in libraries all over America digging out data
for his history of those remarkable pilgrimages which he had written
and rewritten half a dozen times. Not being a baseball fan he was
eminently fair and unprejudiced, and the players thought more of the
quiet, studious fellow than they did of the excitable and the partisan
reporters who joined their sports and their woes.

"Mr. McCarthy," he said seriously, "did you observe anything strange in
to-day's game?"

"Several strange things," assented McCarthy. "Among them that error I
made early in the game."

"I mean things of an unusual nature," persisted Technicalities. "I was
struck by an odd phenomenon and thought perhaps you noticed it. I find
it more perplexing as I study my score books."

"What was it?" inquired McCarthy, cautious not to betray any interest.

"Did you, for instance, observe anything strange about the hits in your
direction?"

"I noticed that those that didn't have cayenne pepper on them were
white hot and came like greased lightning," laughed McCarthy. "I
expected to find my right leg playing left field any minute."

"I was speaking numerically, although, of course, the speed of the hits
enters into the phenomenon."

"They did seem to be coming my way rapidly," agreed the third baseman.

"In to-day's game I find," continued the statistician, "that there were
eighteen batted balls hit in the direction of third base. You had five
assists and one error and caught two line drives. I do not include
foul balls, of which six line drives went near third base. Of these
eighteen batted balls, fourteen were hit by right-handed batters and
four by left-handers. The fourteen right-handed batters hit balls
pitched inside the plate, the four left-handers hit balls outside the
plate, that is, outside to them, so that practically every ball batted
toward you was pitched to the inside of the plate, that is, the
catcher's left. I have checked these statistics and find them correct."

"Well, what of it?" asked McCarthy.

"In the preceding games--in which you played third and in which
Williams has pitched--I find that an average of twelve and a fraction
batted balls per game have been hit toward third base, exclusive of
fouls. In the games in which you have played and in which Williams has
not pitched the average is six and a trifling fraction. You have
averaged seven and one-fourth chances per game--legitimate
chances--with Williams pitching, and a