' He meant Napoleon
Lajoie. He said, The Frenchman is very sharp and he's been hitting
terrific line drives this past week. He's almost killed three of our own
pitchers in practice, so there's no telling what he'll do in a real
game, even if it is just an exhibition game.'
"I thanked him, of course, and went back to warming up. Well, I pitched
the whole nine innings and beat them, two to zero. Lajoie got two hits
off me, and I think George Stovall got a couple, but I shut them
out--and I wasn't killed, either.
"That night Charlie Carr called me over. 'You know,' he said, 'a funny
thing just happened. Mr. Somers, the owner of the Cleveland club, just
came over to my hotel room and wanted to buy you. He offered me three
thousand five hundred dollars for your contract with the understanding
that you'd stay here all season, to get more experience, and then you
would join the Cleveland club next year.'
"'Charlie,' I said, 'if you sell me to Somers, I'm going right back to
the ice cream company. He had first chance to get me, and he wouldn't
give me what I deserved. So long as Somers is involved, I won't play for
Cleveland, no matter what.'
"'Okay,' he said. 'Don't worry. I won't sell you.
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