Latest Brown from the Sun

BROWN FROM THE SUN

April 5, 11:30 AM, 1938

Baseball

"Worst day of my life. I went zero for four and lost Madge Malone. It was
all Ernie Jacob's fault."

Rhiana, wife of C. Tanner Brown, and co-owner of the Sun Detective Agency,
seized the key issue. "Who was Madge Malone?"

Tanner continued fondling a dry brown piece of leather that had been his
baseball mitt in high school. The two sat in the attic of Tanner's boyhood
home in Escondido, California.

"I batted over .300 that year. Escondido East High had beaten every team in
Southern California. We were good."

"I suppose Madge came to see you play every time?"

Tanner put down the glove and looked his wife straight in the eye. "I was
the pitcher. It was my senior year. We went to the championship game against
Escondido West. We had the talent. We should have blown them off the field."

"Tanner!!" Rhiana had had enough.

"O.K. Madge and I went together that summer on and off. I wanted to take it
further, and I think she might have gone along, but we never got the
chance."

"So who's this Ernie guy?"

"Ernie Jacobs went with Madge too. She juggled our dates carefully so we
wouldn't find out about each other. I didn't know about him until after she
left me. Just before the Senior Prom." A trace of bitterness made a home in
Brown's voice.

"You stayed home? You didn't go to your own Senior Prom?"

"I had a friend at Escondido West who told me that Madge decided to go
steady with whoever won the game. Ernie pitched for Escondido West. He won."
Brown throw the mitt down. "What an ego! Ernie would go in the locker room
behind the dugout and fix his hair every other inning so he'd look good.
He'd come out fresh and clean and grin at Madge. He was a good pitcher,
though. Man, he fired smoke. I never saw anything like it."

"Teach me to throw a baseball."

The day was wonderful, a gentle breeze from the ocean and a sky as cloudless
as a baby's conscience.

They found a tennis ball and stood 20 yards apart. Rhiana picked up the
weight transfer and the shoulder and hip turn fairly easily; but she had
trouble with accuracy.

"I'll tell you one more thing about this Ernie guy, then I'll let it drop."

"I'd rather hear about Madge. Did she have a good figure?"

"If you like them overblown and bulgy."

Rhiana held the ball and stuck her hip out, "And you don't?".

Tanner looked virtuous, "I enjoy slim, graceful women who can throw a
baseball. Anyway, she married Ernie and had five kids and let herself go."

Rhiana zinged one at him with good speed, but all the accuracy of next years
weather forecast. It went over the house.

As they walked out front to retrieve it, Tanner said, "This guy was so vain,
that he changed his uniform in the third inning when he slid into home
plate, and it got dirty"

Rhiana stopped and grabbed Tanner by the arms. "Tell me about his
endurance."

Tanner said, "It held up through the entire game. Nobody could hit him.
Heck, none of us could even see him."

"I know how he did it. Not getting Madge, but winning the game. He had a
secret. Tanner, you could take that championship away from him if you wanted
to."

Tanner listened and walked around kicking things for a full 15 minutes. he
didn't challenge the championship, but he wrote a nasty letter to Ernie.

What was the secret? List two clues.



Do you know the answers? After you've thought about it for a moment, page
down. If you enjoy C. Tanner Brown, look at my novel, 'Dead Box'. Go to
www.lockedroom.com



















































Answer:

Ernie was twins. They alternated innings.

Ernie and his brother looked exactly alike except for their hair. One had
hair with the discipline and control of a bunch of 9 year olds after a
twinkie binge. The other didn't. That's why it appeared that Ernie combed
his hair every other inning.

He slid into home in the third inning and got his uniform dirty. He
apparently cleaned his uniform before his next appearance. Ball players
don't bother with dirt. It's part of the game. But their uniforms had to
look alike, and it would have been difficult to get the other uniform dirty
so they had to change every inning.

The hint comes from their performance in the game. Since each twin needed to
pitch only 4 or 5 innings, they could go flat out on each pitch. It would
appear that the performance was by one player with incredible strength.

I hope you've enjoyed this episode. If you have any suggestions, complaints,
praise or curses, send them to dlmarsh1044.DeleteThis@yahoo.com