Read Online Ray & Me by Dan Gutman - Free Book Online

Adeline, just like the song.
    It was a style of music you hardly ever hear anymore. Really slow, with a lot of harmony. I think they call it “barbershop music,” because it would usually be sung by men who were hanging out in a barbershop. It actually sounded good. Some of the Indians put their hands over their hearts as they sang.

    The Indians started singing “Sweet Adeline.”
    When the song was over, the players laughed and gathered around one guy with silver hair. He looked a little older than the others, but not old. I guess he was the manager of the team.
    â€œSpeaker will speak!” somebody announced.
    Speaker. I recalled that name because it was unusual. Tris Speaker. He’s in the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was a great centerfielder and led the American League in batting one year. In his playing days, he was a rival of Ty Cobb. Maybe, I guessed, he was a player-manager.
    â€œFellas, we need this one today,” he said in a thick Texas accent. “We’ve been doin’ great. We’re 70 and 40 right now. But the Sox are right behind us. And remember when these Yanks beat us four in a row last week in Cleveland? Can’t let that happen again.”
    â€œRuth is tough,” one of the Indians said. “You make one mistake to him, and he hits it over the wall.”
    â€œRuth is just a man,” Speaker said. “He puts his pants on one leg at a time, just like you ’n’ me. And last year he struck out twice as many times as he homered. You can look it up.”
    Speaker threw his arms around the players on either side of him.
    â€œBoys,” he said quietly, “y’know, since our club was formed back in 1879, we ain’t won a single pennant. That’s 40 years. Not one pennant. Neither did those Yanks, so they want it just as bad as us. We finishedsecond last year. I got a feelin’ this is our year. So let’s go out there and beat those bums.”

    Tris Speaker
National Baseball Hall of Fame Library, Cooperstown, NY
    â€œMays is pitching,” somebody said, and a few of the Indians groaned. “That underhand fastball sure is hard to pick up.”
    â€œMays doesn’t bother me,” said a slim guy with dark hair, as he unbuttoned his uniform top. “We hit him just like we hit everybody else.”
    â€œThat’s my boy, Chappie!” said Speaker.
    Chappie. Flip referred to Ray Chapman as “Chappie.” Now I knew which one of the guys was Chapman.
    I looked at him closely. He was the guy who started in singing “Sweet Adeline.” He had big ears that stuck out slightly, a square jaw, and a friendly, smiling face. On his right shoulder was a tattoo of a bird. He looked a little different from the pictures I had seen.
    If I didn’t do anything, I realized, this man would be dead very soon.
    The pep talk broke up, and the players went to their lockers to get ready for the game. There were lots of guys milling around. It looked like a good time for me to come out of hiding. I pushed open the locker door and pretended to be a clubhouse attendant. Baseball teams always need a clubhouse attendant, because baseball players are slobs who leave a big mess that somebody’s got to clean up. There was a broom in the corner. I grabbed it and started sweeping.
    I swept around the locker room until I found Ray Chapman’s locker over in the corner. He was sitting on a bench going through a stack of fan mail. He didn’t pay any attention to me.
    The door to Chapman’s locker was open, and there was a photo taped to it. I got as close as I could without being too obvious and then strained my eyes to see the photo. It was a picture of a bride and groom. The girl was pretty. Even though the photo was black-and-white, I could tell she had light brown hair. Below the photo were these words:
    Kathleen and Ray, October 29, 1919
    I did a rough calculation in my head. Ray Chapman and his wife got married