[legendsport]

Maplewood, NJ: March 21, 2020:

Paul Crowe wearily ran a hand across his face as he stared at his laptop screen. He stood up with a groan and stretched his back, briefly hoping Cheryl wouldn't hear the groan. He didn't want to hear about he needed to give it up and just go see the chiropractor.

Sometimes he thought this book about Rufus Barrell and his brood would be the end of him.

He decided he'd leave off on his research for a moment and go grab a beer. He threw a glance at the baseball clock Cheryl had given him for Christmas. It'd come with a note remarking that he'd now have one less reason to look at his cellphone every five minutes. The pair of bat-shaped hands on the clock's face told him it was 12:15 and therefore no longer morning. So he could - and would - have a beer.

On his way to the refrigerator he passed the small bedroom that Cheryl had converted into her "woman cave" (Cheryl's terminology, not Paul's). He heard the sewing machine going and decided to poke his head in.

"Whatcha doin'?" he asked.

Cheryl stopped the machine and turned to him. "Making masks."

Paul's brow furrowed in confusion. "Huh?" he blurted.

She reached out and grabbed some fabric with a pair of elastic hoops on each side. "Masks."

"Umm, ok," Paul remarked, the furrowed brow deepening.

Cheryl gave him an exasperated look and said, "I know you've got your head in the book, but do you ever look at news that isn't a hundred years old and related to the Barrells?"

He pursed his lips. "Of course I do and you know it."

"Well... then you'd know that this virus is a serious issue and we both need to start wearing masks when we leave the house."

"Really? It's going to be getting warm and that's just going to make my face hot."

"Better than getting sick, you big doofus."

Paul shook his head and said, "OK, whatever. I'm going to get a beer. If the world's going to hell, that seems like the least I can do."

"That's not funny!" Cheryl shouted back as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a beer from the fridge.

Paul pulled out his phone and read the latest news on the COVID-19 virus while he drank his beer. When he was finished, the news had him wanting to down a second beer, but instead he forced himself to go back to work.

The clock had just ticked over to 1 pm when Cheryl showed up at his office door.

"You going to eat lunch or was that beer your lunch today?" she asked.

Paul sighed. "Yes, I'll be out in a few minutes. I'm going through these newspaper stories from the 1925-26 winter and spring. Lots going on in the Barrells' lives that made the news."

Cheryl tipped her head to the side. "Really? Like what?"

Paul put his glasses on and looked at his browser. "Let's see.... December 1925, 'Dane and Barrell lead Wildcats to California win'... that was Joe on the Wildcats national tour..." He clicked another tab... "1925 FABL Draft results... Clyde Hinzman, shortstop, drafted by the Chicago Cougars in the sixth round..." Another click: "Brooklyn Cagers Debut... that one was, let's see, December 28. Rollie's basketball team. They ended up having a pretty bad debut season actually..." Another click... "Georgia Baptist: Double-Barrelled... that one, obviously about Tom joining Fred on the Baptist baseball team, that was March 3, 1926..." Yet another click... "Effingham County High School suffers loss... and they didn't mean a game - Bobby hurt his ankle playing basketball and missed his freshman season..." Paul smiled and said, "This one I like a lot: 'Kings sign former Olympian... that was Powell Slocum talking old man Presley into signing Danny after he helped him recover from that knee injury."

"That was more Claudia's doing," Cheryl pointed out.

"What?!? No, that was Slocum... and the GM."

"No, I mean the knee rehabilitation. That was all Claudia. You better get that straight in the book."

"Ah, yes, you're right about that. I'll make sure your great-granny gets her due." Paul managed to keep a straight face while saying this. Being married to Jimmy Barrell's great-granddaughter was never dull, he reflected.

"What else you got?" Cheryl asked. Despite sometimes acting like the book was a giant burden, Paul knew she was secretly heavily invested in a project that was, in the final analysis, all about her own family.

Paul gave her a crooked smile and then looked at his screen again. "OK... June 3, 1926: Georgia Baptist falls in Semis... Fred & Tom both had good years, but lost to Chicago Poly one round short of the title series." He glanced at Cheryl and said, "I bet Danny gave his brothers a hard time about that!"

"Well, he never played baseball there, but I take your point," Cheryl replied.

Paul looked back at his screen and said, "Oh... I found a wedding announcement... April 3, 1926 Edna Farmer Barrell weds Roscoe Daniels... I think you know this, but Roscoe was Cooter's son. And I know from an interview I did with one of Joe's grandsons that Joe showed up smashed at the wedding and got into a fight with his own brother. Jack, if I recall correctly."

Cheryl got a thoughtful look on her face. "I think that's right. At least it sounds like what Jack would do. He tried to be a peace-maker. Joe was a hothead by all accounts and I can see him showing up and making a scene."

Paul nodded, then asked, "What?" when he saw a smirk appear on Cheryl's face.

"I was just thinking... 1926... that was Dan's first year as a pro ballplayer, right?"

Paul nodded. "Yep, he started in Omaha but he did make it all the way to Houston. That was AAA back then. Quite an accomplishment." An openly admiring look came over his face and he added, "Of course, considering Danny was playing on one leg, everything he did was quite the accomplishment. Can you imagine? They didn't have arthroscopic surgery back then. The guy was playing bone on bone in his knee; the cartilage and ligaments were basically torn to shreds."

Cheryl nodded again, "Yep. Those guys were tough, I would definitely say that about the whole group though Danny might have been the toughest."

She pointed at him and grinned again, "But, I was thinking that '26 would have been when Dan met Gladys Summers."

Paul chuckled. "Ah, yes, that is a good story."

Cheryl put her hands on her hips again. "Well, why don't you tell me the story and I'll let you know if it matches what came down the family grapevine."

Paul gave her a smirk of his own. "Sure thing." He paused and looked at the ceiling for a second then began, "We have to go back a little bit, first. Gladys was Jack Kristich's niece. He was the guy who was running both the AFA and Federal Basketball League." He paused and noted, "That in itself is something else."

"No argument here," Cheryl said.

Paul went on, "So Rollie comes off this incredibly disappointing season for his basketball team. And he's got Daniel Prescott giving him hell about how the team was supposed to be good, blah, blah, blah. Then he goes and hires Jack Kristich's niece out from under him to be a scout of all things."

Cheryl was nodding. "Right so far... keep going."

"Yeah, so Rollie got some grief from Francie about that. 'What are you doing hiring this attractive young woman to scout basketball players,' and so on, and Rollie is in hot water there for a bit. But he was right, Gladys turned out to be an excellent scout. She could look at a guy and determine if he could actually play. So, Rollie sends her to the midwest with a directive to find him some live ones before Prescott pulls the plug on him. And... while she's doing just that, she walks into a restaurant in, uh, I think it was... Des Moines?"

"Nope, Wichita," Cheryl replied with a gleam in her eye.

Paul snapped his fingers and said, "Right. Wichita. I have it in my notes... somewhere. Anyway, who's eating in that restaurant but Danny Barrell. The Omaha Cowboys, for whom Dan is playing left field, are in town and he's there with a couple of his team mates. They end up meeting and well... you know the rest."

Cheryl nodded. "OK, you got most of it right. Do you know how they met, specifically?"

"It's in my notes. I don't have total recall here, you know," he replied and pointed to his head.

Cheryl guffawed and said, "That I do know."

"Very funny."

Cheryl picked up the story: "Yes, well, the way they met was that Gladys was not the shy and retiring type. Her gravy was cold, and she decided to go to the kitchen and complain. As she was carrying the gravy, one of the guys at Dan's table tripped her up accidentally. She dumped the gravy boat all over Danny. He was very gracious about it, though his jacket was ruined. As he talked to her, Gladys noticed that he both looked and sounded a lot like Rollie. So she tells Dan he reminds her of her boss. Dan asks her 'what's this guy's name?' and she tells him Roland Barrell. Now Danny starts laughing and Gladys is confused. Dan explains that Rollie is his older brother. Then Dan throws in, 'I didn't know Rollie had such an attractive young lady working for him,' which was a good and effective line. They ended up talking for a bit, and then they met again later in Omaha." She smiled and added, "I heard that Gladys went to Omaha purportedly to scout basketball players, but she really went just to see Dan."

"Yes, and that was the end of Emily Talbot, and Dan's infatuation with Claudia, too," Paul said.

Cheryl nodded and said, "Yes. I'm not sure that the thing with Emily would have gone anywhere regardless. I believe she ended up going back to England in the summer of '26 anyway. By then Dan had fallen for Gladys pretty hard."

Paul smirked and said, "That's sweet but this isn't a romance novel, you know."

"Well... it'll sell more copies if you go beyond all the sports stuff, you know."

Paul nodded. He knew Cheryl had a point. "I hate it when you're right," he said.

She threw something at him and Paul surprised himself by catching it. When he looked at it, he saw it was a fabric mask she had just sewn together. On it was the logo of the New York Gothams. "Uh... thanks," he said.