Evening star., 1922-06-11

II sure did, And I'll tell the world
you We're one sloppy sight to see"
Well can get drunk if l want to,
can't T."
You proved that all right! You
keep on like this and you're gotn' to
be in fine shape when you show up
for sgrnp trainin'?"
Who said l was goin' to show up
for spring trainin'
Red stared. You amt had a row
with the club. have you?"
NO, | amt had no row with the
club, but I'm off of base ball. I'm
through"
Red showed real concern. What's
wrong
"Aw, what's the use of tellin' you?"
Speed famed. You're like all the
rest of EN-, You think ALL can do is
just play base ball I'm goin' to
show you guys. the whole bunch of
you. I'm goin' TO keep on actin,
that's what I'm goin' to do, an make
more money at it than any of you
birds, too. I'm goin to show all of you
guys, an Louise Glare. too, that
Louise t!are. MARTIN eHClallIeQ
Whats she got to do with it?''
We'll. We had fight" Speed ad-
mitted grudgingly.
Martin nodded. Il thought there
was something. Come on. old kid;
come clean. What's it all about?"
Speed told him what had happened
the previous night.
Well, holy, high, jumping Jehosha
phat." Martin exclaimed. You been
holdin something out on me all these
years. kid. l always knew you were
little bit fat ffrom the wishbone
up, but you never let me know be-
fore that you were the worlds cham
pion mucker. One of the incest lit
tie girls in the world falls for you
you big farmer-and before you'd
kissed her twice you started f1gurin'
on living easy off her big reputation.
You We're goin' to quit work and go
kitin' around the country doin' moth
Ing and dragging down half Of the
big dough that she makes
,'Where do you get that stuff?"
Speed muttered. II guess my repu-
| tation's as big as here, amt it,"
4
d ED confronted him. his feet spread
~ apart his hands on his hips.
Say, you big blob of home grown
cheese, you listen to me. l want to
tell you something. If 1t hadn't been
for base ball you wouldn't have had
no more reputation than second
hand, car. Your dad was a black
smith in little hick burg that never
to even get its name on the map.
| You Were a bum, that's all. Just a
bum. If you hadn't been such a nut
about base ball you might of worked
hard and some day got to be worth
| $40 a month as farm hand, but you
were a nut about base ball and so you
| weren't worth even $40 a month to
nobody in that little neck o the
woods Oh, your dad told me all
about you when he was visitin' you
I in Cincinnati last summer.
| you wouldn't go to school, and you
wouldn't work. All you'd do was play
base ball when you had anybody to
| play with, and when you didn't you'd
1
knot hole in the fence. They were
| just fixin' to send you to. reform
school when Barney Mercer happened
to see you and give you job pitch
ing for that little intercity league of
his in Mechanicstown. Now you're a
| star. You get a fancy car of your
own and more money than you know
how to count. And you got a reputa-
tion. Yeh. There amt man. wo-
man or child in the United States who
don't know who Speed Gallagher Is.
They follow you around in the streets
and come and stare at you In the ho-
tells. So many people know you that
sou can get big dough just for COM
ing out on the stage and making
big fool Of yourself.
"And why do they know you? Be
cause you were such an ornery little
| worthless nut when you were a kid
| that you wouldn't do nothin' but play
base ball; because you grew up to be
such a fat-heated sap that you've
never been able to think of nothin'
! but base ball; because all the good
sense that's spread here and there In
most men is all boiled down to base
| ball sense in you. You know more
about base ball than any man living
and less about anything else. The
i game picked you up out of nowhere,
a lazy. dirty-faced, little country kid
and put you clean up on top of the
| heap Now you're up there you're go
| ing to tell base ball-and this nice
| little dame that's foolish enough to
fall for you. and your pals and the
fans and everybody else-to go jump
in the ocean. eh?
"Au right! You go ahead and jump.