“I don’t believe you can learn how to pitch out of a book,” he said pessimistically. “You have to—to just keep trying.”
“Of course you do, but you’ve got to know how to hold the ball, haven’t you? This tells you how to do that, all right, only it isn’t very plain. I thought if you’d read what it said, I’d try and do it. You see, when I try to read and fix my fingers at the same time, I always lose my place and get all mixed up.”
So Sidney good-naturedly found the instructions for pitching an out-curve and read them off while Tom, frowning intently, curved his fingers about the ball.[ “‘Grasp the ball firmly,’” recited Sidney, “‘between the thumb and the first two fingers.’”]
[“‘Grasp the ball firmly,’” recited Sidney, “‘between the thumb and the first two fingers’”]
“Uh-uh,” grunted Tom.
“‘Hold the third and four fingers back toward the palm.’”
“All right.”
“‘Bring the hand up over the shoulder in the usual manner——’”
“What’s the usual manner?” demanded Tom.