The Redheaded Outfield, and Other Baseball StoriesGrey, Zane
General
The Redheaded Outfield, and Other Baseball Stories
Grey, Zane
Baseball stories, American; Fiction; Short stories
When it had been produced Daddy laid down the yarn ball and cut into
it. The blade entered readily for a inch and then stopped. Daddy cut
all around the ball, and removed the cover of tightly wrapped yarn.
Inside was a solid ball of India rubber.
"Say! it ain't so funny now--how that ball bounced," remarked Daddy.
"Wot you think of that!" exclaimed Tom, feeling the lump on his head.
"T-t-t-t-t-t-t-ta-tr----" began Tay Tay Mohler.
"Say it! Say it!" interrupted Daddy.
"Ta-ta-ta-tr-trimmed them wa-wa-wa-wa-with their own
b-b-b-b-b-ba-ba-ball," finished Tay.
OLD WELL-WELL
He bought a ticket at the 25-cent window, and edging his huge bulk
through the turnstile, laboriously followed the noisy crowd toward the
bleachers. I could not have been mistaken. He was Old Well-Well,
famous from Boston to Baltimore as the greatest baseball fan in the
East. His singular yell had pealed into the ears of five hundred
thousand worshippers of the national game and would never be forgotten.
At sight of him I recalled a friend's baseball talk. "You remember Old
Well-Well? He's all in--dying, poor old fellow! It seems young Burt,
whom the Phillies are trying out this spring, is Old Well-Well's nephew
and protege. Used to play on the Murray Hill team; a speedy youngster.
When the Philadelphia team was here last, Manager Crestline announced
his intention to play Burt in center field. Old Well-Well was too ill
to see the lad get his tryout. He was heart-broken and said: 'If I
could only see one more game!'"
The recollection of this random baseball gossip and the fact that
Philadelphia was scheduled to play New York that very day, gave me a
sudden desire to see the game with Old Well-Well. I did not know him,
but where on earth were introductions as superfluous as on the
bleachers? It was a very easy matter to catch up with him. He walked
slowly, leaning hard on a cane and his wide shoulders sagged as he
puffed along. I was about to make some pleasant remark concerning the
prospects of a fine game, when the sight of his face shocked me and I
drew back. If ever I had seen shadow of pain and shade of death they
hovered darkly around Old Well-Well.
No one accompanied him; no one seemed to recognize him. The majority
of that merry crowd of boys and men would have jumped up wild with
pleasure to hear his well-remembered yell. Not much longer than a year
before, I had seen ten thousand fans rise as one man and roar a
greeting to him that shook the stands. So I was confronted by a
situation strikingly calculated to rouse my curiosity and sympathy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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