[legendsport]

August 29, 1936: Philadelphia, PA:

Rufus Barrell was seated in the front row, just behind the home dugout at Broad Street Park. Not for the first time, he was reflecting on how nice it was to have friends in high places. He'd taken the train up from DC, ostensibly to watch his son play, but really to meet this girl who had bowled that same son over. A quick phone call to Keystones owner Ed Meachum and he had two first-row tickets. No need to bother Bobby, who easily could have gotten him tickets - Rufus just went straight to the man in charge.

"Here you are, miss," Rufus heard, drawing his attention away from the field, where he had been watching some of the players warming up. Turning his head he got his first glimpse of Miss Lucy Traynor.

He caught her in an unguarded moment, her face turned to the usher, thanking him for his help. She had auburn hair and lively green eyes and was wearing a dress that was a near-perfect match for the blue in the Keystones' uniform.

Rufus was now standing and smiled as she turned and saw him. "Mr. Barrell?" she asked, a note of shyness in her voice.

"That's what they tell me," Rufus said with a laugh. "Please, call me Rufus," he added.

"I'm Lucy," she said and stuck out her hand. Rufus shook her hand then sat down as she took her seat beside him. "These are really fine seats," she said with a note of wonderment.

Rufus chuckled and admitted that he'd called the team's owner. Her eyes widened and she mentioned that she'd been to many games that summer, sometimes using tickets Bobby procured for her. "But they're never this good," she explained, putting specific emphasis on the last two words.

That comment sparked a conversation about Bobby's season. While the Keystones themselves were limping through the Federal Association schedule in seventh place with a 52-74 record ahead of only the dismal Detroit Dynamos, Bobby Barrell was having himself a year. He'd already belted 44 home runs, had put together a 35-game hitting streak that'd ended just the week before and was hitting over .350 - a truly career year. For the first time, Keystone fans were openly saying that Bobby Barrell just might be better than long-time favorite Rankin Kellogg (who was himself having a typically productive year).

"But the pitching..." Lucy said and rolled her eyes. Rufus smiled; he could see why Bobby liked this young lady so much.

"I know what you mean," Rufus said, shaking his head. "Frank Crawford is a good pitcher, but even he's been bad this season," he said.

"Bobby said you know more about baseball than anyone," Lucy told him, that twinkle back in her eye.

Rufus shook his head and said, "Well, that's probably an exaggeration, but the sport of baseball has been my business for... oh, over forty-five years..." he paused, eyes wide. "Holy smokes, I'm getting old," he groaned.

Lucy patted his arm and said, "Oh, I think you look fine, Mr. Barrell."

He laughed, "I definitely see why Bobby likes you, my dear," he said.

As the game began, Rufus found himself explaining some of the nuances of the game to his young companion. "See how Gentry's fingers twitch?" he pointed out. Lucy nodded and he went on to explain that the young Gothams pitcher, just 23 and a rookie, twitched that way when he was going to throw a fastball. "That's a tell, if the hitter's observant enough to pick up on it."

"I bet Bobby does," Lucy said, with a note of pride in her voice.

Rufus grinned. "Yes, he probably will. If he hasn't noticed, you can bet Rankin Kellogg has and those two are thick as thieves," Rufus explained.

Lucy frowned and said, "That I know is true - Bobby's always defending that old grump to me."

Rufus raised his eyebrows and asked, "Old Grump? Rankin Kellogg's a lot of things, but he's not grumpy."

Lucy waved a hand. "He never acknowledges the fans and always has a scowl on his face," she explained.

"He's just serious about the game. For a player like him, this is more than a game." Rufus tapped his chin with a finger as he thought and then added, "It's a vocation, you might say."

Lucy's mouth had thinned into a line. She said, "Well, Bobby at least looks like he's having fun. And he's good to the fans, too."

Rufus agreed and said so, explaining, "Bobby was a fun-loving kid. Between him and Harry..." he shook his head. "They drove their mother crazy. I wasn't home a lot of the time, and those two were a real handful." He chuckled a little and then added, "But they're good men, both of them, and you're right - they love to play the game, and so it stays a game for them. That's a big deal, because for a lot of players, this becomes more work than fun, and that's just a plain shame."

When Bobby came up in the third with two on and one out, tipping his cap at his father and girlfriend as he left the dugout, he promptly smashed a three-run homer to erase what had been a 2-0 lead for New York.

Lucy clapped her hands and told Rufus, "You were right! Bobby did see that pitch coming!"

Rufus inclined his head in acknowledgement and joined her in applauding as Bobby trotted around the bases.

Bobby added a solo homer in the fifth, his 46th on the season, but by that point the Gothams had added five runs to their tally and the homer only served to cut New York's lead to 7-5.

Lucy was telling Rufus that she had twice gone to Sailors games to see Bobby's brothers play with the Kings. "I really like Harry," she said. "He plays hard, and he's a great shortstop too."

"That he is," Rufus said. "Harry's always been the most athletic of my boys, and that's saying something. He doesn't hit for power, but he's what those of us in the scouting game would call a 'toolsy' player."

Rufus had to explain what that meant. Then he asked, "Have you seen Tom pitch?"

"Yes," Lucy said, and reluctantly added, "he's a grumpy Gus too." She paused, making sure Rufus wasn't offended. "Sorry," she added. Rufus burst out laughing and told her that his sons fell into just a few different personality types. Bobby, Harry and the late Jimmy, were fun-loving and competitive, but in a good-natured way. Then there was the more level-headed type, a group into which Dan, Fred and Rollie fell. Then, Rufus said, there were the "Reid types" as he put it. His wife's side of the family, he explained. "Don't ever tell her I said this, or she'll skin me alive," he said with a grin. "But Tom fits that type, as did my son Joe and, to a lesser extent, Jack too." They'd just as soon scrap as play and took every defeat as a personal affront and both motivation and something to be avenged. "So Tom is oftentimes too competitive for his own good," Rufus explained.

"That's why I was so glad that Bobby dropped his pursuit of Annette," Rufus added, as an afterthought.

Lucy was taken aback. "Annette?" she asked.

Rufus, watching Don Attaway throw a 2-1 curve to Bud Jameson, nodded absently and said, "Yes, Annette O'Boyle. She had both Tom and Bobby chasing after her."

"So... that's who he was there to see..." Lucy muttered. "I'll gut her like a fish," she growled.

That got Rufus' attention. He turned to her and quietly said, "I beg your pardon, but did you just say you'd gut her like a fish?"

Lucy's eyes were nearly glowing and her pretty features was twisted in a frightening rictus. "That's right," she snarled. "Bobby is my man," she said, and Rufus saw her hands were clenched into fists.

His eyes widened as he wondered what had come over her. "Bobby never mentioned her?" Rufus asked.

"No, he most certainly did not."

Rufus took a deep breath. "Well, he's not interested in her anymore," he said, then regretted adding that last word. Lucy's green eyes flashed again - causing Rufus to think "Green-eyed monster indeed" and she snarled, "He'd better not be interested in her."

"He's not. And she told my daughter in Berlin that she's giving Tommy a chance," he explained, wisely deciding not to mention that she had also told Betsy that she was more interested in Bob than Tom.

"Just wait til I see her at school..." Lucy said, her voice dripping with menace.

Rufus swallowed. He knew that Lucy was heading back to Chicago the next day to be there for the start of the fall semester at Whitney College. He racked his brain a moment, thinking... was Annette done with school? He vaguely half-remembered Alice telling Francie exactly that in Berlin... and he hoped for her sake that she was done.

The Keystones ended up losing in 10 innings as Wilbur Dennis got torched for five runs and the Keystones managed to plate just one of their own in the home half.

Rufus found himself dreading dinner - he was taking Bobby and Lucy out - at least as much for seeing Bobby's reaction to his father letting that particular cat out of the bag as seeing what Lucy would say about it herself.

"Sometimes I have a big mouth," he muttered as he tromped up the aisle towards the exit, Lucy stomping up the steps just ahead of him, clearly still angry.

.