“Look here, Iredell,” he asked abruptly, “what’s the matter with this team? Why are they playing like a lot of old women?”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” replied Iredell, flushing and twirling his cap nervously.
“Don’t know?” snapped McRae. “Who should know if you don’t? You’re the captain, aren’t you?”
“Sure,” admitted Iredell. “But for all that, I can’t always get onto what’s in the minds of the fellows. I’ve talked to them and razzed them and done everything except to lam them. They’re just in a slump, and they don’t seem able to get out. Some of them think a jinx is on their backs. I’m playing my own position well enough, ain’t I?”
“Yes, you are,” McRae was forced to admit, for Iredell was one of the crack shortstops of the League, and so far had been batting and fielding well. “But that isn’t enough. To be a good shortstop is one thing, and to be a good captain is another. I figured you’d be both. Tell me this. Are there any cliques in the team? Any fellows out to do another or show him up? Any fights in the clubhouse that I haven’t been told about?”
“No,” replied Iredell, “nothing that’s worth noticing. Of course, the boys are as sore as boils over the way they keep on losing, and their tempers are on a hair trigger. Once in a while something is said that makes one of them take a crack at another. But that’s usually over in a minute and they shake hands and make up. There aren’t any real grudges among the boys that I know of.”
“Well, things have got to change, and it’s largely up to you to change them,” growled McRae. “If the job’s too big for you, perhaps somebody else will have to take it. I’ve often found that a shake up in the batting order will work wonders. Perhaps the same thing’s true of a shake up in captains.”
The flush in Iredell’s face grew deeper and his eyes glinted with anger. But he said nothing, and as McRae turned to say something to Robbie, indicating that the interview was ended, he moved away sullenly from the dugout.
Just then the bell rang as a signal for the Giants to run out for practice. The white uniforms of the Chicagos faded away from the diamond, while the gray-suited Giants scattered to their several positions in the field and on the bases.