They were called the Cleveland
Bronchos in those days. Then the Cleveland Naps--after Napoleon Lajoie.
Anyway, after the regular season was over, a lot of them would barnstorm
around the Cleveland area, and sometimes I'd be their bat boy.
"Later on, I even pitched a few games for Bill Bradley's Boo Gang," the
shadow added proudly.
"Boo Gang?" said Lisa with a little shudder.
"Boo like a Ghost?" added Hootsey.
"No, no," laughed Rube's image. "Bill Bradley was the third baseman for
the Cleveland Indians--and one of the greatest who ever lived--and he
also barnstormed with his 'Boo Gang' after the season was over. So by
the time I was fifteen or so, I knew a lot of ballplayers. And I had my
heart set on being a Big Leaguer myself.
"Well, one of my best friends was a catcher named Howard Wakefield. He
was about five years older than I was. In 1906 he was playing for the
Waterloo Club in the Iowa State League, and ..."
"1906?" echoed Lisa. "But ... But ..."
"What's wrong?" asked the ballplayer's shadow.
"You have to be mistaken," said Elephant, recognizing the reason for his
friend's perplexity. "It isn't 1906 yet. It's only 1902!"
"I think he's from the future," said Lisa.
Pages:
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136