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 Individual
and team
Baseball is
fundamentally a team sport—even two or three Hall of
Fame-caliber players are no guarantee of a pennant—yet
it places individual players under great pressure and
scrutiny. The pitcher must make good pitches or risk
losing the game; the hitter has a mere fraction of a
second to decide what pitch has been thrown and whether
or not to swing at it. While their respective managers
and/or coaches can sometimes signal players regarding
the strategies the manager wants to employ, no one can
help the pitcher while he pitches or the hitter while he
bats. If the batter hits a line drive, the outfielder,
as the last line of defense, makes the lone decision to
try to catch it or play it on the bounce. Baseball
history is full of heroes and goats—men who in the heat
of the moment distinguished themselves with a timely hit
or catch, or an untimely strikeout or error. |
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