Evening star., 1922-09-17

was a bargain sale at the "stork count
or" in Miller & Cooper's. Barry came
up to the plate in the eighth inning and
connected with the ball solidly. 1t was
whale of q smash. 1t seemed almost
impossible that the ball could be caught
but Frawley, the little center fielder Of
the opposing club, accomplished the un-
Of the clubhouse. leaped back-handed,
and held on. Barry was rounding second
base before he became aware from the
signal Of his coacher that the drive had
gone for naught He came p!odding
back to the bench. to receive the Gus
tomary condolences from his teammates
Tough luck. old boy they told him
That bird can go get 'em. can't he?
I'll say that's robbing a man Of his hit !!
Boy. that's murder! Well, you made
him run for it. Tom. You sure gave the
old pill ride that time An inch
farther and he'd never have got it"
The big fellow dismissed the matter
with a careless grunt He had robbed
many another ball player of what looked
like legitimate hit 1t was all in the
game So long as he was meeting the
ball sQuarely there was nothing to
worry about. AS he explained to Maize
that night:
IF had made that drive on the San
Francisco grounds, the ball would have
gone into the bleachers and I'd have
had home run. The pitchers have got
all the best of it on these new grounds
The fences are back too far Come out
tomorrow, Babe-and I'll bust one for
little Tommy"
So Mrs. Barry went to the game the
next day. and sat in the grandstand with
Jim Bristol's wife. waiting with fond
pride for Tom to achieve glory in be-
half of his son to be. But or Joe Slump
is mean dog. as any man will tell you
He always takes advantage of situa-
tions like that. Barry's first drive would
have been good for three bases II it had
not gone straight into the hands of the
first baseman, who didn't have to move
out of his tracks to get it. His second
effort was beautiful smash to left CEN
ter. but Rabbit Martin. coming in fast,
caught the ball at his shoe strings. Bar
rays third appearance at the plate re-
suited in a sizzling inield wallop
through the pitchers box. Just when
it seemed certain that no one could lay
a hand on it, the ball struck a pebble
and rose In long, curving bound to
meet the glove Of the opposing short
stop. Ball players call that bound the
"or Bill Hasmer" Infielders love 1t and
the batters curse it. Barry was thrown
out by full stride.
While the club was taking its position
in the field Second Baseman Bristol
came over to the shortstop's side to bor-
row a chew of tobacco. - a..
''Hittin' in tough luck, Tom," he COM
miserated. Il never seen anything like
it."
Barry nodded grimly and set him
self for the next play. He was dis
appointed, but that was all. He had
no premonition of impending evil
He was still hammering the ball right
on the nose. Things would break for
him pretty soon. They always do.
But on his fourth and last trip to the
plate he was robbed again, this time
by the left fielder. who made a hair
raising catch over by the foul lines
The official scorer put down cipher
in the hit column opposite Tom
Barry's name. That was all the good
his effort did him.
That's the way 1t goes. some
times" he assured his wife that
night after they had put away the
supper dishes. But It. don't mean
nothin'. I'll make up, for It tomor-
row. I'll get them hits back before
the baby comes, you'l see!"
But the next afternoon tho hard
luck still held. and on the fourth
<1tsrnoon he was compelled to face
Lefty Mcbride. younsster whom he
had never been able to hit success
fully. It happens that way In base