The road trip provided a brief respite for both Silvers, who was looking to escape from the negative press he had inadvertently, and for Stud it was an escape from the home town fans. He had reached the point where he hated playing in front of the hometown crowds.

"You know White Bread, said Stud as the two of them sat in the dugout one day. I think the reason we sell out so many games is because the fans gets so much pleasure from booing me."

"Don't take it personally," advised Mike.

"I try not to, sighed Stud. But I know that I'm not living up to anyone's expectations, especially my own. If I knew what was wrong, I would fix it."

Though sympathetic to his friend's plight, Mike didn't know what to say, so he just gave him an encouraging pat on the back.

The game started off great for Stud. In the top of the fifth inning he hit a three run homer off Thrashers right hander Teddy Reddy to give the Combers a three to one lead.

"Way to go"! said Mike, slapping Stud excitedly on the back as he crossed home plate.

For the first time in a while, Stud had a smile on his face and it didn't have anything to do with Ivory.

In the top of the eighth with runners at second and third, Stud smashed a line drive single to left, knocking in two more runs and pushing up the score to 7-1.