Bang the Drum Slowly Page #5

All right.

Bye-bye, boys.

I'm going to miss you.

I love you.

I love you.

I'll call you collect

tonight, okay?

- Please.

- I will.

Bye-bye. Bye, Bruce.

Bye.

Oh, boy, I hope

if it happens

it don't happen

at a bad hour.

It might or might not

probably never happen.

I have no faith

in those cockeyed

doctors up there.

Curveball.

Too bad a fellow

can't pitch spit.

Yeah, I'd have lots

of breaking stuff around.

Slider.

You see the dip on that?

Arthur, if you was on one club

and I was on another

what kind of book

would you keep on me?

If I was to keep a book

on you, I'd say to myself

"No need to keep

a book on Pearson

'cause Pearson keeps

no book on me"

'cause if I strike

you out on something

like a change-up in here

you don't come back

to the bench, thinking

"That son of a b*tch Wiggen,

he struck me out in here.

So, I'll be on the

lookout the neXt time."

No, no, you come back

to the bench, thinking

"I think I eat a frank"

or, uh, "Gee, I see

a great pair of jugs

up there in the stands."

So, by the time you come up

against me again

you forgot

all about the time before.

So, I'll just throw you

in the same place again

and get past again, probably.

You got to think, Bruce...

think and remember.

I'm going to start keeping

a book.

Yeah, either in

your head or, um...

better still, on

paper for a while.

You already have

terrific power

but power plus brains

is the difference

between nobody

and somebody.

Yeah, well, I always been

pretty much of a nobody, though.

So, I-I guess what I got to do

is I got to develop brains.

Plus confidence.

Power and brains are

nothing without confidence.

Well, you always

had the confidence.

I never had confidence,

Arthur.

No... but I always looked

like I had it, didn't I?

Days when I'm tired,

my curve is hanging

it's bullshit

gets me through.

You got to crowd

in, look fierce.

Works wonders.

And half the pitchers

you're facing

they're just country

boys like you

or else country boys

from the city.

Country boys from the city?

Yeah, they're no

smarter than you.

Yeah, but I never been smart,

that's the thing.

Everybody's smart.

You've been dumb

on one count only...

you let somebody tell

you you were dumb.

Didn't you buy an Arcturis

insurance policy?

Yeah.

Didn't that prove

to be a smart move?

Well, now, as far as that goes,

I can't argue against that.

Is Dutch smart?

Oh, yeah, he certainly is.

Well, if you were so dumb,

why ain't Dutch cut you loose?

Well, he might yet.

Oh, no.

Piney Woods goes down,

you stay up.

Who says so?

I heard it with

my own ears.

Yeah?

Yeah.

Sh*t.

Now that's the best news

I heard so far.

What's wrong with Bruce?

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