332
PARTISAN REVIEW
"Oh wait awhile," says Loose, "and I'll drive you."
Now Robber and the nameless little brother are standing
in
the doorway. In this pause-
In this pause, the formalities of baseball suddenly strike with
force: "When the outfielders swing to the right, when the left.
bander comes to bat-" "Nobody looks so good as a self-possessed
catcher who holds the runners close." "What about the centerfielder
starts at the crack o' the bat and takes the ball moving without a
hurry,-I'm thinking of Tris Speaker, the Gray Eagle o' the
Indians."
"Last week he fell off his house drunk and broke his head,"
says Liv's little brother.
"Oh, if you're talking about individuals, what about the Babe
striking out?" "Herb Pennock, the Silver Fox of Kennett Square,
stalling for the rain."
"The hit and run."
"The double-steal."
"The home-run that breaks up the ball game."
You see how the variety of both extremes is held within the
rules.
"But the trouble with
our
game," says Norm and the tears
start into his eyes, "is that nobody can play it; nobody but us five
can get off from work; no matter how hard you try you can't
escape it."
"Maybe we could organize them as Utopians. We could have
a number of separate units."
"No no no. You can't find more than half a dozen who are
willing to be reasonable. I see it in business every day."
"To you," says Robber, "it's reasonable; to me it stinks. I
don't want to miss a thing."
"When they begin to talk baseball," thinks Lew, "I get so
bored stiff."
THE GoLDEN MEAN
The Golden Mean is to have just so much interest as a person
is adequate to and tum to it his full attention; this isn't much, and
demands rule and repetition.
