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This is RetroSports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.

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Your family theater presents Eddie Bracken, Kathy O'Donnell and Branch Rickey.

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From Hollywood, the mutual network brings you the Scow, starring Eddie Bracken with Kathy O'Donnell.

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To introduce the drama, your host, Branch Rickey.

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Thank you, Gene. We on Family Theater welcome our stars Eddie Bracken and Kathy O'Donnell to our stage.

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In a story that is close to my heart because I've been around the game of baseball for a pretty long time.

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Long enough to have a deep-seated respect for the sport and for the men who participate in it.

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Men like Lou Gehrig, Monty Stratton, George Sissler, Honest Wagner and the Mighty Babe,

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who've given to it so many fine traditions of honesty and integrity and courage.

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Men such as Skip Welch, whose story you will hear tonight.

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No, no, you won't find Skip's name in any World Series lineup.

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And it doesn't appear in any of the Major League record books.

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Yet in my humble opinion Skip was as great a big league ball player as they come.

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The reason why? Well, suppose I just begin the story for him and let him carry on from there.

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It was some years ago in a small Midwestern town of Rosson that a group of intent, wide-eyed boys

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from the local orphan asylum was gathered at the town's ball field.

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A grinning, cocky young fella in the uniform of Rosson's minor league ball club was talking to them.

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And believe me, they weren't missing a single word he was saying.

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All right, fellas, the hit and run is on. Are you tearing down towards second base?

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Chuck, let's see how you slide into that bag. Come on.

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Okay, Skip, here I come.

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Oh, is that Skip?

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You slid in hard, all right, Chuck. What's the idea coming up with your feet waving in the air like that?

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Oh, my gosh, I figure if I got spikes on my shoes and I chop at the second baseman that way,

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maybe he'll get scared and won't be able to make a double play.

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Yeah, and maybe he'll spike the guy, maybe cut a tendon in his leg and finish him as a ball player.

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Gee, I never thought of it that way. You've got to think of it that way.

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When you slide into base, just slide hard, sure, but clean.

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That's the way a real ball play always plays, hard but clean.

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Remember that if you want to be a big leaguer someday.

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Boy, a big leaguer. Wouldn't that be something?

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Skip's going to be a big leaguer someday. Ain't you Skip?

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Well, where'd you get that cock-eyed idea, Chuck?

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Why, Skip, you're the best pitcher Rosson ever had. Everybody knows that.

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Well, that's a fine vote of confidence, Chuck, but there's a well-of-a-lot of difference between winning games

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for a bush-league team and playing in the majors.

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Let's get back to coaching. Now, let's say the hit-and-run worked okay, see?

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Uh-oh, there's the station wagon for you.

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Well, that's all for today. On the double, the last one there is a bush-league.

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And don't forget what I told you about sliding into second.

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You bet you, Skip. Slide in hard.

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Yeah, but clean, Ed. Don't forget that. You've got to play clean. Skip says so.

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That's right, Chuck. You're a good leaguer.

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Oh, what a bunch of swell kids. Swell kids.

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Kind of like them, do you, Skip?

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Oh, Mary. Hey, when did you sneak in, sweetheart?

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A few minutes ago. But I'd better check up and see if those boys have taken you away from me yet.

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Are you kidding? There's nothing we'll ever take first place ahead of you, honey.

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And don't you ever forget it.

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You better say that if you know what's good for you.

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But seriously, Skip, those boys really worship you.

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You're a hero to them, Chuck, particularly.

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That's crazy. So I'm coaching them at baseball, so what?

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No, you're a goodie more than a baseball coach.

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They know you came from the same orphanage once, too.

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So they think of you as a pal, a big brother.

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And from what I've seen, they have a real right to.

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Hey, for Pete's sake, how did we get caught off base like this?

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You know it's getting late. And my inner man says it's time to eat.

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Are you asking me to share a snack with you?

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I'm asking.

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Then I'm sharing.

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Well, let's get moving, sweetheart.

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I've got plenty of vitals, because tomorrow's game's going to be a big day, you know.

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Oh, what's so special about it, Skip?

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Well, I'm pitching them our honey, and there's going to be some big league scouts around.

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And if they tell me what I figure they're going to tell me, well...

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Skip, you don't mean...

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Look, all I'm saying is that if they do, you and me, well, we have some important talking to do.

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You betcha, Miss Collins, plenty important.

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Well, it was a big day, all right, in more ways than one.

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And when it was all over, Mary and I had our little talk on the front porch of the Collins' home.

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Only it wasn't exactly the way I figured it would be.

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You pitched a wonderful game today, Skip.

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What's so wonderful about it?

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Of course I won. Didn't see any scouts come up to me afterwards, did ya?

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Nobody offered me any dotted line to sign, did they?

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Oh, don't be so disappointed, Skip, honey.

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Being a big league baseball player isn't everything.

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Isn't it? Well, it's kind of late to tell me that.

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It's all I've eaten and breathed and dreamed about all my life, that's all.

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I know, Skip, but just remember this.

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You don't need to be a big league ball player to make you important to those boys at the asylum.

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Or to me.

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Yeah, that sounded fine.

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Sounded swell, only I wasn't kidding myself.

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Kids don't pick failures as their heroes.

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And I wasn't asking Mary to tie herself up to life to a Bush leaguer who never earned more than a two-bit salary.

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I was feeling pretty low, and when I walked home that night,

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maybe that's why I didn't hear him come up to me when he spoke.

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Still interested in that big league contract, Skip?

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Huh? Where did you come from?

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Oh, I've been following you for some time, Skip.

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Watching your progress, keeping an eye on you.

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What are you talking about? Who are you, anyway?

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Why, I guess you'd call me a scout.

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A scout? Hey, you don't mean from one of the big leagues?

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Well, there are only two big leagues. I represent one of them.

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Then that crack you made about, was I still interested in a contract? That was on the level? You're serious?

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I'm quite serious, Skip. If you sign with me, I'll guarantee that you'll be pitching major league ball within a year.

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You interested?

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Brother, you just signed yourself a boy.

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Well, maybe you'd better hear my terms first. There'd be a personal contract just between the two of us.

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Well, I haven't heard anything so tough so far. What else?

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You'd have to let me coach you, play the game my way, right down the line.

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Well, as long as it's baseball, I'll play it next.

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And you'd have to understand that when you're playing for me, winning is all that matters.

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They don't give contracts to losing pitchers. Is that clearly agreed?

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Oh, sure. You haven't thrown me a curve yet.

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It's fine, Skip. Now, that's all for now. Good night.

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Good night. Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute. I haven't signed that contract yet.

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Haven't you? Well, don't worry about it. You'll find that our little verbal agreement is binding enough. Good night, Skip.

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Well, that was the way I met him. Kind of a screwy guy, sounded like to me.

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But if he could get me into the big leagues, he could have more screws loose than the Model A Ford and I'd still love him.

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I was feeling like a million bucks when I hustled out to the ballpark the next morning to give Chuck and the boys their regular quotient session.

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I was early, they hadn't gotten there yet. But someone else had.

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Good morning, Skip.

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Hey, the scout. What you doing out here this hour?

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A good manager always checks up on his property, Skip.

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Huh? Oh, I get it. Well, I coach some kids out here, Scout. Some of them are pretty good, too.

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Might make some pretty good material for you in a couple of years.

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Yes, I have high hopes for that, Skip. But you're all through coaching here.

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I'm all through coaching? What do you mean, Scout?

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You're a valuable piece of property, Skip. Twisted ankle, a broken finger, sore arm. Your value is gone.

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Now I don't take chances like that with my property.

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From now on, you don't touch a baseball unless you're paid for it. I think you understand.

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No, I didn't understand. Matter of fact, I was pretty burned up about that property gag.

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And I wasn't figuring on stopping coaching with Chuck and the boys for nobody.

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So I started telling him off. Then it happened. The thing that kept happening to me after that.

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He was smiling at me like he'd done the night before on my way home. I seemed to hear him say something.

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There'll be a personal contract between the two of us, Skip. I think you'll find our little verbal agreement is binding enough.

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All of a sudden, everything he said made sense.

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I'd be a sucker taking any chances on an accident. I was heading for the big leagues. Why, he guaranteed it.

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What a joker I'd be throwing away a prize like that trying to teach kids, well, a bunch of goofy kids how to play ball.

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I saw Mary again that night and was all set to spring the big news on her. Only she opened up on me first.

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Skip, why did you stop coaching the boys?

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Well, how did you...

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Oh, Chuck must have phoned you, huh?

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Yes. He said some scout was there who talked you out of it because you were valuable property.

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Well, yeah, yeah, that's right, Mary. You see, I...

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Since when have you become too valuable to spend a little time with some orphans who idolize you?

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Well...

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You know, I'm not that kind of coaching. You can give them.

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Oh, look, Mary, you don't get it. The scout guaranteed me a major league contract inside of a year, but I've got to work for it, concentrate on it.

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I can't take any chances of anything going wrong, can't you see? I can't let anything get in my way now, can I? I can't.

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Is that something this scout said to?

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Well, what if it is? What about guys like Feller and Greenberg, Hubbell and Marion?

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Do you think those guys could have made it if they didn't have ambition and drive without doing it the hard way?

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No, Skip. I'm sure they did it the hard way. But I'll bet they did it the clean way, too.

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What's that supposed to mean?

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They...they had control of themselves and their ambitions.

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Oh, Skip, I'm afraid your ambition has control of you.

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So now you think I'm a screw loose dope with one foot on a cloud and the other in a bucket?

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No, Skip, no. It's just that I...I'm afraid, Skip.

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Please don't listen to that scout anymore. Please forget about making the big league that way.

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Please, Skip, for our sakes, please.

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I couldn't figure it. Just didn't make sense.

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I thought she'd get as excited over the good news as I was.

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She called my home run a foul ball. I couldn't figure it.

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I tried to forget Mary and concentrate on baseball.

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The scout was working with me all the time, advising me, coaching me.

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And everything he told me, just like when I brushed off Chuck and the boys, everything made sense.

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I started learning fast.

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I knew it was that game with the red shirts.

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A couple of errors behind me put me in a tough spot.

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The men on base and the league's leading hitter waiting at the plate.

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The manager came out to the mound from the dugout to talk to me.

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What do you think, Skip? He's a tough baby.

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Yeah, he'll get what, uh, well, what he don't like. I can pitch to him.

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Maybe. What are you figuring? Something low and inside?

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Yeah, yeah, low and inside. Get back there. I'll pitch to him.

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He'll get what the scout told me to give him.

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If a batter crowds the plate on you, throw a hard, fast one at his head.

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That'll drive him back, Skip. That'll loosen him up.

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So I pitched to him. I gave him one on the inside all right, right at his head.

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Hey, he beaned him. Got him right in the head.

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That boy's finished for this game. Yeah, if he ain't finished for good.

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Okay, we won the game and others too.

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Like the one with the golden bees.

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It was the last half of the night. Score tied.

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One out. We had a guy on third and I wangled a base on balls and was sitting on first.

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Almost anything meant the winning run now.

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Not anything but a double play. A double play would kill us.

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The pitcher told the rubber, loved the ball, looked at me over his shoulder

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and then he threw to the plate and I started tearing toward second.

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The hit and run was on and the batter took a swing.

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I saw the play out of the corner of my eye. I deep grounded a short.

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The shortstop threw it to second. One out.

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And the second baseman started his pivot to the throw to first.

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And if he made it, it was a double play and then I heard the scout.

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Break up that double play, Skip. If you have to give him the spikes, break it up, Skip. The spikes.

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I went into second sliding hard with my razor edge spikes cutting across the baseman's legs.

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Oh!

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We won that game too. It's just like the scout said.

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You have to play to win, Skip. The big leagues are waiting.

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Play to win, Skip. That's all it counts.

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Play to win, Skip. Play to win. Play to win.

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And I was winning too. 13 out of my next 15 starts.

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Winding up the season with 27 wins and only four losses.

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How good can a pitcher be?

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So maybe I beamed a few guys who wouldn't back away.

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Maybe a couple of second baseman needed a few leg stitches for spike wounds.

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Maybe the fans were starting to boom me and the other guys on the club were giving me the cold shoulder.

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So what? Like the scout said.

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What do you care, Skip? You're not gonna be here forever.

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You're gonna win those ball games and you'll move on. That's all it counts. Winning those ball games.

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I hadn't seen Mary all that time. I talked myself into thinking that it made no difference.

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It didn't bother me. Then it was the day before the last game of the season.

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The game we needed to cinch the pen.

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I was gonna pitch that game and I was in my hotel room studying the batting order,

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figuring my strategy when there was a knock on the door. I opened it.

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Hello, Skip. Mary. Hiya, Skip.

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And Chuck. And Mary. Come in. Come in.

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I'll sit down. Sit down. Thanks.

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She'll look nice, Mary. Thank you, Skip.

216
00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:37,000
You too, Chuck. Bet you've grown a foot since I last saw you. I'm playing any ball?

217
00:16:37,000 --> 00:16:42,000
You bet I have. Our team won the school league pen and Skip. How's the picture? We skunked everybody.

218
00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:43,000
Oh, boy, that's well.

219
00:16:43,000 --> 00:16:46,000
Yeah, it was the coach and you'd given us before you...

220
00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:48,000
Well...

221
00:16:48,000 --> 00:16:51,000
Why didn't you tell him about the rally, Chuck?

222
00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:53,000
Rally? What rally's that?

223
00:16:53,000 --> 00:16:56,000
Well, jeez, Skip, Miss Counts was gonna give us a picnic up in the mountains today.

224
00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,000
You know, I saw a reward like for winning the league race.

225
00:16:59,000 --> 00:17:05,000
Well, that sounds great. Sure, you bet. Only, we thought Scott was talking about it.

226
00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,000
Well, usually the guy who fixed it, that's who he could win.

227
00:17:09,000 --> 00:17:10,000
And...

228
00:17:10,000 --> 00:17:12,000
Oh, gosh, Miss Counts, you tell him.

229
00:17:12,000 --> 00:17:14,000
Of course, Chuck.

230
00:17:14,000 --> 00:17:20,000
What the boys want to do, Skip, is to make that picnic a good luck rally for you.

231
00:17:20,000 --> 00:17:23,000
They want to call it the Skip Welch Big League Rally,

232
00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:26,000
and they'd like to have you there as guest of honor.

233
00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:30,000
You mean that, uh...

234
00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:34,000
Well, after all, I...

235
00:17:34,000 --> 00:17:36,000
They still think enough of me to win one...

236
00:17:36,000 --> 00:17:39,000
What do you say, Skip? You'll come with us, won't you?

237
00:17:39,000 --> 00:17:42,000
Gee, those all want to see you real bad.

238
00:17:42,000 --> 00:17:44,000
Well, Skip?

239
00:17:44,000 --> 00:17:47,000
Sure. Sure, you bet I'll come.

240
00:17:47,000 --> 00:17:58,000
You just bet I will.

241
00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,000
The picnic rounds were back up in the mountains.

242
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,000
It was quiet there and peaceful with nobody around.

243
00:18:04,000 --> 00:18:06,000
After fellas and I sort of got acquainted again,

244
00:18:06,000 --> 00:18:08,000
they went off exploring trails,

245
00:18:08,000 --> 00:18:10,000
and Mary and I were alone.

246
00:18:10,000 --> 00:18:16,000
It was the first time in a long time, and, well, I felt kind of funny.

247
00:18:16,000 --> 00:18:18,000
I hope you didn't mind too much coming out here today.

248
00:18:18,000 --> 00:18:20,000
Oh, no, no, I...

249
00:18:20,000 --> 00:18:23,000
It was, uh, it was okay with me, Mary.

250
00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:26,000
They tell me that big leagues will all be big in bidding for your services

251
00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,000
after tomorrow's game, Skip.

252
00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:30,000
So you've accomplished what you set out to do.

253
00:18:30,000 --> 00:18:32,000
It's not every man who can say that.

254
00:18:32,000 --> 00:18:34,000
Yeah, I guess that's right.

255
00:18:34,000 --> 00:18:37,000
Prove something to you, too, hasn't it?

256
00:18:37,000 --> 00:18:39,000
I think it has, Skip.

257
00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,000
It's proved you've won your goal and lost yourself.

258
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,000
Proved that I...

259
00:18:45,000 --> 00:18:47,000
So we'll run that merry-go-round again.

260
00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:49,000
I don't think we've ever been off at Skip.

261
00:18:49,000 --> 00:18:51,000
Well, I'm getting off at it right now.

262
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:55,000
Here I figured that after I show you I could get where I was heading my way,

263
00:18:55,000 --> 00:18:57,000
you'd listen to reason.

264
00:18:57,000 --> 00:19:01,000
Well, I was gonna rush out to your house tomorrow after things were settled

265
00:19:01,000 --> 00:19:03,000
and ask you to marry me.

266
00:19:03,000 --> 00:19:05,000
I'll be very happy to marry you.

267
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,000
Well, you... you... you...

268
00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:10,000
You'd be very happy to...

269
00:19:10,000 --> 00:19:12,000
I should have said that long ago, I guess.

270
00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,000
It's really been my fault what happened to us.

271
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,000
I don't... I don't get it. I... I...

272
00:19:17,000 --> 00:19:20,000
Well, I... I let you battle this thing by yourself, Skip,

273
00:19:20,000 --> 00:19:22,000
instead of helping.

274
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,000
When I read in the papers about... about the way you were playing,

275
00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,000
well, I should have gone to you right then.

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00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:30,000
But maybe it's too late now.

277
00:19:30,000 --> 00:19:32,000
Maybe you don't really want me now.

278
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,000
Merry, merry, honey. Won't you? Gosh, I...

279
00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:36,000
I... I...

280
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:38,000
Sweetheart, you just wait and see.

281
00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:40,000
Everything's gonna be fine.

282
00:19:40,000 --> 00:19:43,000
Help, Skip! Help! Where are you? Where are you?

283
00:19:43,000 --> 00:19:45,000
Skip, that's Ed. Something's wrong.

284
00:19:45,000 --> 00:19:47,000
Here, Ed! Over here. What's the trouble?

285
00:19:47,000 --> 00:19:50,000
Skip! Skip! It's Chuck. Help, Skip!

286
00:19:50,000 --> 00:19:51,000
It's Chuck.

287
00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:53,000
What about him, Ed? What happened?

288
00:19:53,000 --> 00:19:55,000
He fell over the side of the canyon.

289
00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,000
He's lying way down there. Skip, I... I'm scared he's dead.

290
00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:06,000
I tore over to where Ed told me.

291
00:20:06,000 --> 00:20:09,000
Down below, maybe 60, 50 feet was a tiny ledge.

292
00:20:09,000 --> 00:20:12,000
Beyond it, nothing but thin air for another couple of hundred.

293
00:20:12,000 --> 00:20:15,000
Chuck was barely lying on that ledge. He wasn't moving.

294
00:20:18,000 --> 00:20:19,000
Skip, what can we do?

295
00:20:19,000 --> 00:20:21,000
I'm going down there after him. Ed, look!

296
00:20:21,000 --> 00:20:23,000
There's a forest ranger station a couple of miles up the trail.

297
00:20:23,000 --> 00:20:26,000
Get there fast and tell him for Pete's sake to get back with help before it's too late.

298
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:28,000
You better get... get...

299
00:20:33,000 --> 00:20:36,000
It was pretty tough going. Nothing but loose rock.

300
00:20:36,000 --> 00:20:39,000
I kept sliding out from under my feet, but I finally got there.

301
00:20:39,000 --> 00:20:41,000
Just above Chuck.

302
00:20:41,000 --> 00:20:44,000
I braced myself, wrapped one arm around an ironwood tree,

303
00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:48,000
reached down and managed to hook the fingers of my freehand on the Chuck's belt.

304
00:20:48,000 --> 00:20:51,000
And then the whole ledge gave way under it.

305
00:21:01,000 --> 00:21:04,000
I don't know how long I was hanging there.

306
00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,000
One arm wrapped around that tree, the other holding on the Chuck's belt,

307
00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,000
but a solid weight was straining at my arm, pulling at it,

308
00:21:12,000 --> 00:21:16,000
tearing at it as though it were going to be yanked right out of my shoulders.

309
00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:21,000
Then after a while, I was like in a daze, a dream.

310
00:21:21,000 --> 00:21:25,000
Voices were coming out of that dream. Voices.

311
00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:28,000
What do you think you're doing, Skip? Playing hero?

312
00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,000
Let go of him while you still got a chance to climb back yourself.

313
00:21:31,000 --> 00:21:34,000
Don't skip. Hang on. Help's coming. It's gone to get help.

314
00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:42,000
Don't be a sucker, Skip. The boy's dead. You're just ruining your arm that way. Let go.

315
00:21:42,000 --> 00:21:47,000
No, darling. No. Remember what we said about the boys depending on you. You can't let him down, Skip.

316
00:21:50,000 --> 00:21:53,000
Don't be a fool. Do you know what it means if you ruin your arm?

317
00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:58,000
No big leagues, no money, no job and baseball for the rest of your life.

318
00:21:58,000 --> 00:22:00,000
And what good are you doing, hanging onto a dead boy?

319
00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:03,000
You can't be sure he's dead, Skip. You can't be sure.

320
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,000
Of course you're sure. Drop him, Skip. Drop him.

321
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:06,000
No, Skip. No.

322
00:22:06,000 --> 00:22:07,000
Drop him.

323
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:08,000
Hang on, darling.

324
00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:09,000
Drop him.

325
00:22:09,000 --> 00:22:10,000
Hang on.

326
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:11,000
Drop him. Drop him. Drop him.

327
00:22:24,000 --> 00:22:25,000
Come in.

328
00:22:28,000 --> 00:22:29,000
Good morning, doctor.

329
00:22:29,000 --> 00:22:33,000
Well, Mary, what are you doing here at the hospital so early?

330
00:22:33,000 --> 00:22:37,000
I guess I couldn't sleep last night, doctor. Tell me how is he?

331
00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,000
Chuck. Well, that fall was a pretty bad one, Mary.

332
00:22:41,000 --> 00:22:45,000
There was severe shock, several fractures, internal injuries.

333
00:22:45,000 --> 00:22:46,000
Then that means...

334
00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:52,000
But kids are strangely hardy animals, Mary. Chuck's going to be all right.

335
00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:56,000
And Skip, doctor. What about him?

336
00:22:56,000 --> 00:22:59,000
Well, you know, of course, that his arm is ruined.

337
00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:02,000
But he'll never be able to play baseball again.

338
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:04,000
I was afraid of that.

339
00:23:04,000 --> 00:23:09,000
How he ever managed to send the terrific pain he must have suffered, I'll never know.

340
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:12,000
Talk about your torture, Rax. Why, he...

341
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:13,000
Doctor.

342
00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:14,000
Yes, Mary?

343
00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:19,000
You still haven't answered my real question. How is he?

344
00:23:19,000 --> 00:23:24,000
I don't know. I had to tell him, of course.

345
00:23:24,000 --> 00:23:31,000
Ever since he's been lying in that room, staring up the ceiling, not saying word.

346
00:23:31,000 --> 00:23:34,000
I think you'd better go in and see him, Mary.

347
00:23:34,000 --> 00:23:37,000
Yes, I'll go right away. Thank you, doctor.

348
00:23:44,000 --> 00:23:47,000
Good morning, Miss Collins.

349
00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:50,000
You're the scout, aren't you?

350
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,000
So, you recognize me?

351
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:55,000
I think I'd recognize you, anyway.

352
00:23:55,000 --> 00:24:00,000
Yes. Yes, I imagine someone like you could do that.

353
00:24:00,000 --> 00:24:02,000
What do you want with me?

354
00:24:02,000 --> 00:24:06,000
Nothing. Except to congratulate you on your victory.

355
00:24:06,000 --> 00:24:08,000
I don't think I understand.

356
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:10,000
Of course you do.

357
00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:16,000
You know I was doing quite well with Skip, until you threw your weapons on his side.

358
00:24:16,000 --> 00:24:18,000
My weapons?

359
00:24:18,000 --> 00:24:22,000
Now, you needn't pretend innocence, Miss Collins.

360
00:24:22,000 --> 00:24:24,000
You know very well what they are.

361
00:24:24,000 --> 00:24:29,000
Though you used them late, you employed them very effectively.

362
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:31,000
The victory's yours.

363
00:24:31,000 --> 00:24:33,000
Rather hollow one, isn't it?

364
00:24:33,000 --> 00:24:36,000
Skip's arm ruined, his future gone.

365
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:39,000
It's not much of a victory.

366
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:49,000
Goodbye, Miss Collins. I won't be seeing you again.

367
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,000
Come in.

368
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:57,000
Hello, Skip.

369
00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,000
Hello, Mary.

370
00:24:59,000 --> 00:25:00,000
How are you feeling?

371
00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:04,000
Well, my arm is shot, you know. I won't be pitching any ball games.

372
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,000
Yes, I know.

373
00:25:05,000 --> 00:25:08,000
There'll be no big leagues for Skip Welch.

374
00:25:08,000 --> 00:25:11,000
No crowd yelling my name.

375
00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:14,000
That won't make any difference to you, will it?

376
00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,000
Why should it skip? It never did before.

377
00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,000
Yeah. Yeah, I remember you told me that, didn't you?

378
00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:25,000
Funny thing, Mary. I wasn't going to make the big leagues anyway.

379
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,000
Why, of course you weren't.

380
00:25:27,000 --> 00:25:33,000
No, no. I talked to the manager of our club on the phone this morning, before he knew about my arm.

381
00:25:33,000 --> 00:25:35,000
He said the big leagues didn't want me.

382
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:38,000
They weren't interested in a beanball pitcher.

383
00:25:38,000 --> 00:25:41,000
And guys who were spike-happy.

384
00:25:41,000 --> 00:25:43,000
Funny, isn't it?

385
00:25:43,000 --> 00:25:46,000
I was on the wrong track all the time.

386
00:25:46,000 --> 00:25:49,000
But you told me that too, Mary.

387
00:25:49,000 --> 00:25:53,000
Skip, what are your plans, Skip, for the future?

388
00:25:53,000 --> 00:25:55,000
Well, I was always a pretty good mechanic.

389
00:25:55,000 --> 00:25:58,000
I guess I can get a job at Randall's Garage.

390
00:25:58,000 --> 00:26:01,000
And there's time for coaching the boys, too.

391
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:05,000
One of these days, Chuck's is going to make the big leagues the right way.

392
00:26:05,000 --> 00:26:08,000
Skip, I'm sure he will.

393
00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:14,000
There's one more thing, that inner man of mine, he's got plans, too.

394
00:26:14,000 --> 00:26:19,000
Not sharing my heart, my future, my life.

395
00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:23,000
Would you be asking me to share with him, Skip?

396
00:26:23,000 --> 00:26:25,000
I'm asking, Mary.

397
00:26:25,000 --> 00:26:31,000
I'm sharing, darling, everything, for all time.

398
00:26:31,000 --> 00:26:33,000
Music plays

399
00:26:47,000 --> 00:26:50,000
For many years in our country,

400
00:26:50,000 --> 00:26:54,000
sport has been part of the whole educational program.

401
00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000
In our schools, an integral part of the curriculum.

402
00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:02,000
Managers and coaches considered themselves builders of character.

403
00:27:02,000 --> 00:27:08,000
But the professional emphasis, the when at any price idea,

404
00:27:08,000 --> 00:27:14,000
has swept character building almost out of the picture.

405
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,000
Now the tale frequently seems to wag the dog,

406
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:24,000
character building is laughed at as being no part of the definition of education.

407
00:27:24,000 --> 00:27:29,000
Well, I'm old-fashioned enough not to go for that.

408
00:27:29,000 --> 00:27:33,000
We who believe in the objectives of the family theater

409
00:27:33,000 --> 00:27:36,000
have in mind telling boys and girls and folks everywhere

410
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,000
that there's more to living and striving for material things,

411
00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:41,000
fame or money or whatnot,

412
00:27:41,000 --> 00:27:46,000
and there is more to sport and winning at any price.

413
00:27:46,000 --> 00:27:51,000
It's not easy for a Skip Welch to seek first things first,

414
00:27:51,000 --> 00:27:57,000
unless he has some contact or knowledge of contact with the source of values.

415
00:27:57,000 --> 00:28:05,000
That source is in the church, the school, and above all, the home.

416
00:28:05,000 --> 00:28:11,000
Good sportsmanship is not basically learned on the competitive play fields.

417
00:28:11,000 --> 00:28:13,000
Not there.

418
00:28:13,000 --> 00:28:18,000
Boy had it from within himself long before he knew a formal competitor.

419
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:24,000
Not honors, but honor probably came to him as a slogan of effort

420
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:31,000
from his mother's knees and not from any experience with bean balls on a play field.

421
00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:40,000
I have the most tender recollection of the few minutes after supper in my childhood

422
00:28:40,000 --> 00:28:48,000
of my country home on the bareboard floor as my father and my mother led in family prayer.

423
00:28:48,000 --> 00:28:53,000
Yes, we'll have better young men and women, better homes,

424
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:56,000
and a better nation and a better world.

425
00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:05,000
When more people realize that the family that prays together stays together.

426
00:29:05,000 --> 00:29:09,000
More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of.

427
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,000
Family Theater has brought you Eddie Bracken and Kathy O'Donnell in the Scout

428
00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:15,000
written by Sidney Marshall with Branch Rickey as your host.

429
00:29:15,000 --> 00:29:17,000
Music was composed and conducted by Harry Zimmerman,

430
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,000
and the production was directed for Family Theater by Jaime Deauville.

431
00:29:21,000 --> 00:29:24,000
This series of Family Theater broadcasts is made possible by the thousands of you

432
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:26,000
who have felt the need for this type of program,

433
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:30,000
and by the Mutual Network which has responded to this need.

434
00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:32,000
This is Gene Baker inviting you to join us next week at the same time

435
00:29:32,000 --> 00:29:36,000
when Dan Durie A. will introduce the Postmistress of Law Run by Brett Hart.

436
00:29:36,000 --> 00:29:37,000
Join us, won't you?

437
00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:39,000
This is the Mutual Broadcasting System.

438
00:29:39,000 --> 00:30:07,000
Music plays