“What’s the matter with Slater?”
“He hasn’t showed up, and none of the other fellows feel like getting in the box against you boys. You’ll have to find us a pitcher before we can play.”
A sudden idea came to Darrell.
“All right,” he answered. “I guess I can. Wait a minute.”
He ran over to where Rankin was talking to some of his players.
“Can you play Tom Davis in centre field for to-day?” asked the manager.
“Yes, I guess so. Why?”
“I’m going to have Joe Matson pitch on the scrub. It will be a good time to get a line on him, and I’ll see if he shapes up as well as the day he did when I watched him practice.”
“All right; maybe it will be a good idea.”
Joe hardly knew what to say when Darrell, as calmly as if he had done it several times before, asked him to go in the box for the scrub and pitch against the Silver Stars.