“Put ’er there, Mac,” said Joe, extending his hand. “Shake—I’m with you till the cows come home.”
“Of course, they’ll be willing to put up big money, Joe. You know that already.”
“It doesn’t make a particle of difference, Mac, how much money they put up,” returned the crack pitcher warmly. “There isn’t enough cash in the U. S. treasury to tempt me.”
“I know that, Joe. And I only wish that I could be as certain of the rest of the players.”
“Well, of course, I can’t speak for the others. But you can be sure that I’ll use my influence on the right side every time. Some of them may weaken and break away, but I doubt very much if they’ll be any of your main-stays. If I were you, Mac, I wouldn’t let this worry me too much.”
“Yes, I know it’s getting on my nerves, Joe, because, you see, it means so much to me. But having you on my side has braced me up a good deal,” went on the manager.
They shook hands warmly, and McRae, evidently encouraged and braced by the talk with his star pitcher, made his way back to his own immediate party.
The teams were slated to play in Salt Lake City and in Ogden. In both places they “cleaned up” easily, and it was not until a few days later when they reached the slope that they encountered 124 opposition that made them exert themselves to win.
At Bakersfield, with Jim in the box, the game went to eleven innings before it was finally placed to the credit of the Giants by a score of three to two. The ’Frisco team also put up a stiff fight for eight innings, but were overwhelmed by a storm of hits which rained from Giant bats in the ninth.
The game with Oakland was the last on the schedule before the teams left for the Orient, and an enormous crowd was in attendance.