THE RUBE by ZANE GREY
1001 Classic Short Stories & Tales
Jon Hagadorn
4.5 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 24 July 2022
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
⭐ Show Notes Summary — "The Rube" by Zane Grey
Zane Grey's "The Rube" is a lively, character‑driven baseball tale that blends humor, heart, and the classic American love of the underdog. The story follows a small‑town country boy—awkward, wide‑eyed, and underestimated—who steps onto the baseball field with more grit than polish. To the seasoned players around him, he looks like nothing more than a harmless "rube," a farm kid out of his depth.
But Grey uses that setup to turn expectations on their head. As the game unfolds, the newcomer's raw talent, unshakable nerve, and surprising instincts begin to shine through. What starts as a joke at his expense slowly becomes a lesson in humility for the veterans who misjudged him. Along the way, Grey captures the energy of early American baseball—the noise, the dust, the rivalries, and the thrill of watching someone rise to the moment.
At its core, the story is about hidden potential and the quiet satisfaction of proving yourself when no one expects you to. It's spirited, good‑natured, and full of the kind of character moments that made Zane Grey a favorite far beyond the Western genre.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This episode is brought to you by the E. E. game store. |
| 0:04.0 | They've got all the games and all the gear you want. |
| 0:07.0 | PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, MetaQuest VR, handheld consoles, you name it. |
| 0:12.0 | You don't need to be an EE customer to use the EE game store. |
| 0:15.6 | It's open to every player on any network. They've got exclusive console bundles to get you |
| 0:20.6 | gaming for less and you can even spread the costs. |
| 0:23.0 | Plus they'll let you trade in your old console for cash. |
| 0:26.0 | Just search E.E. Game Store to find out more. And the The Welcome back everyone to 1001 classic short stories and tales. |
| 1:04.1 | And another story from Zane Gray. |
| 1:06.2 | This is your host John Haggadorn. |
| 1:09.1 | This story, The Rub is the only story from his book The Red-headed Outfield we haven't done yet. |
| 1:14.0 | It's a great story. I just missed it when it got lost among all the other Rube stories |
| 1:19.0 | and I thought I had done it until I double-check today. Glad I did. These Zeng Gray stories are really |
| 1:25.2 | enjoyed by our listeners and always rank high in listener numbers. My guess is |
| 1:29.9 | that baseball is |
| 1:34.0 | during its golden days when people play for the love of the game. |
| 1:38.0 | I won't pontificate beyond that, but I think you get my drift. |
| 1:42.0 | You'll notice that in this minor league contest a rock serves his home plate. I love it. I wish Zane Gray had written a hundred more of these. |
| 1:50.0 | This is the story of how our intrepid coach found his greatest pitcher, the Rube. |
| 1:55.2 | Enjoy. |
| 1:56.9 | It was the most critical time I had yet experienced in my career as a baseball manager, |
| 2:01.5 | and there was more than the usual reason why I must pull the team out. |
... |
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