How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The Whammer fingered his necktie knot. As he scooped up the cards his diamond ring glinted in the sunlight.
"Goddamned millionaire," Sam thought. (1.130-31)
The Whammer really hasn't done anything objectionable in the novel. Sam just instinctively hates him because he's got what Sam wants but doesn't have yet: money. The necktie and the diamond ring are signs that the Whammer has made it; he's a big-shot fancy-pants baseball player, and that bugs Sam and Roy because they're nobodies.
Quote #2
"But Walter—he is a successful professional player, isn't he?"
"The Whammer?" Roy nodded.
"And he has won that award three times—what was it?"
"The Most Valuable Player." He had a panicky feeling he was losing her to the Whammer. (1.250-53)
Roy's always conscious of who has the attention of the girls he's interested in. He feels jealous about the Whammer's fame, but that jealousy skyrockets when Harriet notices the Whammer's success.
Quote #3
[Roy's] throwing was quick, strong, and bull's eye.
When Bump got around to his turn in the cage, though he did not as a rule exert himself in practice, he now whammed five of Fowler's fast pitches into the stands. (2.50-51)
Roy isn't the only one who feels jealousy in the novel. Bump, too, starts to notice that his spot as the team big shot is being challenged by the new arrival. He doesn't like it one bit. However, Bump turns his jealousy into positive action, playing better and inspiring his teammates to do so, too.