CHAPTER XVIII
IN THE THROES OF A SLUMP
Robson's round face had lost its usual smile. McRae's was like athundercloud, and the players evaded him as much as they could. EvenLarry was "Laughing Larry" no longer. It was a disgruntled crowd ofbaseball players that shook the dust of Cincinnati from their feet andstarted for Chicago.
"Better luck next time," Joe comforted his mates. "After all it's theuncertainty of the game that makes baseball. How many people would havebeen at the park if they thought their pets didn't have a chance towin?"
"That's all very well," grumbled Curry, "but we ought at least to havehad our share of the breaks. We hit the ball hard enough, but everytime it went straight to the fielders. They didn't hit any better, butthe ball went just out of the reach of our fellows. Talk about foolluck! If those Cincinnati players fell in the water they'd come up witha fish dinner."
"That's just the reason we're due for a change," argued Jim. "We'll getit all back from the Cubs."
But here again there was disappointment. Joe pitched the first game andwon in a close fight, although the Cubs tied it up in the ninth and Joehad to win his own game in the eleventh by a homer. But the next twowent to Chicago, and in the fourth game, which Jim pitched, the besthe could do was to make it a tie, called in the twelfth on account ofdarkness.
This time it was not luck that gave to the Giants only one game out ofthree. They had as many of the breaks of the game as their opponents.They simply slumped. One of those mysterious things that come to almostevery team once at least in a season had them in its clutches. Perhapsit was overanxiety, perhaps it was a superstitious feeling that a"jinx" was after them, but, whatever it was, it spread through theteam like an epidemic. Their fingers were "all thumbs." Their bats had"holes" in them. The most reliable fielders slipped up on easy chances.They booted the ball, or if they got it they threw either too high ortoo low to first. Double plays became less frequent. Two of the bestbatters in the team, Larry and Burkett, fell off woefully in theirhitting.
In vain McRae raged and stormed. In vain Robbie begged and pleadedand cajoled. In vain Jim and Joe, who still resisted the infection,sought to stem the tide of disaster. The members of the team with a fewexceptions continued to act as if they were in a trance.
McRae did everything in his power to bring about a change. He laid offWillis and Iredell, and put two promising rookies, Barry and Ward, intheir places. This added a little speed on the bases to the team, butdid not materially add to the batting or fielding, for the rookies werenervous and made many misplays, while they were lamentably short on the"inside stuff" that takes long experience to acquire. He shook up thebatting order. But the hits were still few and far between.
St. Louis gave the Giants a sound trouncing in the first game, but inthe second the Giants came to life and reversed the score.
Joe was in the box in this contest, and as he came in to the bench inthe fourth inning, he noted, sitting in the grandstand, a figure thatseemed familiar to him. The man seemed to have seen Baseball Joe at thesame time, but he hid himself behind the form of a big man sitting infront of him, so that Joe could not be sure of his identification.
"What were you looking at so steadily, Joe?" inquired Jim, as hisfriend sat down on the bench beside him. "Did you by any chance catchsight of the jinx that's been following us?" he continued jokingly.
"Maybe I did, at that," replied Joe. "I could have sworn that I got aglimpse of Bugs Hartley in the grandstand."
"Bugs Hartley?" echoed Jim in surprise. "How could that old rascal havegot as far as St. Louis?"
"Beat his way, perhaps," answered Joe. "Of course I'm not dead sure butthat I might have been mistaken. And I won't have much time to look forhim while I'm in the box. But suppose in the meantime you go down tothe coaching line near first. While you're pretending to coach, you cantake an occasional look at the grandstand and see if you can pick outBugs. He's somewhere about the third row near the center. Just wherethe wire netting is broken."
Jim did as suggested, and studied the grandstand with care. He had onlya chance to make an affirmative nod of the head as Joe, the inningended, went out again to the box, but when he returned after pitchingthe side out on strikes, Jim told Joe that he was right.
"It's Bugs all right," he said. "I had a good chance to see that uglymug of his, and there can't be any mistake. But what in thunder can hebe doing in St. Louis?"
"Oh, panhandling and drinking himself to death, I suppose," answeredJoe carelessly, his mind intent upon the game.
"But how did he get here?" persisted Jim. "I don't like it, old man. Ittakes money to travel, and I don't think Bugs could hustle up railroadfare to save his life. And if somebody gave him the money to get here,why was it done? I tell you again, Joe, I don't like it."
"Well, perhaps it's just as well we caught sight of him," admitted Joe."It will help us to keep our eyes open."
In the seventh inning for the Giants, with the score tied at 3 to 3,Larry started a rally for the Giants by lining out a screaming singleto right. Denton followed with a hit to short that was too hot forthe shortstop to handle. He knocked the ball down, however, and gotit to first. Denton had thought the play would be made on Larry, whowas already on his way to third. Denton, therefore, had rounded firstand started for second, but saw the ball coming and scrambled back tofirst. There was a grand mixup, but the umpire declared Denton safe.
It was a close play, and the St. Louis team was up in arms in a moment.Some of them, including their manager, rushed to the spot to argue withthe umpire. The crowd also was enraged at the decision and began tohoot and howl. One or two pop bottles were thrown at the umpire, butfell short.
Joe, who was next at bat, had taken his stand at the plate, awaitingthe outcome of the argument. Suddenly a bottle, aimed with great skilland tremendous force, came through the broken wire netting, whizzedclose by his head, the top of it grazing his ear in passing. If it hadhit his head, it would have injured him greatly beyond a doubt.
Joe turned toward the stand and saw a man hastily making his way outtoward the entrance. He could only see his back, but he knew at once towhom that back belonged.
"Stop him! Stop him!" he shouted, as he threw aside his bat and rushedtoward the stand.
But Jim had already vaulted over the barrier and was rushing throughthe aisle.