Ode to Baseball...
June 15, 2005 @ 04:13 AMTwo out here in the bottom on the ninth, team down by one, the sacks are full…
Baseball is my game, no doubt about it. There’s no better feeling than walking into the stadium and catching that first glimpse of the diamond being prepped. The grounds crew watering down the infield dirty, turning it from a light dust to a deep brown surface. 4 or 5 home team players sprint through the outfield while a few others play some long toss, getting read for the big game.
... Number 12 digs in at the plate. The closer leans in and gets the sign from the catcher… sets, and here comes the first pitch…
Baseball is my game, I don’t deny it. The pitcher throwing a two inch wide ball sixty plus feet trying to hit a roughly two-square-foot invisible target. Getting the feel of throwing four different types of pitches with four very different grips and release points and arm speeds, knowing that if he misses by even a few inches the ball will bounce away from the catcher, or the pitch will hit the batter, or the ball will be launched into the upper deck seats 400 feet away in left-center field.
... and STRIKE one called on the outside corner. The batter is ready, the pitcher leans in again, shakes off the first pitch… likes the second one… and he sets and here comes the 0-1 pitch…
Baseball is my game. A batter doing his best to knock a baseball somewhere in play and making it to first base. Fail seven out of ten times and he’s a hero. Fail eight out of ten times and he’s sent back to the minors.
... SWING and a miss for strike two. The home team is now one strike away from losing this game. The crowd is on their feet hoping for a miracle here from the batter…
Baseball is my game. A perfect blend of science and art. Numbers and luck. Skill and fate. A game built entirely on anticipation of what might happen, what could happen. Managers and coaches and players spending hours and hours studying opponents, planning strategies, setting up defensive alignments, planning offensive strategies. And yet, often times after all that - or perhaps because of it - the whole game comes down to one swing.
The pitcher quickly gets the sign and sets, runners take their leads… He winds up, and here comes the 0-2 pitch…
Yup, baseball is my game.