Baseball, Baseball And Baseball

I walked onto the court for warmups and the routine shots and drills performed seemed pointless. Our opponents did not have a single player that was closer than 3 inches to my height so I expected to have a successful game. We all believed that we would win the game, and most probably expected to dominate. We were hit by a rude awakening as our opponents torched the nets shooting the ball, and we uncharacteristically made mistake after mistake. By then end of the quarter, the scoreboard read 23 to 9 and we were not the happy leaders. Our coaches told us, “Stay positive, and play hard. We will be ok in this game if we play

We walked together to the field, the spikes on the bottom of my cleats clicking with each step on the parking lot pavement. A huge field with onlookers filling the bleachers on the far side came into view, lit up by the soft evening light. I spotted the girls on my team and my tired looking grey-haired coach. Me and my dad split up, me going to warm up with my team and my dad going to sit with the team parents. As I was passing with my teammates I watched the opposing team carefully. I observed how neat their drills were and how accurate their shots and passes were. They all looked so athletic and that really made me doubt myself. How was I supposed to prove to everyone that I was a good player if I had to play against a team this good? What if I mess up and the other team completely destroys my team? The loud buzzer that ended the warm ups sounded and both teams went to their side of the field. My coach called today’s starters out, and luckily he didn’t choose me. Relieved, I went to go sit on one of the hard metal chairs they provided for the teams on the sidelines. The chairs were uncomfortable but that didn’t bother me. I had other things on my mind. I sat shivering watching the events of the game

Practices continued. Nothing changed; except for me. I kept going, I didn’t let them win and I didn’t quit. Now the moment: the first game. I wasn’t as nervous as I thought I’d be. I felt that since I had made it so long already with dealing with the three that I could get through anything. I can honestly say that for my first time really performing I couldn’t have done better. I realized I really can do anything. Things didn’t get too much better, but I think they realized it

but in middle school I could not make the team in either of my two years that I was in middle school. It was 7th and 8th grade, but that did not stop me from ever playing baseball. Here is my story on how I never gave up on playing baseball even though I did not make the team two straight years in middle school.

My freshman year we entered playoffs with a hopeful optimism that in our first year in 3A, the largest division, we could make a statement that we were here to stay. In the end, the game didn’t go our way. There were some questionable calls made but in the end, it is what it is: we weren’t good enough to win. A tough reality but often times you learn more from a loss than from a win. Sophomore

​ Baseball to most it just a simple game that involves one just throwing a ball, another hitting it, and then another catching it, but it’s much more than that. The ability to hit a baseball three hundred plus feet, that’s coming at you at speeds greater than 85 mph, is hard to attain. Now imagine trying to catch a ball that’s coming at the same speeds, not so easy now right? Apart from the physical abilities needed to play, the mental part of the game is also important. The game of baseball is similar to life if you’re not prepared physically and mentally to go about your business you won’t succeed.

While losing hurt my team's record, it also brought us closer together. We shook off the loss and pushed through the pain to earn our future

I started the first few weeks wanting to impress the head coach to prove to him I deserved a spot within the starting nine on the varsity level. I practiced hard, never goofed off, and went to the cages with my dad on the weekends. I wanted to make the varsity level to show my family and myself that I could do it and that I was good enough to compete at the varsity high school softball level. When I was younger, I made the team I wanted, I never considered failing to be part of me. The big week came, the teams were posted all seven freshmen had made a team but yet to find which side of the paper their name

I was a new kid that was on the team this year. I knew a lot of the players on that team, so my family and I talked about me playing there. I was so happy that they said I would be able to! Even know that I was the new kid to this team everyone treated me great, and it was like I already played with them for previous years.

When I was nine years old, I was offered the opportunity of a lifetime - or rather, the biggest opportunity a nine year old could be offered. After three years of playing little league, and one year of All-Stars, I was contacted and informed of a new travel ball organization starting up – the Portage Bulldawgs. I was shocked. Travel ball was the epitome of organized baseball up until the high school level. When my dad told me the Dawgs (that's what we referred to the team as) wanted me to try out, I was so ecstatic that I could barely finish eating my dinner.

The rest of the team has seen me on my really bad days and days where I feel amazing. We all go through ups and downs. All of us 18 girls on the team had to get through preseason, and although it was only two weeks as opposed to the usual three, it was one of the most physically demanding times of my life. Despite this, it is rewarding to accomplish something after months of summer workout packets and preparation, and we all got to do it as a team. Even serious preparation and practice does not allow us to win certain games. Losing 4-0 to Dock took a toll on us, and for a couple of days it was easier to point fingers to others as to why we did not win. In spite of this upset, I used it to drive me during the next game. Not everything that happens during the season is going to lay out the way we would like it to, but I would not trade this sense of kinship for

Baseball; America’s pastime. The history of the game is just as much a part of America’s story as the Liberty Bell. There is no place that history is preserved more than the small town of 1,800 residents, Cooperstown, NY; home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Since 1936, the Hall of Fame has immortalized 215 of the most revered men to ever grace a ball diamond. Nearly every era of the game is depicted; with names like Cobb, Ruth, DiMaggio, Williams, and Mantle forever having their likeness emblazoned in Bronze, telling their stories for generations to come (Baseball Hall, n.d.). However, there is one era that has no representation for immortality and there is a large debate as to if it ever should; the Steroid Era.

Baseball, football, hockey, and soccer, all of these sports are American past times. Most have their favorite teams in which they follow and some even tail gate at their games. Then you also have your die-hard fans who get dressed up in the team colors and according to team name or mascot. In some cases like that of Red skin fans that sometimes include fans appropriating Native Americans by wearing red face paint, head dresses, and war paint. In recent years the Red Skins and other sports teams have received back lash from the Native American communities demanding that they change their name and mascot due its racial insensitivity and stereotyping of the Native American people. Some will debate that sport team names and mascots like that of the Red Skins, Cleveland Indians, Atlanta Braves or the Chicago Blackhawks are not offensive but in my personal opinion Pro sports teams should not be allowed to continue to appropriate race or culture.

As it is already known, Baseball is one of the most popular sports in the United States. The “national pastime”, as it is sometimes referred to, this sport attracts hundreds of thousands of people every year. Whether they are a fan or not, most people are aware of the three fundamentals of the game: pitching the ball, hitting the ball and catching the ball. But the thing that a lot of these people may not realize is that it’s a lot more complex than that. Just like any other sport, every move in baseball requires the coordination of a lot of joints and

You could see them mumble, “Do we have to pick them”. We finally were out on teams and ready to finish practice. My team put me in a position that they never had to pass me the ball and I wasn’t in the way. So, I just went along with the practice not knowing at the time how this would be something shown throughout the whole season. As the practice came to an end we huddled together, and talked about the next practice and our first game on Saturday. As we left you could hear the boys talking. Saying things like, “Why are they on our team?”, and “They are going to make us lose”. We just kept going to our cars and went home.