Show WE FICTION coaxer THIRD STRIKE CALLED by JACK KOFOED D arhe THE sun slanted into the bull pen A 1 where high pockets kelley was warming up and caused beads of perspiration to stipple his brick colored forehead like raindrops he threw the ball listlessly because there a chance in a million that he would get into the final game of the world series his teammate slats mckeever had held the giants to three hits and the yan J kees led one to nothing going into the final inning something always happens to me kelley said and it Is seldom anything n g to write home about As far back as I 1 can remember I 1 have been the un luckiest guy in the world when I 1 was only seven years old I 1 met sally ryall if you call that bad luck snorted pete howard get IT me e a it high pockets put an extra this little zip on ids his weeks beeks e fast ball right best but you only got the start of fiction it he said a a I 1 d were from ishpeming michigan and a lot ot of houses out there have board fences along the back yard I 1 tried to make a hit with sally by walkin on one ot of them and fell off and busted a couple of ribs when I 1 got my first job in the northern michigan league she came to see me work I 1 tore a nail OH off a finger of my pitch in hand and they knocked rne me out of the box in two innings but that the worst of it we had signed a new first baseman named frederick longstreth mcgee high pockets banged the ball viciously into his glove yeah but look what luck does to me fred supposed to report until the next day but hes just dumb enough to get his dates mixed and showed up in time to meet sally dark clark gable got that he got not 1 tot a thing and me six teet fee four and with a pan that stopped practically every clock in ishpeming so you lost sally to him eh eb not yet it if my luck in love is as bad as it Is in everything else I 1 probably will when we came up to the majors mcgee was signed by the giants five minutes after he put on the pads smiths legs went bad and there WEIS was mcgee the regular first baseman the yankees took me and all I 1 had to beat out for a job were jones pearson talbot and wirtz you complain too much said pete look at me that connelly will go on catching till ive got a beard way down to here all ali I 1 get to do is warming up these bums high pockets considered that unimportant he had his own troubles sally talks that way too she works for a psychiatrist named golenpaul and he says rm im obsessed by the belief that luck is the daml naten factor in my career well aint it this series now here we come to the last game and every pitcher on the staff except mckeever and me Is as healthy as it if they had the cholera and what happens slats makes ern cm eat out of his hand while I 1 im m here in the bull pen the boss Is bavin tor for you luckl luck howard laughed but there was no mirth in it it if you gab less and look more maybe you feel that way Mc Keevers lost his stuff moore singled and wilson walked and theres lake at the plate now it if he gets a piece bf one goodbye ball garnet gamel uh huh he walked too and the boss is bavin tor for you kelley stuffed his glove in his hip pocket and pulled his cap further down over his sunburned forehead be big enough to hold the two oi 0 us he turned on his heel and strode back to the bench the infielders Inn elders took their positions posit loni and high pockets stood in the mid dle die of the diamond with the ball it his hand and remembered how he h had fallen off the fence and bow those northern michi michigan an fellows had pinned back his ca cars and knew knea in his heart that he lucli enough to get one past mcgee he better though if he failed he h co could ul d not excuse himself to sally she listen to that bad luck luch stuff any more she would say he was given the greatest break of his hi life and had not been man enough to take advantage of it besides high pockets felt that it if he let me mcgee lut hit hed be delivering groceries tor for old man hemingway back in ishpeming next summer instead ol 01 drawing salary checks from rom the yankees connelly was signaling kelley kelle know what the catcher was calling for A curve A fast ball A do what did it matter anyway whatever he be threw mcgee was going to hit the plate umpire took off his M A 7 L A e what happened he asked dazedly good luck he echoed scornfully it if I 1 strike out the side ill bet connelly misses the last pitch and the winning runs come over mckeever was still waiting at the pitchers box with all the infielders around him when kelley shuffled up makin an awful mistake M said high pockets lesner knows how bow unlucky I 1 am does he want to lose this series slats glared at him it if the rest of the staff on the waltin list of the hospital for joint diseases you even be here forget that luck stuff its not as important as the hop on your fast one what you think kelley said but ill take a double order 0 luck my girl says there aint any laugh that off and lor for a real break frederick longstreth mcgee is battin next what a guy I 1 I 1 he could trip over a cat and fall into a gold mine this sure is a spot for a guy who aint pitched much more th this is season than shirley temple has Mc Keevers mckeeversr gaunt red face expressed the deepest disgust well you better come autta this game with so methin better than a bad luck alibi or new york wont mask and bellowed if 11 you cc can aa nn pull yourself out of that trance kelley how about working at your trade I 1 dont want to stay here through the whole football seasonal season well there anything else to do then high pockets wound up his mind on sally and bad luck and the instant the ball left the tip of his fingers angers he knew it have anything on it but the stitches stitt thes lies and it was straight as a ruler and big as a balloon H he saw mcgee pull back his club and then there was a whack of wood against leather and that was all he remembered high pockets woke up in a nice clean hospital bed with a nurse taking a thermometer out of his mouth pete howard stood nearby the doe doc says youre all right said pete its lucky you got a head like a wrestler or be tuning up the harps for you now high pockets twisted his neck there was a little ache in the back of his skull but n not ot much what happened he asked howard seemed embarras embarrassed well mcgee hit a line drive ahat that bounced off your noggin into stones hands and lou made a triple play unassisted kelley sat straight up in bed holy moses the first break I 1 ever had in my life and we win the world series with it ill never crab any more walt till I 1 see sally 1 I bother if I 1 were you pete said moving toward the door women are awfully tunny funny sally said nobody ever got a worse break in luck than fred mcgee and before she marries him ab ashes ea going to tell dr golenpaul he know what hes about |