Larry, who had come to the bat full of pep, was somewhat disconcerted by this order, but it spoke well for the discipline that Joe as captain had infused into the team that he did not think of disobeying.
He stooped down to fasten his shoelace while Axander, all ready to pitch, fumed and fretted at the delay. His nerves were strained to the highest tension and anything a little out of the usual order tended to throw him out of his stride.
In the meantime, Joe danced about first, taking a lead just long enough to tempt Axander to throw but not too long to prevent a quick dart back to the base. The more throws he could draw, the greater the chance that one of them might go high or wide.
Axander was noted for his ability to hold runners close to the bags. His quick snap had caught many a player napping. It was generally considered good policy to hug the bags closely when Axander was on the mound.
But Joe had found by careful study that almost every pitcher had a certain individual move, a telltale mannerism, when he meant to throw to first. Axander was no exception, though few players had found it out.
Joe’s hawklike eye had observed that Axander, who always held the ball with both hands near his chin when he was pitching with men on the bases drew his hands up against his breast for an instant before he started to wind up. He had watched him all through the game and saw that he never threw the ball to the base after pressing the ball against his chest. As long as the hands were free from his body there was danger of his snapping the ball down to first at any moment. But as soon as they were gathered toward the chest, the ball went only in the direction of the plate.
Here was Joe’s “ace in the hole,” and he instantly determined to make the most of it. In the meantime, the more that Larry delayed the more irritated Axander was likely to become.
The shoelace once carefully adjusted, Larry found that the bat he had chosen did not balance just as well as he thought it ought to, and took some time in picking out one more to his liking.
Then he came to the box, hit the bat against one heel after the other for luck, and when the umpire began to glare at him for stalling, set himself for the pitch.