There was Delaney's red-haired trio—Red Gilbat, left fielder; ReddyClammer, right fielder, and Reddie Ray, center fielder, composing themost remarkable outfield ever developed in minor league baseball. Itwas Delaney's pride, as it was also his trouble.
Red Gilbat was nutty—and his batting average was .371. Any student ofbaseball could weigh these two facts against each other and understandsomething of Delaney's trouble. It was not possible to camp on RedGilbat's trail. The man was a jack-o'-lantern, a will-o'-the-wisp, aweird, long-legged, long-armed, red-haired illusive phantom. When thegong rang at the ball grounds there were ten chances to one that Redwould not be present. He had been discovered with small boys peepingthrough knotholes at the vacant left field he was supposed to inhabitduring play.
Of course what Red did off the ball grounds was not so important aswhat he did on. And there was absolutely no telling what under the sunhe might do then except once out of every three times at bat he couldbe counted on to knock the cover off the ball.
Reddy Clammer was a grand-stand player—the kind all managershated—and he was hitting .305. He made circus catches, circus stops,circus throws, circus steals—but particularly circus catches. That isto say, he made easy plays appear difficult. He was always strutting,posing, talking, arguing, quarreling—when he was not engaged in makinga grand-stand play. Reddy Clammer used every possible incident andartifice to bring himself into the limelight.
Reddie Ray had been the intercollegiate champion in the sprints and afamous college ball player. After a few months of professional ball hewas hitting over .400 and leading the league both at bat and on thebases. It was a beautiful and a thrilling sight to see him run. Hewas so quick to start, so marvelously swift, so keen of judgment, thatneither Delaney nor any player could ever tell the hit that he was notgoing to get. That was why Reddie Ray was a whole game in himself.
Delaney's Rochester Stars and the Providence Grays were tied for firstplace. Of the present series each team had won a game. Rivalry hadalways been keen, and as the teams were about to enter the longhomestretch for the pennant there was battle in the New England air.
The September day was perfect. The stands were half full and thebleachers packed with a white-sleeved mass. And the field wasbeautifully level and green.