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Features Helen Chandler, real life ball player Joey Brown as Frances Farrel, and includes William Frawley as the coach. Cecil B DeMill introduces the cast, and gives a salute to the beginning of baseball season, a sport started by Abner Doubleday, and based on an already popular sport called Rounders.
The opening scene has coach, William Frawley rousting his team, the Chicago Cubs to hit the field. The new pitcher, Farrel, shows the coach what he can do. It gets better when he shows that he can hit to. Later, the coach brags on his rookie during the ppre-season games, and Farrel is even getting the attention of the young ladies.
In the pool hall, Farrel shows off his billiard tallents. The country pitcher makes constant alibis, claiming that though his performances are exceptional, he could have done better. He had malaria, gravel in his shoe, needs his glasses, waiting for a telegram, and so forth. His humility has endeared him to the coaches daughter. The team laughs at his excuses, but I think they’re just jealous that he has won the girl.
The opening game is fast approaching, but the gal has to leave town to go back home, and Farrel seems to be coming down with a cold as they say their goodbyes. It looks like he may have won the girl, but does he know what to do with one once he has one?
The weeks of separation pass, and Farrel is caught by his teammates as he is teary eyed over a letter. True to form, he spreds on one lie after another to deny his vulnerability. The season goes on, and Farrel writes to his gal that the Cubs are about to clinch the pennant. Just then, a man claiming to be the president of a morality society for young men wants Farrel to give a talk to his boys. Of course, it turns out to be a gang of mobsters who want him to throw the next couple of games. Or else. Will he do it?
Later, word comes that his girlfriend, Dolly is coming back to town, and they spend a romanic evening rowing on the lake. In the tender moment, he is almost ready to propose when he falls out of the boat. He actually manages to give her an engagement ring.
Back with the guys on the team, they try to pin Farrel down on his engagement, but not wanting to admit his personal affairs he keeps stringing out the lies. Seeing that the questions are just out of friendliness, Farrel admits that he is engaged. Dolly had been outside, and overheard his lies with the guys, and mistook his excuses as his true feelings.
Commercial time as we make a remote link up for a talk with Babe Ruth and his wife as they pitch the sponsor’s product. Very cool to hear Babe Ruth on the radio.
On the playing field, Farrel has his first losing game, and the team talks to him about it. It looks bad for him when a shady character gives him a payoff for the lost game, right in front of the team.
Nobody believes him, and that his slump is over his loss of his girlfriend. It doesn’t keep him from being fired, but as he leaves at the train station, Dolly’s mom rushes to stop him. If nobody else could, she has convinced the coach the lost game was over his being lovesick.
Meeting up with the coach, a plan is made to trap the mobsters, but the thugs smell a rat and make plans to make sure that Farrel doesn’t have the chance to doublecross them. He gets abducted, but has he already played his last game? Will he ever see the light of day again? It’s no concern of the gangsters if he ever does.
The game is in progress, and has come down to the final innings with the team in mixed emotions. Has Farrel abandoned them, should they love him, hate him, be concerned at his absence? Will the Cubs lose the pennant?
You know there’s going to be a happy ending. Hey, the Cubs have won pennants before, just not the World Series.
Even Alibi Ike seems to have learned a lesson, but I don’t think his days of telling lies are quite over.
