|
With the last throw, Hildebrand was a bit slow to react and Corridon’s toss hit him in the shins.
“Why I ought to quit right now!” he grumbled. “Hey Frank, what pitch was that?”
Corridon acted as if it was nothing special, but he whetted his fingers as George returned him the ball with a little more zip than before. “It’s the old drop ball, George. Surely you’ve seen it over in that outlaw league of yours,” the pitcher quipped.
Hildebrand got off his haunches and ran over to the day’s starting pitcher. “You’re going up against the top National League pitcher Noodles Hahn today and you’re goofin’ off with that sorry ol’ pitch? Lemme show you something.”
George took the ball from Frank, looked skyward then around himself like a kid in a candy store, and slobbered all over the ball.“Now throw it and see what happens.”
…
Well, Corridon didn’t fare too well against the Reds and Hahn that day, suffering 3 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings of work, but he showed enough to get another start in Montreal against the parent club Brooklyn. Hildebrand, meanwhile struck out twice in three at-bats. Frank feared this would be his last stop before being sent to Toronto, but he fared a little better, pitching a scoreless 3 innings before being hit for 3 runs in his final frame, suffering a two-run single to veteran Bill Hallman. The Phillies liked what they saw and kept him around for another start on April 10 against the hapless former champs, the St. Louis Cardinals. Corridon worked his new-found pitch, Hildebrand’s spit ball, to the tune of 2 hits in 4 scoreless innings, inducing 2 groundball double-plays and one strikeout. His teammates quickly dubbed him “The Fiddler” and even though Corridon was sent to Toronto to begin the season there, he could already see greener (and wetter) pastures ahead. Hildebrand on the other hand, was released by Philadelphia and packed his bags for California once again.
|