San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-16

Little by little, and bit by bit,
I'm gettin' so that l can hit"
And he stepped into one that sh'd
of tore the bat right outa his hands,
but didn't. Another twO-timer, and
Jocko walks in because the balls in
the crowd. oh baby, you shd have
heard the mob then!
And that was the ball game. -.
How old man Z. Everett Simmons
got to the clubhouse before the guys
did is more'n I'll ever know. But he
did. There he was, in the dressin'
room, and he had his wife ana mat
lovely daughter of his, right with
him, to boot.
Then the gang piled in, yellin' and
laughin' at each other. l stood by
the door and shushed 'em down as
well as l could, but they didn't tum-
BILE until they saw the old man and
Mrs. Simmons. And Miss Simmons.
They was knocked dumb, also deaf.
But not blind. They stood around
pop-eyed for about an hour, it seemed
like, before little Monty Sawyer
comes to and pipes up.
"Why, howdy, Mr.. Simmons?" he
says. How do you do, Mrs. SIM
mons, and Miss Simmons? 1t was
quite ball game he had, wasn't
it,"
He takes off his cap and acts right
polite, with all the other guys tongue
tied, wishin' they had a chance TO
knock his block off.
"Yes, it was wonderful game
call H.. I'p, harn
to show you boys I'm good as my
word. said Id give you five hun
dred dollars for an idea that would
put Oud club in third place ahead of
the Goliaths. Well, we're there, and
here's the money in my pocket. Now,
then, Mr.. Andrews" he says to me,
how shall we go about this thingT
you're the DOCTOR" 1 said. I'VE
leave it to you to decide"
"All right, if the boys think that's
fair" he said. "What is there to be
said"
We'll, I'll say this for myself" l
said. II worked the best / knOwed
how with the rookie pitchers, and
three of 'em have been winnin' their
games right regular. But that was
lily Jul, any nONy Il III hot Niui'h
in the bonus"
"That's very modest of you, I'm
sure" says Mrs. Simmons.
I'm not maxim any claim either, J"
Liz Cochran said. "All l did was to
advise Bill to stick Monte Sawyer up
there in the fifth place, hittin' ahead
of Inc. And you saw what, he done.
You might talk to big Jones, over
there, hidin' behind the lockers. He
got Bill to save Aces Bowman for u
tough game, when we needed him.
That was today, when we held our
place over these other guys"
LAY Offa me-" said Jocko, stickin'
his head around the corner. How he'd
ever got up the nerve to go calm on
Miss Simmons is more'n I'll ever
know. He was blushin' so his face
was redder'n his neck.
Mr.. Simmons was lookin' hard at
Monte Sawyer, but Monty hated T.
speak IN, for some reason. 1t was the
only time in my life l ever saw him
hang back.
you're lookin' at the right guy,
Mr.. Simmons" / said, figurin' 1
might as well get the business over
with.
"Yes, let's hear from you, Mr.. Saw
YER" says the old man.
saw, it wasn't anything" he
said.
"Nothing-to get all these boys hit
ting the ball? Oh, pshaw," says Mr..
Simmons. Come on, tell us about
it,"
"Well. you see," Monty begins.
"Some time back i was readin' an adj
about a book on sumpin' new. It's
called 'Autosuggestion, and says au-
tosuggestiOn will cure anything. l
figured that might include weak bat
tin. so bought copy. The idea
of the book is this: You can cure
y'rself of anything just by tellin'
y'rself over and over and over that
y'r all right, sec? Keep on tellin'
y'rself, in so many words, that y'r
o. X. That's it, autosuggestion.
Auto what?" says Mr.. Simmons.
"Autosuggcstion." says Monty. /
told myself l could hit, and l did hit.
Yes. sir. Autosuggestion.
"Auto-he-uh, autobat," growls joe
ko Jones from his corner. "Autobat,
for hitless wonders. Yeah" And
then he shut up. i noticed old Liz
Cochran grin, and Waldo Blatt sorta
snickered.
The idea sens perfectly simple to
me, and perfectly logical" speaks up
Mr.. Simmons, right quick. He's
cert'ny taken an awful shine to this
Montague Sawyer. Kinda got sore at
Jocko and Waldo Blatt. How did
you work it?"
"Well, the idea is to fix up GER
tain formula. and repeat it over and
over. Like this" and I give Monty
credit for blushin': q" Little by mite
and bit by bit, I'm gettin' so that
can hit That thing did wonders for
me. And when i found | could bat
better'n ever. why. | let some or the
other boys in on it. That's ALL"
Splendid" says the old man. Mr..
Andrews. what did the team average
do during these last two wceks?"
at clumb from DOS TO .2Sf," i
said.
"All due to this fine thought" says
Mr.. Simmons. We'll. is there any
other candidates for the bonus? II
not, I'll just ask my daughter, here,
to present the prize to Mr.. Saw
yer"
Right then a lotta things happened.
I'm not sure that l got all of ,'em, but
here's what / did get.
l saw Miss Simmons blush and bite
her lip.
1 beard big Otto Swarzheimer
growl; Hub. if he's gonna get at five
hundred berries, he's gotta hand me
back my fifty"
And Irish O'Donnell: "Yeah, mine
too"