Howard Ehmke tried his best to hide the throbbing pain in his elbow.  It was not easy considering that over 30,000 people were watching him.  Ebbet's field was packed for the P.B.C. opening day.  The papers had been spending the week mocking the new league and the small towns they would be competing with.  Opening day was evidently still not sold out as of the morning but it looked sold out to Ehmke.

The papers didn't like the pitcher any more than they liked the new baseball league.  Every editorial complained or mocked the fact that he was drafted second overall immediately after Babe Ruth.  Some fans even booed when he took the field.  They all wanted Ty Cobb or Tris Speaker or a classic former Brooklyn Dodger.  Howard Ehmke was an American League pitcher and few cared he was in his prime and destroying the competition in the last few years.  He would have to prove himself if he was going to win over the Brooklyn faithful.

Opening day didn't start well for Ehmke.  He awoke with a stiff arm.  The elbow had been throbbing since his pre-season game but he had ignored it.  He cut his warm-up before the game short when the elbow began to feel sore.  By the time the game started Ehmke was trying to mask his discomfort.

The first inning was a breeze.  Ehmke is a tall lanky pitcher whose knuckles drag in the dirt when he throws with his submariner delivery.  Most batters are not used to seeing a ball come up towards them from the ground.  The first three visiting Brockton Buglers did not know what hit them.  Three up and three down in seven pitches.

 

When he took the mound in the second inning and started throwing again the elbow felt worse and he was unable to prevent the odd grimace.  The first batter was the now-fabled Babe Ruth.  Ehmke faced him when he was a mere mortal back in the American League.  Lately the press have written about Ruth as if he was single handedly changing the game - "a force to be reckoned with".  Ehmke decided to treat him with care.

Ehmke thought about how to deal with the slugger.  He didn't want to waste pitches.  He didn't have too many this afternoon and he couldn't waste them.  He decided for the traditional one-two punch.  He'd throw inside on the first and then outside on the second.  Brushing back Ruth would keep him from setting up too comfortably in the box.  The second pitch could be a fastball on the outside of the plate.  Ehmke could then decide to go back inside or perhaps a breaking ball depending on how the first two pitches turned out.

The brush-back worked as planned.  Ruth had to step back on his heels to avoid being hit.  He stepped back into the box and awaited the toss.  Ehmke dropped low and threw hard trying to catch the outside corner.  Ruth timed his swing perfectly and he stood at the plate watching the ball sail over the right field wall putting the Buglers ahead 1 to 0.  As Ruth circled the bases Ehmke's elbow's throbbing increased.

With one out Bugler George Grantham dug in in the batters box.  Ehmke tried an offspeed pitch and Grantham swung early to go down in the count.  Ehmke tried a fastball outside and missed.  His elbow felt like it was on fire.  He tried another outside and missed.  He tried it two more times and didn't come close.  Grantham trotted to first and Ehmke called his pitching coach to the mound.  He was done.

Ehmke was booed as he walked to the dugout and again when he joined the bench in the third inning with an icepack on his elbow.  He sat in the dugout and watched his club take the lead and win the game without any help from their first draft pick.  After the game the club doctor told Ehmke he would miss the next two starts.  The pitcher did not join his club when they hit the town to celebrate the win.