The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1896-04-25
INVINCIBLES' MASCOT
How Boys Baseball Club Won the
Match of the Season.
UNLOOKED-FOR SUBSTITUTE
A Surprise in the Pitchers Box
Mascot" Plays Eail-tiome Run
on a Three-Bagger-Victory
But NO Encores.

Tell you about the mascot of oui
baseball nine? Certainly. sir. Just
take a seat on the bench, and while we
are waiting for the other boys to get
here. we can talk. Do i mind your
taking IL down as / go on? Not a bit
sir: we are not ashamed Of our mascot
/ tell you.
Her name-her real name-is Nellie
Hartman, and she's Frank Hartman's
sister, but the name she goes by with
US is just Mascot" Since she has
been with us. do you know we haven't
lost single game of ball, and we've
been playing for three months every
Saturday. That's a pretty good record
IL ! do say IL. Frank is her brother,
as l said. and our pitcher, with Banks
substituting now, though once-there !
go getting ahead of my story. Well.
there isn't a better pitcher in the city
than Frank, and he is getting to be
well known. too. He is only Is years
old. but he's got more muscle to the
square inch than any two of us put to-
gether. And Mascot Is just like him In
that. She Is the strongest girl / ever
saw, and IL seems funny to think that
only five years ago the doctor told Mr..
Hartman that IL she didn't get more
exercise and play out in the air more
she wouldn't live. She had always
been rather weak. though there was
nothing in particular the matter with
her: but when the doctor said that her
father and mother got scared and they
turned her right over to Frank. Every
where he went, she went too, and
everything he did, almost, she did too.
The boys made fun of him at first. for
always having a tag-around after him,
but they soon got used to her
Frank, of course, was mighty fond
of her; and as for her, she knew-just
plain knew-there never had been
boy quite as perfect as he was. They
were like two chums more than like
brother and sister.
When the Invincibles were organized
last May, every game that came off
you might have seen Mascot there, sit
ting in the same place and watching
the game as IL she hadn't another
thought in the world. Whenever Frank
made a specially good play, which he
did pretty often, that being a little
habit he had. she would cheer him and
look so happy 1t would do you good to
look at her. He used to smile back at
her every time, too. One day one of
the boys asked him why he did 1t. and
he laughed and said:
MY sister is my mascot, boys, and I
don't believe I'd win a game IL 1 didn't
see her there"
We laughed at him then but we don't
any more.
Well. all summer long we played as
IL we were professionals, and as luck
would have II. we never lost n game.
1t just seemed as II we couldn't lose
with Frank Hartman in the box and
that heavy-set young fell
low coming now-catching. We began
to think we were invincible sure
enough, and ] guess we got a trifie too
sure, and little too proud of our bat
terry" The second one didn't come up
to Hartman and Smith by any means,
and we finally let them go. and Frank
and Smith pitched and caught all
the game. Instead of getting
tired and careless. as you might have
thought they would. they seemed to
get better and better, and we left off
thinking about any possible accidents
that might happen. because none ever
did.
Toward the end of the season, how
ever. our captain-I wasn't holding the
office that year, you see--began to get
worried. and one day 1t just seemed to
dawn on him that there wasn't a boy
in the team who could take Franks
place: so he went to him and said:
Look here. Hartman, what could we
do IL anything should happen to you
one of these days? Do you know we
haven't got a man on the nine who
could pitch for you? 1t makes me fair
ly sick to think how dead we'd be If
you got sick"
Don't you worry" said Frank. smil-
ing. I'm not going to get sick;if any
thing should happen so that | couldn't
play, the Invincibles will have a sub
stitute who will give perfect satisfac-
ton. i guarantee you that"
That's all he uould tbnnpb tho
captain tried to make him tell who II
was. But just as II to make him prove
what he had said. what did Frank do
the very next morning but fall and
break his leg. That was on Thursday,
and Saturday was the day for our
game with the Red Stockings. The
Red Stockings, i forgot TO tell you.
were the strongest boy team in the
city, next to ours. and this game was
to be the biggest one of the whole sum-
mer We had never yet crossed bats
as they say. and we knew the match
would decide which of us had the right
to the championship. You can imagine
our feelings when Nellie Hartman
came running up where we happened
to have met. and said Frank had
broken his leg.
Blue? We were the bluest set of boys
in the city, i know. After weeks of
pi0&NANG III NHiS really DlS
match. to have Frank Hartman break
his leg was about the worst thing we
could have dreamed OF. and as for our
he was just sick He could
hardly hold his head up. for he knew
he ought to have had a second bat
terry. But IL was too late to do any
thing now. We could not declare the
match off without being the laughing
stock OF the other nine and we couldn't
go on with il without being whipped
out OF our boots-so there we were.
We felt sorry for Frank. of course
though We felt sorrier for ourselves
and we all went up TO his room-and
shook hands with him as solemn as so
many owls. He kind OF smiled when
he saw US, and after a few minutes
talk about the accident. he said. turn
Ing to the captain suddenly:
You needn't feel badly about my
being disabled. Ed. You know l said
would have a substitute. and l will
You won't be disappointed, either;
wen win the game"
Saturday came, bright and warm,