It Happens Every Spring Page #8

I wish it were.

Alright, kid. Alright, your hop ain't workin'.

You and I know it, but them batter's don't.

You gotta use psychology.

It's gonna take more than psychology.

No it ain't, kid.

You gotta keep bluffin' all the time.

See, you gotta go out there lookin' as cocky-

Atta boy, Louie.

You know, if I was intelligent,

I'd go to Jimmy and ask him to relieve me.

But I'm not gonna do it.

I hope he lets me stay.

-because I wanna go out there and see if I can-

-Atta boy, Kelly. Now you're talkin'.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

And Tony gets a beautiful double.

St. Louis is still in this old ballgame.

The tying run is on second.

We might not win, but I'm gonna go down trying.

And even if we do lose-

Will you quit talkin' about losin'.

We got two men on.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

[Crack, crowd cheers]

It's another two-bagger.

Richards scores and Bevins is coming in, too.

And St. Louis is ahead again.

Eight to seven.

Hey, what's eatin' you, Kelly?

I'm just rubbing your head for luck, Monk.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

And Davis is out at first.

That's two down for St. Louis.

And Stevens is up.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

Come on. Let's go.

Atta boy.

Kelly, I'm leavin' you in.

It's your game to win or lose.

All you gotta do is hope.

Good luck, kid.

-Jimmy-

-Yes, sir?

-You're leaving him in?

-Yeah.

Gonna gamble.

Jimmy's gonna leave him in.

He's gambling everything on King Kelly.

It's the first of the ninth,

and Kelly is facing the top

of the New York batting order.

You mean to say St. Louis is ahead again?

Yes, Mother.

Eight to seven.

Now if Vernon can only hold 'em.

[Whoop]

Strike one!

[Crowd cheers]

[Crack]

That's one man out.

If Kelly can get two more men,

the game is over.

But that's an awful big if right now.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

What a game, ladies and gentlemen.

What a game.

New York's got the tying run on first,

and Aaron is up.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

It's a beautiful catch.

What a game, ladies and gentlemen.

Kelly's is saved again, but he's

grimly hanging on to that one run lead.

There's two out now.

Man on second.

And blockbuster Marx comes to bat.

He's gotten three hits off Kelly this afternoon.

And this is your game right here, folks.

[Crack, crowd cheers]

He did it!

He caught it!

[Crowd cheers]

The series is over,

and Kelly's won his own game.

[Raucous yelling]

Boys, we're the World Champions!

Kelly, when you walked into my office that day

I called you a crackpot.

All's I can say is,

I wish I had a dozen crackpots like you.

Well, thank you, Jimmy. Thank you.

Hey, that hand looks bad.

How's it feel?

Well it's rather painful.

I thought so. Come on.

We'd better get that X-rayed.

If he says there's anything wrong

with Kelly's pitchin' hand,

I'm gonna crown 'im.

How is it, Doc?

I'm afraid it's serious.

Serious? It can't be.

Can't you do something?

Listen, Doc.

This kid's the greatest pitcher in baseball.

Just as I feared.

There's not only a fracture of the

first phalanx of the second finger,

but a linear fracture of the metacarpal bone,

extending into the joint.

What's all this mean, Doc?

Can't you say it in English?

It means he's through.

For good, huh?

Yes.

How's it feel, kid?

Oh, it's not too bad.

What about the X-rays?

Well, the Doc-

he made up with a lot of mumbo jumbo.

You know how those guys are.

What did he say?

Listen, Kelly. I wanna tell you something.

I've been playin' ball since Hector was a pup,

and what's it got me?

I mean, it don't matter how long you're up there,

it's what you do.

Oh, you've done alright, Monk.

I'm talking about you, Kelly.

You had a season, kid.

A season like nobody ever had before.

Well, I guess I was lucky, but-

Lucky?

You're the greatest pitcher in baseball, Kelly,

and don't let nobody ever tell you different.

I seen 'em all, and I know.

You could pitch for twenty years and never do no better.

You done it all, kid.

You know, you got nothin' to look forward to.

What's this all about?

So what's it matter if you pitch

for one year or for twenty?

None of us is indestructible.

We all gotta quit sometime.

What did the doctor say, Monk?

Well, that's what I'm tryin' to tell ya.

He says you're all washed up, kid.

He said you ain't gonna pitch no more.

He did?

Well, I never dreamt my career

would end this way.

You and me both, kid.

And I ain't never gonna forget it.

I'm gonna spend the rest of my life goin' around

braggin' that King Kelly was my roommate.

I'm gonna throw it in the pound.

Well, I guess this is goodbye, eh kid?

Oh, just for the time being, Monk.

I hope so.

I mean, we'll be hearin' from ya, Kelly,

what do you say?

Oh sure, of course.

What do you figure you're gonna do, kid?

Well, I dont' know. I-

I'd like to get my old job back,

but I don't think there's much chance of that.

There ain't, huh?

Not after the way I left

and what I've been doing since.

I suppose the best thing that I should do is

go back and make a clean breast of the whole thing.

And when I do-

Jumpin' Jupiter,

you ain't murdered nobody or nothin'.

All you done was play ball.

I know.

I only did it to get enough money to marry my girl.

But even so, I haven't much hope.

But they oughtta know that.

I don't get it.

It don't make no sense to me.

A lot of things don't make sense, Monk.

I was a chemistry teacher.

I can tell you that now.

And the sum of money I received

for teaching science

to the youth of this state for an entire year

was a little less than I got in a single afternoon

for tossing a five-ounce sphere past

a young man holding a wooden stick.

But that ain't right, Kelly.

If it weren't for the professors teachin' the kids,

everybody'd turn out to be dumb clucks.

-All aboard!

Like me.

You did alright.

I hope you keep on.

Thanks, kid.

Well, I guess I'd better be moving.

Yeah, guess you better.

How's the hand, kid?

Oh, it's fine, just fine. I-

You know, I never had very many friends, Monk, and

you've been a real one.

You've done a lot for me, and I

and I just wanted to say that-

I just don't know how to say what I want to say.

Neither do I.

Leave us not try.

Right, uh-

I'll get in touch with you

as soon as I get things straightened out.

Yeah, do that, Kelly.

I'm gonna miss you, kid.

I hate to see you goin'.

Me too.

Well, go on.

Get in the train, Kelly.

Well, so long.

Say hello to Mabel.

Yeah.

[Train whistle blows]

Mister-

This is your stop.

-What?

-This is where you get off. We're coming in now.

Oh, oh thank you.

Come on!

[Cheering and band music playing]

Darling!

Vern, oh, you're wonderful!

I'm so proud of you.

You mean you know?

Everybody knows?

Oh, of course!

And we've all been rooting for you like mad.

Vernon that catch was, oh-

Oh, your hand.

Does it hurt very much?

Oh, no, Debbie, no.

Oh, it's terrible.

Monk said you'd never pitch again.

-Monk?

-Yes, he called.

Oh, we're pals, Vernon.

He even got us tickets for the game.

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