There is a screen on the grandstand behind the home plate.
Fordney had noticed a few seconds before, in the box next to him, the
man whom the policeman had caught running down the ramp. As he could not
have thrown a bottle through the screen, and, in the time at his
disposal, could not have reached either side of the screen, Fordney knew
he was innocent.
He had noticed the man _after_ two strikes and three balls had been
called, and the pitcher delivered the next ball quickly.
We must have bloody noses and crack’d crowns,
God’s me, my horse!
Shakespeare.