"'Oh,' Robbie said. 'What are you kidding around for, Rube? I have to go out on the field and I don't have time to fool around.' "'No,' I told him, 'I'm serious! McGraw is right here and he says he'll sell me for seven thousand five hundred buckaroos! Do you want to talk to him?' "'Of course I do,' Robbie said. And right then and there I was traded from the Giants to the Dodgers. "And, of course, we--the Dodgers, that is--won the pennant the next year, and I had one of the best years I ever had. I think I had an earned run average of about one and a half in 1916. And then we won the pennant again in 1920. So everything worked out pretty well. "One day when I was pitching for Brooklyn, I pitched the first game of a double-header against Boston and beat them, one to zip! I was in the clubhouse during the second game, taking off my uniform, when the clubhouse boy came in. 'Rube,' he said to me, 'there's an elderly gentleman outside who wants to see you. He says he's your father from Cleveland. "'He is not my father,' I said. 'My father wouldn't go across the street to see me. But you go out and get his autograph book and bring it in, and I'll autograph it for him.' "But instead of bringing in the book, he brought in my Dad. And we were both delighted to see one another. "'Boy,' said my father to me, 'you sure are a hardhead. You know I didn't mean what I said ten years ago.' "'What about you, Dad?' I said. 'You're as stubborn as I am. I thought you never wanted to see me again. I thought you meant it.' "'Of course I didn't,' he said. "After we talked a while, I said, 'Did you see the game today?' "'Yes,' he said, 'I did.' "'Where were you sitting?' I asked him. "'Well, you know the man who wears that funny thing on his face?' "'You mean the mask? The catcher?' I said. "'I guess so,' my father said with a smile. 'Well, anyway, I was halfway between him and the number one--you know, where they run right after they hit the ball?' "'You mean first base?' I asked. "'I don't know,' he said. 'I don't know what they call it. I was sitting in the middle there.' "'How many ball games have you seen since I became a ballplayer, Dad?' I wanted to know. "'This is the first one,' he said. "Well, he stayed in New York with me for a few weeks, and we had a great time. Finally, he had to go back to Cleveland. After he'd left, the newspapers heard about my Dad and they wanted to know his address back home. So I gave it to them, and doggone if they didn't send reporters and photographers to Cleveland to interview him. "They took his picture and asked him a lot of questions. One of the things they asked him was whether he had ever played very much baseball himself. "'Oh,' he told them, 'of course I did, when I was younger. I used to love to play baseball. I used to be a pitcher, just like my son Richard--I mean, like my son Rube.' "'Are you proud of your son?' they asked him.