know, from 1908 through 192 ... Oh,
yeah. Sorry about that. I was with the Giants for seven glorious years,
with the Dodgers for five years after that, with Cincinnati for one
year, and then with the Boston Braves for four. And I loved every single
minute of it!

"The best years of all were those with the Giants. I don't mean because
those were my best pitching years, although they were. In 1911 I won
twenty-four games and lost only seven. And in 1912 I won twenty-six.
That's the year I won nineteen straight! I didn't lose a single game in
1912 until July eighth!

"Actually, at the risk of sounding boastful again, I won twenty
straight, not nineteen. But because of the way they scored then, I
didn't get credit for one of them. I relieved Jeff Tesreau in the eighth
inning of a game one day, with the Giants behind, three to two. In the
ninth inning, Heinie Groh singled and Art Wilson homered, and we won,
four to three. But they gave Tesreau credit for the victory instead of
me. Except for that it would have been twenty straight wins, not
nineteen."

"It's still a pretty magnificent record," harumphed Elephant "I don't
see any reason for all the sour grapes."

"Oh, no," said Rube's shadow. "No sour grapes. It was the grandest year
of my life. Of course, I had other great years with the Giants, too. In
1914--er, sorry. I've just told this story this way for so long, it is
hard to change it now--I beat Babe Adams and the Pirates in a
twenty-one inning game, three to one. Both of us went the entire
distance that day, all twenty-one innings. And the following year, I
pitched a no-hitter against Brooklyn and beat Nap Rucker, two to
nothing."

"No wonder you remember your years with the Giants best," said Hootsey
understandingly.

"Oh, no," said Rube. "But that's not the reason. The real reason is ...
Well, maybe it's because that was my first club. I don't know. Whatever
the reason, though, it was wonderful to be a Giant back then.

"Take Mr. McGraw, for example. What a great man he was! The finest and
grandest man I ever met! He loved his players and his players loved him.
Of course, he wouldn't stand for any nonsense. You had to live up to the
rules and regulations of the New York Giants, and when he laid down the
law you'd better abide by it!

"I'll never forget one day we were playing Pittsburgh, and it was Red
Murray's turn to bat, with the score tied in the ninth inning. There was
a man on second with none out