To-day the practice was short, for the field was like a quagmire and the players’ rubbers, which Ben had insisted on their wearing, were continually coming off in the mud. There was some batting practice and a little throwing to bases, and both George Waters and Sam Perkins, first and second choice pitchers respectively, limbered up their arms a little, but it was no day for hard work and Ben soon called a halt. But even as it was there were several sore backs that evening, and Sewall Crandall proudly displayed a badly swollen finger, the first honorable scar of the season.
Kid had given ten dollars to the trophy fund and had sent two dollars to the Tinkham Chemical Company—after several reminders—in payment for the celebrated throat tablets. After which he had had a little over six dollars left. During the term of his punishment he had been unable to get rid of much of this balance, although he had sent fifty cents of it away by mail in the purchase of what an enticing advertisement had called “The Magician’s Cabinet of Magic.” The cabinet consisted of a small paper box containing a pack of cards and scant directions for performing tricks with them. Kid had promptly written to the advertiser and explained his opinion of the cabinet, but that had ended the matter. But once released from bounds Kid had succeeded in squandering three of his remaining six dollars in the village. And now, during the first week of baseball practice, Kid went bankrupt in the purchase of a wonderful fielder’s glove and a bat. The bat had the name of a celebrated member of the baseball profession printed on it in large letters, but Kid couldn’t see that it enabled him to hit the ball any more frequently than before. Kid was a substitute outfielder, and, save that he couldn’t begin to get the ball further than a baseman when throwing it in after a catch, he performed remarkably well. He really had an eye like a hawk’s when it came to judging flies and he was fairly certain of holding them if they struck his glove. On the whole, Kid bade fair to become in time a very useful member of baseball society at Mt. Pleasant. Of the other juniors Bert was a substitute outfielder also, Lanny played in center and Small was a substitute infielder with few chances to play. The great trouble with Small was that when a ball came his way he was too apt to turn his back to it—if he didn’t absolutely run away from it!—and stop it by allowing it to bounce off some portion of his anatomy.
Small was also official scorer, and he was much more of a success on the bench with the score-book on his knee than in the field. However, we can’t all be Wagners or Doyles!
April ran its course, half smiles and half tears, and the merry month of May came in, and with it the first game in the House vs. Day series. By this time George Waters’ pitching arm was in fair shape, Ben Holden’s fingers had become hardened against foul-tips and Harold Cupples, on third, had learned to throw across the diamond without missing Stanley Pierce, at first, by more than six feet. The first contest was played on the first Saturday afternoon in May, and, since the batting order for that game remained practically unchanged during the succeeding contests, I will give it here.
| House Team. | Day Team. |
|---|---|
| Lovell, 2b. | White, c. |
| Pierce, 1b. | Turner, 1b. |
| Holden, c. | O’Connell, c.f. |
| Cupples, 3b. | Briggs, r.f. |
| Crandall, s.s. | Grimshaw, 2b. |
| Gardner, l.f. | Spooner, 3b. |
| Perkins, r.f. | Tucker, s.s. |
| Waters, p. | Sibley, l.f. |
| Grey, c.f. | Morgan, p. |
XX
DAY WINS AND LOSES
Imagine, please, a mild, damp afternoon, quite windless, with a pale blue sky in which a half-hearted sun played hide-and-seek behind a field of lazy, ragged clouds. There was a suggestion of rain in the air, but the sun was shining genially enough when, at three o’clock, Mr. Crane, attired in a faded blue sweater and a pair of disgracefully worn gray flannel trousers, called “Play!”
House had won the toss and had taken the field. George Waters started in the box for House and in that first inning only four Day batters faced him. George had a drop that was a puzzler, a curve that kept even the catcher guessing and a straight fast ball that was perhaps harder to hit safely than either of his other offerings.
The small audience who watched the game from the settees along the first base line clapped as the house players trotted to the bench. Kid, squeezed tightly against Small, generously supplying unsolicited assistance in scoring, cheered shrilly as Steve Lovell went to bat. Steve allowed two of “Toots” Morgan’s wide ones to pass unchallenged and then lighted on a good ball and drove it far into right field. Briggs, a small, chunky day boy, did his level best to get under that fly, but Briggs’ legs were never meant for sprinting and the ball dented the soft turf while Steve, too excited to watch the progress of events, slid into third base feet foremost amidst the amused applause of his friends and the ironic jeers of his enemies. That hit appeared to unnerve “Toots,” and Pierce, Holden and even Harold Cupples hit safely through the infield. After that Crandall popped a foul to the catcher, Gardner struck out miserably and Sam Perkins hit a hot one square at first baseman. It looked very much as though the latter tried his best to get out of the way. If he did he wasn’t successful, for the ball struck him squarely on the chest, bowled him over and rolled toward the bag. Morgan raced over, scooped it up and tagged the bag a yard ahead of Perkins and the inning was over. But House had gathered three runs and the world looked bright.