Mordecai Brown by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview
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Mordecai Brown
Page 144
stubborn ritual of his. Now he walked in slowly, coat collar up, nodding to the few fans who still recognized him.
The Cubs were already stretching in the outfield; young men, most of them, or at least younger than he felt. They joked loudly, the way players do when they’re trying to pretend a season isn’t lost. Brown didn’t begrudge them that. He simply didn’t have the energy to join in.
He sat on the bench and unlaced his shoes, rubbing the ankle that had been barking at him since April. The trainer passed by, offered a half-hearted “How’s the arm today, Brownie?” Brown answered with a shrug. Everyone knew the truth anyway.
Manager Joe Tinker, a familiar face at shortstop, had been granted the chore of doing double duty. He had also returned to the Cubs in 1916 after sojourns to Cincinnati and the Federal League in player-manager roles. Notably, with Mordecai Brown’s help, he led the Chicago Whales to the 1915 Federal League championship, the league’s last season. He essentially had the impossible job of stopping the Cub’s slide into the second division and increasingly losing records. With the resoluteness of one who knows his job is over, yet still diligently does what is necessary, he ambled over with the lineup card. “Might need