. Cope, if he does push this thing, and the decision should go against us, it would knock the stuffing out of our standing in the league. We are also warned not to use Locke again until the question is settled. Unless you know beyond the shadow of uncertainty that Bancroft can’t establish her claim, we’d better hurry the matter to a settlement, or keep Locke on the bench.”
Henry Cope was greatly wrought up.
“Keep him on the bench! That’s just what Riley’d like to frighten us inter doin’. If he could only scare us so we wouldn’t dast use Locke for a while he’d have the laugh on us, whether he proved his case or not. He’s full o’ tricks as an egg’s full o’ meat.”
“Well, until the matter is settled, I think we’d better use Locke as little as possible. I don’t believe it would be advisable, under any circumstances, to run him into this game to-day.”
“This game! I should say not! We’ve got other pitchers for games like this. We’ll keep Locke special to down Bancroft. If we can’t hold our own with the rest of the teams with the pitchers we’ve got, we’ll git more pitchers.”
The umpire was ready, and the game was on the verge of starting, so Hutchinson returned to the bench.