3 minute read
Recollections
Recollections Baseball and universal truths
Talent will only get you to first base
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In the corner of my home office stands an aluminum baseball bat.
It’s propped up with the bulbous, pockmarked handle up top. It bears the scars of a thousand at-bats, plus a slash from an errant footstep. It holds more stories than I can share. Memories of games past flow freely as the days grow longer outside. I don’t dare calculate the math, figuring out when I last played the game. But as clearly as I can see that black and gold baseball bat, I can recall the details of games in summer twilight played upon grassy fields that now lay under asphalt.
Baseball is best consumed in small bites. It is the one sport that perhaps takes up the most real estate, yet demands you pay attention to what’s happening to the smallest of balls. The gift is in the nuance that lies heaviest before a player throws the ball.
One of my favorite memories from playing the game of baseball wasn’t from hitting a home run, pitching a onehitter, or striking out a tough hitter — though I certainly have those moments to recall. No, instead, it was from a play — if you’re one to keep score — captured by an innocuous, shaded diamond in the top half of the second inning; long before the outcome of the game was to be determined.
We were the visiting team, and by the rules of the game, were gifted the opportunity to bat first in each inning. It’s what remains of the sport’s Victorian Age origins, where men were refined and hospitable to their guests. The opposing pitcher was anything but kind to our first three batters. He served nothing upon which they could feast, and each drew outs to close out our half to start the game. As I approached the plate for my first at-bat, the game remained with no score.
Opposing fielders give up the ghost about their pitcher. If the first and third basemen play far enough from the line, the guy on the hill throws pretty hard. They’re watching to see where I’m going to stand. As a right-handed batter, they may even drift closer to the right half of the field. Before each pitch, they’re all likely to make subtle changes to where they stand. If the shortstop stands closer to second base, I just might see a curveball. If I see the pitcher’s glove shaking in front of him, he’s likely adjusting his grip on the ball to throw that curveball. It was like the first half-hour of a high school dance; each side of the dance floor was sizing each other up, trying to learn what opportunities await by just the smallest of gestures.
My opportunity came from a high fastball the opposing pitcher dared me to hit. That’s the
by Michael Hallisey
Continued on Page 16
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