“The best teams in the big leagues lose lots of games, even to the poorest ones,” said Bobby. “You’ll notice that the nines that win the championships don’t often come through the season with much more than six hundred per cent.”
“Just what does that mean?” asked Skeets, who had never been especially strong in mathematics.
Bobby did a swift sum in mental arithmetic.
“That means they won three games out of five,” he announced. “So you see they had lots of losses before they won the pennant. We’ve got a swell chance of winning every game—I don’t think. If we win six out of the nine, I shall be perfectly satisfied. That will give us a percentage of six hundred and sixty-seven.”
“Bobby’s right,” confirmed Frank. “That would be two out of every three, and the team that wins isn’t likely to do any better than that. The best team in the world will sometimes be whipped by a poor one. That’s what makes baseball such a bully game. Lots of good luck and hard luck come into a game, and it’s never settled until the last man is out in the ninth inning.”
“But in the long run it’s the best team that wins,” protested Fred, still undaunted. “And the best team in the Monatook Lake League this year will be the team of Rockledge School.”
CHAPTER XIV
GLOWING HOPES
The boys all laughed at Fred’s declaration, though they hoped ardently that it would turn out to be true.
“Well,” conceded Frank, “confidence is a good thing, especially if there is good hard work back of it. One thing is certain, and that is if any team beats Rockledge it will know it’s been in a fight.”
“I suppose Larry Cronk will be pitching for Belden,” mused Fred.