“I think you are mistaken, Professor, about that. I think even the smallest boy who knows anything at all about baseball could understand perfectly what is meant.”
“Suppose we go over it together,” said the Professor, “and let me see if I can get an idea what it is all about. Now, right at the beginning you say Jones, one of the big family (I can understand that), the first to swing the willow for the enemy, etc., what do you mean by that?” asked the Professor.
“Well,” answered Tim, “the bat is made of willow, the Barber nine is our enemy for the time being. A grass cutter is a ball that is rolled swiftly over the grass. Jones hit a ground ball to shortstop, who picked it up and threw it to first base.”
“Good,” said the Professor. “Now let’s see the rest of it. Knight hit a sunscraper into the meridian and Gibbie pocketed it on the return trip.”
“Perfectly plain, Professor,” said Tim. “A high building is a skyscraper—then a high ball might be a sunscraper—the meridian is directly overhead, isn’t it? Then this ball that Knight hit went straight up in the air, very high, Gibbie the catcher caught it easily when it came down.”
“Not bad,” said the Professor. “Let’s take the next line. Wilson stung the pellet to Robbville, which Ty annexed without leaving his office. What——?”
“That means,” continued Tim, “that Wilson hit the ball hard to right field where Tyrus Robb plays, and hit it absolutely into his hands. He didn’t have to leave his office means, he didn’t have to move to get it.”
“I begin to be interested in your new style of English. It seems all right if you have a key handy. Are you going to furnish a glossary of terms with each of your reports after this, Murnin?
“Suppose we go on. Now then you say: Ross launched a Lusitania to Amberg which broke down in midocean. What possible connection can there be between a fast liner and a ball game?”
“You have it. Fine. Don’t you see how quickly the meaning comes to you when you get a start? Lusitania—a fast liner—launched to Amberg—went straight for him—broke down in midocean—it stopped when it got to Amberg, who caught it.”