The Washington herald., 1915-04-18

All ingenious ran: q 1f1enQ OF NcI
rift, had removed the covers from q
number of league balls and sewed
them on rubber balls of his own
making. They could not be distin-
guished from the regular article, not
even by an experienced professional
until they were hit Then! The
fact that after every bounce one OF
these rubber balls bounded swifter
and higher had given it the name OF
the rabbit"
| Many a game had the rabbit" won
for us at critical stages. OF course
it was against the rules OF tho league,
and OF course every player i'll the
league knew about it; still, when 1t
was judiciously and clcvcrly brought
into close game. the rabbit would
be in play, and very probably over
the fence, before the opposing cap
tain could learn of it, let alone ap-
peal TO the umpire.
"Fcllars, look at that guy who's go
in to pitch,' suddenly spoke up one
OF the team.
Many as were the country players
whom we seasoned and travelled pro-
fessionals had run across, this twirler
outclassed them for remarkable ap-
pcarancc Moreover, what put an
entirely different tinge to our mo-
mentary humor was the discovery
that he was as wild as March hare
and could throw a ball so fast that
it rcscmbled a pea shot from boys
air gun.
Decrfoot led our batting list. and
after the first pitched ball. which he
did not see, and the second, which
licked his shirt as it shot past, he
turned to US with an expression that
! made us groan inwardly.
| When Dcerfoot looked that way it
meant the pitcher was dangerous.
| Decrfoot made no effort to swing at
the next ball, and was promptly CALL
| ed out on strikes.
| was second at bat, and went up
with some reluctance. ! happened to
be leading the league in both long
distance and safe hitting, and l dotted
on speed. But having stopped many
mean inshoots with various parts of
| my anatomy, | was rather squeamish
about facing backwoods yaps who
| had no control.
When | had watched a couple of
!! his pitches. which the umpire called
strikes, | gave him credit for as much
speed as Rusic. These balls were as
straight as string, singularly with
out curve, jump. or variation of any
kind. lined the next one so hard
at the shortstop that it cracked like
pistol as it struck his hands and
whirled him half off his feet. Still
he hung to the ball and gave oppor-
tunity for the first crash of applause.
Boys, he's little wild" l said to
my teammates, "but he has the most
beautiful ball to hit you ever saw. ]
don't believe he uses a curve, and
when We once time that speed we'll
kill it,"
Next inning, after old man Hath
away had baftled the Canadians with
his wide, tantalizing curves, my pre-
dictions began TO be verified. Snead
raped one high and far to deep right
field. TO our infinite surprise, how
ever, the right fielder ran with fleet
ness that made our own Decrfoot
seem slow, and he got under the ball
and caught it.
Doran sent sizzling grasscutter
down toward left The lanky third
baseman darted over, dived down,
and, coming up with the ball, cx-
hibitcd the power OF throwing arm
that made us all green with envy.
Then, when the catcher chased
foul fly somewhere back in the crowd
and caught it, VIC began to take
notice
Lucky stabs!" said Merritt cheer
fully. They can't keep that up
Wen drive him to the woods next
time"
But they did keep it up; moreover.
they became more brilliant as the
game progressed. What with Hatha-
ways hcady pitching we soon dis
posed OF them when at the bat; our
turns. however. owing to the wonder
full fielding OF these backwoodsmcn |
were also fruitlcSS.
Merritt. with his mind ever on the !
slice OF gate money coming it we
won. began to hdget and fumc and
hnd fault
"lou'rc a swell lot OF champions.
now. amt you3" he observed be-
tween innings.
All baseball players like to bat.
and nothing plcascs them so much !
As base hits; on the other hand. |
nothing is quite so painful as 10 send |
out hard liners only to see them
caught. And it seemed as it every
man on our team connected with
that lankv twirler'S fast high ball and