 Give me the dang ball and point me towards the plate, he commanded shortstop Ray Chapman, who was still in semi-disbelief that Caldwell was alive and pitching. The umpires lingered around the mound as the players slowly took their positions. A shortstop Joe Duggan dug into the batter's box, waiting for the umps to signal play ball. The umps just looked at each other for an extra beat and shrugged their shoulders. Play ball, one of them says.