Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-03-20
A Base Ball Story
Christy Mathewson
west and he had been the pitcher for the
%1,nr

team there. -
When Hughie first began to take notice
of Crossley he couldn't understand no"
a fellow could do so well one DAY anu 50
poorly another. 1t puzzled MIN d soou
deal He finally wrote to friend VINO wa S
coach at White Preparatory college. ano
from him he found out what the trouble
was. Crossley had been good pltcner
. for the preparatory school. AS good as
they ever had. But he would not ooseIS
the training rules, and he would smoke
c;s. rattes and take an occasional drink
IRIS made him cratic and unreliable at
times. ,, ,a.,o,s
Furthermore. he had terribly jealous
disposition and bad temper, anu I s,aoan,t
nraisad when he was around. Hughes
friend doubted very much II CTossley
would be of any real service AT Lowsn,
especially II he continued MS H'api's
there as at White. aa., ~
interest, but Crossley had shown up pref
ty we'll in practice, and jenkins was NJ
clined to think the boy might nav 81 =
ten over his childishness since peins o.
Lowell. So Hughie decided to reserve MS
Judgment. ~,
When the first varsity list was mace w
a few days later Hughie and the coaches
had finally to decide between Cr0ssley any
Hal as left-hand pitcher. lnsy uo.a
showed up about the same in the box, ana {,
the decision was finally made IN hal ;
favor. So his name went on the ilst anu
Crossley was sent to the second squau.
Now Crossley had wanted this autom1-
bile very much and ne was ,,, a,,t Of the
position. He became furiously jealous :
and made q resolution that ne WouIu
get" Hal in some way or otheI. Via
that way was he himself DID not KNOW
but he had a cunning mind ana ne ue-
cided to Law some deep plans 10 uhoer-
mine Hal, and then he would get the Jop
and the auto.
A day cor two after the Coltax ZANE
the two squads were lined up TOT gene, n a,
nractice. The practice was pr1nclpaHy
devoted to batting and base running; One
sn,ad would take the field lined up IN tne
regular positions and the otheI az ua.;
Each batter remained at the plate unli :
he got hit. Then ne ran " ~
course. From there he was expeetea "
steal his way round the bases.
Of course, it Is hard to steal oase
when the other side knows what you are
COINS to do, but stealing bases is a very
important factor of the game. ENerson
was on the lines helping Hughie instruct
ing on base-stealing. And squad NO.
was at bat, Hal had been asked TO see
what he could do at the second Dag. "A
few minutes afterward Crossiey came up
for his turn at bat and made hit, and
went to first. Then Hughie, who was
on the coaching line back of first, told
him to steal on the next pitched pail:
Crossley was a good runner ana i1d,
was not used to the position. He mad
stuck to the bag the way first basemen
do to receive the throw from the catcher.
The catcher threw quickly to Hal. VINO
had the ball in his hand waiting TOT
Crossiey when the latter was still hiteen
feet from the base. The natural thing
for Crossley to have done was to Slide
Instead he came the rest of the way
standing up, and when he was five feet
from the bag he gave jump for the
bag feet first. and landed with both
feet spikes and all. on Halls right loot.
cutting him badly and knocking him
down. They both rolled over in the dirt.
and Hal had to be picked up and carried
from the field.
Huehie and Everson had hold of Cross
ley and were calling him various KINDS
of names for such bone-headed conduct
for once In their lives both OF these
boys had been fooled-they thought what
they had seen was Crossley's idea OF
stealing q base and were wondering
where he got such an idea.
Hal himself as he was carried from
the field by Hans, Delvin and Robb
thought it was his own fault standing
on second base as he did with the bali
in his hands. instead of running by the
line out OF the path of the runner and
bag. Hal blamed no one but himself. but
Hans, while he said nothing, had seen the
look in Crossley's eye as he started Tor
second, and had watched him all the way
He had noted particularly the viciousness
Of Crossleys jump and the care with
which he brought his feet down on the
right spot, and while he knew of no rea-
SON why Crossley should have 1t in for
Hal, he knew there was something back
of It, Halls foot was badly cut. but the
doctors fixed him UP. sent him home In a
carriage and told him he'd better not put
his uniform on for three or four days.
He was out next day with a cane. and
his foot did not hurt him particularly
He went to the ball grounds and watched
the boys practice. and he got to thinking
that he hadn't counted on being injured:
He had been spiked before, however, and
he felt that with proper care he would be
back In the game again, and not knowing
that he had an enemy. he had no reason
for not feeling good.
(To be continued tomorrow