“That fellow won’t be in the minors long,” commented Brennan. “I wonder some of my scouts haven’t gone after him before this. Who is he, anyway?”
“I’ll tell you who he is,” broke in Robbie, suddenly. “I knew I’d seen him before somewhere, and I’ve been puzzling all this time to place him. Now I’ve tumbled. It’s Alvarez, the crack pitcher of Cuba.”
“Do you mean the fellow that stood the Athletics on their heads when they made that winter trip to Cuba a couple of years ago?” asked McRae.
“The same one,” affirmed Robbie. “I happened to be there at one of the games, and he 89 showed them up—hundred thousand dollar infield and all. Connie was fairly dancing as he saw his pets slaughtered. I tell you, that fellow’s a wonder—he’d have been in a major league long ago if it hadn’t been for his color. He may be only a Cuban, and he says he is, but he’s so dark-skinned that there’d be some prejudice against him and that’s barred him out.”
“That’s what made Thorpe so confident,” growled Brennan. “He’s worked in a ‘ringer’ on us. We ought to make a kick.”
“That would put us in a nice light, wouldn’t it?” replied McRae, stormily. “We’d like to see it in the papers, that the major leagues played the baby act because they couldn’t bat a bush pitcher. Not on your life! Thorpe would be tickled to death to have us make a squeal. We’ll simply have to lick him.”
But if the promised licking was yet to come, it was not in evidence in the next two innings. Alvarez seemed as fresh as at the beginning, and his arm worked with the force and precision of a piston rod.
“What’s the matter with you fellows, anyway?” raged McRae, when the end of the fifth inning saw the score remain unchanged. “You ought to be in the old ladies’ home. It’s a joke to call you ball players.”
“It must be this Denver air,” ventured Willis. 90 “It’s so high up here that a fellow finds it hard to breathe. These Denver boobs are used to it and we’re not.”
“Air! air!” snapped McRae. “I notice you’ve got plenty of hot air. Go in and play the game, you bunch of false alarms.”