"'No,' she told me. 'Show business is show business.'
"'Well,' I said, 'baseball is mine.' So we parted."
"You mentioned that you were with the Giants for seven years, and then the Dodgers for five, did you not? How did it feel when you were traded from the Giants to the Dodgers?" asked Elephant.
"Well," said the shadow, "not too bad. See, I traded myself. I didn't seem to be able to get going in 1915 after I pitched that no-hitter early in April, and late in the season McGraw started riding me. That was a very bad year for the Giants, you know. We were favored to win the pennant, and instead we wound up last. So McGraw wasn't very happy. After I had taken about as much riding as I could stand, I asked him to trade me if he thought I was so bad.
"'Who would take you?' he said to me.
"'What do you mean?' I asked. 'I can still lick any club in the league.'
And I could, too! Heck, I wasn't even twenty-six years old then.
"'Lick any club in the league?' scoffed McGraw. 'You couldn't lick a postage stamp!'
"'Give me a chance to trade myself, then,' I suggested. 'What would you sell me for?'
"'Seven thousand five hundred bills,' he answered.
"'Okay,' I said. 'Can I use your phone?'