Here's a Story That Is Not Easily Forgotten
SILENT SMITH was dead to begin with. Of that there could be no doubt. The story of his tragic end was featured in the first column of every sporting sheet, in the country and was officially verified, in due course, by the physician, the coroner and the clergyman.
Furthermore, the tragedy itself was visioned by some twenty thousand eyes. They all saw the blinding speed of the ball as it left the pitcher's hand. They saw the melancholy indifference of Silent as he stood at the plate. They saw the ball crash into his right temple and they saw him fall. Some said that he wanted to die, but that is beside the question. Of one thing we are sure. Silent Smith was dead.
I, myself, saw his corpse two days later. It was laid out in sombre black. His coffin was black, his suit was black and black was his bat-winged tie. Black was his favorite color. It harmonized perfectly with the gloom of his disposition and to it he clung, consistent in death as in active life.
The time of his death is likewise certain. It occurred at precisely twenty-two minutes after three, Eastern Standard time. That fact I have verified. It is important. Had it occurred five hours later, there would be nothing unusual to tell about. Silent Smith would have been duly buried, mourned and finally forgotten except for the brilliant record which will always stand as a monument to his pitching skill. As it was, he died at the time stated and his corpse was in the hands of the coroner exactly one hour later.
That same hour found him staging the most remarkable comeback in the history of the national game and this at a point three thousand miles away!
I make that statement with a full knowledge of the actual facts. As a member of Johnny Morkan's Bears that year, I saw the weird occurrence with my own eyes. It happened out on the coast in the presence of some eight thousand fans.
Those in the assembled throng who know Silent and his mannerisms could only stare and wonder. At the time they had no knowledge of his death. I had. So had the rest of the players on the Bears' bench. A telegram from the East had borne the tragic news. That message shed a ghostly light on the astounding phenomenon and lent to the affair a vague tinge of plausibility, however amazing.
66
