The story begins with the two friends at a Boston Red Sox's game. The Professor is chiding Cliff Bullard, a player for the New York Yankees. On the way out of the stadium, they notice a sign announcing an upcoming contest where that very same batter is going to allow local boys the chance to try and strike him out. If they succeed, they will win $10,000. Intrigued by the idea of seeing someone actually strike out that "big ape with sawdust where brain is supposed to be," the Professor tells Johnny an old story that took place in 1901 (Bellairs set most of his stories in the 1950's).
Apparently, Johnny's grandfather, Henry, used to be a star pitcher for a local team, The Spiders. An inventor, Evaristus Sloane, who lived in that area at the time, came to the team with a pitching machine. However, this was not your ordinary pitching machine, instead, it was a robot that was built to look like a human. It even had a baseball uniform (red pinstripes and all) painted onto it. At first the guys on the team thought it was a great idea. After all, it stood at the same height as the average pitcher and it was able to throw a ball at speeds in excess of 110mph. Henry wasn't impressed, though. In fact, the robot gave him the creeps, especially it's eyes. So, in the end, the team ended up passing on the invention, much to the dismay of Sloane, who swore revenge.
Now, all of these years later, the Professor has begun wondering if the robot still exists. It was rumored that it was run by a magical energy and that it had actually struck out one of the top sluggers of that day in a very similar contest to the one that Bullard was holding. When Johnny asks him why a robot was allowed to pitch in such a tournament the answer he receives is very strange indeed. It seems that the person who won that contest appeared to be a human in every way, but for some reason most of the people who saw him in action swore up and down that he was actually the robot.
Around this time strange things start happening to Johnny. He and his friend Fergie find an old claim ticket for an item that had been pawned. When they go to check it out with the Professor, it is still there and it turns out to be an old cane with a concealed sword hidden inside of it. Also around the same time a ghost starts appearing to Johnny. A ghost who keeps uttering a solitary, frightening phrase, "They took my eyes, they took my eyes..."
The Professor soon decides that he wants to go and look around the old Sloane place and it doesn't take much convincing to get Johnny and Fergie to go along with him for the adventure. When they get there, they find the robot, taken apart and missing it's eyes. After lugging the parts to the Professor's car, they find a box on the side of the road. Upon opening it, they find the robot's eyes!
Once they get the robot back to Dustin Heights, the Professor sets to the task of reassembling it. After about a week he invites Johnny, his grandparents and Fergie over for the grand unveiling. Once everyone is assembled he puts the robots eyes in as everyone holds their breath in anticipation. A moment passes, then two and nothing happens. Sighing with relief, everyone goes back to normal and the robot is quickly forgotten. However, later on that evening, the Professor shows up panic stricken at Johnny's front door. The robot is missing! The next morning things get worse as the paper shows that a local woman was accosted and is lying unconscious in the hospital, the only clue is some red paint under her finger nails.
The Professor consults with a friend of his and he discovers some gruesome information about the robot and what makes it work. What follows is a race against time in an attempt to stop the robot before it strikes again. Before the story comes to it's conclusion Johnny is kidnapped (twice!) and secrets that were thought long buried come back to the surface. This story is just as delightful as any other tale by John Bellairs. With an engaging plot, intriguing characters and memorable situations, Bellairs crafted yet another "childhood" thriller that would be loved by children of all ages!
As a sidenote, I'd like to dedicate this review to Edward Gorey, the illustrator of all of the Bellairs books. His tragic death on April 15th, 2000 is yet another in the string of misery that seems to follow these wonderful books. First Bellairs himself in 1991, then, more recently, his son and now Edward. They are all greatly missed.
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