My Australian Adventure by Rob Bauer

Author:Rob Bauer [Bauer, Rob]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: 1800's, Action & Adventure, African-American, Australia, Baseball, Boys, Historical, Homelessness, Orphans, Performing Arts, Prejudice & Racism, Sports, Travel, Young Adult
ISBN: 9781948478007
Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
Published: 2017-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

November 20, 1888

Pacific Ocean

Because of the size of our ship, a person on deck can do several things besides just look out at the waves toward the endless horizon, fascinating as I find that to be when I get a break from sweeping. The afternoon after I practice more wrestling with Mr. Miller, I walk toward the stern of the ship, where I see some of the players putting up a large canvas tent. Ward is there, so I decide to ask him what’s happening.

“You see that man over there, Clarence?”

“Yes. I don’t think I’ve met him before.”

“That is George Wright. Even though he’s too old to play ball now, he’s one of the best ballplayers to ever live. I only played against him a little bit when I was a young player just starting out, but Anson or Spalding will swear to you he’s the greatest shortstop to ever play baseball.”

“Aren’t you a shortstop, too?”

“I am,” Ward says with a smile.

“Why are you putting up a tent?”

“George Wright is going to show us how to play cricket. But we can’t just practice on the deck, because if the batter hits the ball, the ball will fly over the edge of the ship and we’ll lose it. So, we brought a tent, so we could learn to play on our way to Australia. Wright holds practice each day, and anyone who wants to learn goes into the tent for a while to practice striking the ball.”

“Can I go in the tent and watch?”

“Have you finished sweeping?”

“Mostly.”

“I suppose so, then.”

I ask one more question while I set down my broom. “I thought we were going to Australia to show the people there how to play baseball, so they’ll play that instead of cricket. How come you and the other boys are practicing cricket when you are going there to play baseball?”

“Although giving the Australians an exhibition of the grand American game is our first task, Clarence, we must be ready to reciprocate and play the Australian National Game to show our appreciation for our hosts.”

“I see. That makes sense to me. Is cricket hard?”

“It is different, certainly. The ball comes toward you much differently than in baseball. It takes some adjustment to gauge its speed and location, and then strike it.”

“Can you beat the Australians?”

“We shall see, my boy, we shall see. I believe that, with a bit more practice, we stand a fair chance.”

I consider asking Ward something more about his brotherhood but decide that now is not the time because lots of other people are around, including Spalding. If Spalding ever finds out that I overheard his conference with Anson and Harry Palmer back in San Francisco, he might use that part of my contract allowing him to keelhaul me or throw me overboard against me. So, I wait and don’t say anything more to Ward yet.

While I think about this, Ward points toward the rear of the boat. “See those large birds, Clarence? The ones with the dark backs and yellow bills?”

“Yes, sir.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.