“It’s the batting of Matson,” replied McRae thoughtfully. “I’ve been in the game thirty years, and I’ve seen all the fence-breakers—Wagner, Delehanty, Brouthers, Lajoie, and all the rest of them. And I tell you now, Robbie, that he’s the king of all of them. The way he stands at the plate, the way he holds his bat, the way he times his blow, the way he meets the ball—those are the things that mark out the natural batter. It’s got to be born in a man. You can’t teach it to him. All the weight of those great shoulders go into his stroke, and he makes a homer where another man would make a single or a double. Now mark what I’m telling you, Robbie, but keep it under your hat, for I don’t want the kid to be getting a swelled head. In Baseball Joe Matson we’ve got not only the greatest pitcher in the game, but the hardest hitter in either league. And that goes.”
“Oh, come now, John,” protested Robbie, “aren’t you going a little too strong? The greatest pitcher, yes. I admit that. There’s no one in sight now that can touch him, now that Hughson’s laid up. And between you and me, John, I don’t believe that even Hughson in his best days had anything on Matson. But when you speak of batting, how about Kid Rose of the Yankees?”
“He’s all to the good,” admitted McRae. “He’s got a wonderful record; the best record in fact of any man that has ever broken into the game. He topped the record for home runs last season, and by the way he’s starting in this year he’ll do it again. Up to now we haven’t had anyone in the National League that could approach him. But I’m willing to bet right now that he never made so long a hit as Matson made this afternoon. Of course Rose has had more experience in batting than Matson, and for the last two or three years he’s hardly done any pitching. But if I should take Matson out of the box right now and play him in the outfield every day, I’ll bet that by the end of the season he’d be running neck and neck with Kid Rose and perhaps a wee bit ahead of him.”
“Well, maybe, John,” agreed Robbie, though a little doubtfully. “But what’s the use of talking about it? You know that we can’t spare him from the box. He’s our pitching ace.”
“I know that well enough,” replied McRae. “But all the same I’m going to see that he has many a chance to win games for us by his batting as well as by his pitching. On the days he isn’t pitching, I’ll use him as a pinch hitter, as I did to-day. Then, too, when he is pitching, I’m going to make a change in the batting order. Instead of having him down at the end I’m going to put him fourth—in the cleanup position. If that old wallop of his doesn’t bring in many a run I’ll miss my guess.”
The very next day McRae had a chance to justify his theories. Hughson had told the manager that he thought he was in shape to pitch, and McRae, who had great faith in his judgment, told him to go in. The “Old Master,” as he was affectionately called, used his head rather than his arm and by mixing up his slow ball with his fast one and resorting on occasion to his famous fadeaway, got by in a close game. In the sixth, Joe was called on as a pinch hitter, and came across with another homer, which, although not as long as that of the previous day, enabled him to reach the plate without sliding and bring in two runs ahead of him.
Two homers in two consecutive days were not common enough to pass without notice, and the Pittsburgh sporting writers began to feature Joe in their headlines. There was a marked increase in the attendance on the third day when Joe was slated to pitch. On that day he “made monkeys” of the Pittsburgh batters, and on the two turns at bat when he was permitted to hit made a single and a three-bagger. In two other appearances at bat, the Pittsburgh pitcher deliberately passed him, at which even the Pittsburgh crowd expressed their displeasure by jeers.
On the final day, Markwith was given a chance to redeem himself, and pitched an airtight game. But Hooper of the Pittsburghs was also at his best, and with the game tied in the ninth Joe again cracked out a homer to the right field bleachers, his third home run in four days!
Markwith prevented further scoring by the enemy, and the game went into the Giants’ winning column.
“Four straight from the league leaders,” McRae chuckled happily. “The break in the luck has come at last.”