The Southpaw

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Authors: Mark Harris
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very slow at first, and gradually faster and faster. Dutch Schnell went over and talked to him a minute and then moved off, and I watched every move that Sad Sam made. He stopped once and took his hat off and wiped his forehead, and I seen for the first time that he was ever so slightly bald on top. That surprised me some. About 2 rows behind me a fellow yelled, “Do not worry, Sam, for you pitch with your arm and not with your hair,” and a number of people laughed.
    During the infield drill I kept a close eye on Gonzalez. This was his first year, and I wondered if he would show up nervous, but he did not seem to be. He is a little fellow, very fast on his feet from Cuba. Clint Strap, 1 of the Mammoth coaches, was belting the ball around the infield. Each time he come to George he would make him go a different way, first to his right and then to his left, but it made no difference to George for he would gobble her up and all in the same motion fire across to Monk Boyd who was then the Mammoth first-baseman.
    Then the field cleared and the players went down through the dugout to the clubhouses and about 15 men in overalls come out with hoses and rollers and smoothed the infield over again. Then the band played
    “East Side, West Side” in honor of the mayor of New York who come down and took a seat in a box behind first. There was a lot of cheering, and some booing as well, and the mayor waved his hand and pretended he did not hear the booing.
    Soon the players come out again in fresh shirts. The Mammoths lined up in front of the dugout. I was so nervous you would of thought I was in the game myself. Then they broke for their positions and the crowd give them a great hand. The Mammoths that started that day was as follows:
    At third base George Gonzalez, playing his first big-league game. At shortstop Ugly Jones, just beginning to hit his heights. At second base Bryce Chapin, now in carnival work in California. At first base Monk Boyd, now with Washington. The outfield was as follows: Trotter, Wilks and Burns, all still Mammoths but all due to be cut loose before long. Scotty Burs is definitely for sale since Dutch has turned Canada Smith back into an outfielder. Red Traphagen was behind the bat, then and now generally considered 1 of the great receivers in the game today, and Sam Yale was on the hill.
    Amongst the men on the Mammoth bench that day was the following: Vincent and Pasquale Carucci, outfielders. Lucky Judkins, also an outfielder, was then the property of Cleveland. Gene Park, then playing second base for Chicago, was bought the following year by the Mammoths, was then drafted by the Reserves and then quickly released by the Reserves in the case that caused so much scandal that you probably read about in the papers. Some writers claim to this day that Old Man Moors wangled Gene free, and now and again you will see a reference in the papers to “Twice Bought” Gene Park. Not yet even a part of the Mammoth system was the following: Sid Goldman, Coker Roguski, Perry Simpson, Canada Smith and yours truly Henry W. Wiggen.
    There was an announcement by the loud speaker, “Ladies and gentlemen, our national anthem,” and the band struck the tune and some lady that I could not see begun to sing, and a mighty powerful pair of lungs she had. It is really beautiful, for as the last words die away a roar goes up from the people, and for a minute there is no sound but the echo of the singing, and no movement or motion except maybe a bird or the flags waving or the drummer on his drums, and then the music dies and the people spring to life and the chief umpire calls loud and long “Puh- lay ball” and the game is on. I stood there, and I looked down on the Mammoths, and I said to myself, “2 years, 3 years, I will be standing there with my cap over my breast as Sad Sam Yale is standing there now,” and I choked up, for between the music and the thoughts I was on the edge of tears. I seen Sam with his hat over his

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