Personal Essay: Fear In Baseball

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

I went home full of excitement and quickly recounted to my mom the success I had that day at baseball. I went to bed that night with more confidence than I thought possible and looking forward to another day of baseball. Made my way through school that day visualizing my performance that afternoon for tryouts. With more excitement than nerve I began the second day of tryouts. Thursday we worked on throwing and catching skills, friday was batting. An area in which I struggled a little more than others but with confidence pouring out of me I stepped into the box. Even with the confidence boost working on my skill I struggled heavily and was not happy with my performance. So trying to keep my confidence up I tried to finish that day of tryouts but I could tell that the coaches were less pleased with my performance that day. There’s not a much faster way to be served a large slice of humble pie than to realize you may not be all that you once thought you were. So keeping that in mind I finished the day doing my best. When we gathered together to make final cuts I could feel my heart beating in

I ended up going day two and I felt like I really gave it my all that time, and I think the jv coach noticed me cause she called me out to talk to me and said “hey you did great today, what’s your name?” I responded “my name is Ana and thank you!”. I felt super confident from what she told me, because she noticed i was doing good but before that she told all of the girls that were also at tryouts that it was hard to make any of the teams because their was a lot of girls with talent and there was so much competition and how hard it was for the coaches to choose the teams. I was worried because of what she had said, the next day at school they were giving out the results of who and who didn’t make it in the

There are many question about how the great game of baseball originally started and how it has grown to become Americas game that so many of us enjoy so much as little kids until till we die. Baseball is one of the only games today where the rules of the game have stayed the same since a guy named Abner Doubleday first evolved the game in 1845. Then he went on to be a Civil War hero shortly after as the game of Baseball became Americas beloved national pastime.

The game of baseball was invented by Abner Doubleday, in 1839- 177 years ago from today. Baseball has been, and is still today, known as America’s favorite pastime; additionally, due to its extensive history and partaking it monumental events, it can as well serve as a great topic to use in a story or poem. Poet Dale Ritterbusch, uses the game of baseball along with metaphors in his poem as a vehicle to write about a more substantial subject in poetry, the Vietnam War. His poem, “Behind the Plate”, can be simply over-looked to one as just a poem about an overweight catcher; nonetheless, when closely examined, it has a deeper meaning. Authors Michael Cocchiarale and Scott Emmert, both agree with the statement that baseball is a great outlet for further analysis of a more important subject: “Writers have seen sports, particularly baseball, as a useful vehicle for cultural and epistemological analysis” (Cocchiarale).

I set my goals for the year and tried my hardest to stick to it. Not to mention, I did exceptional in my previous season in baseball. I was named the Jv batting champ and was all league. I was a little disappointed in myself though because i did not perform as well during the summer. I got a few hits and there but i wasn't satisfied at all because I know competition is always around. It can get stressful at times because then all you start to think about is who is going to take over your spot and who's going to overcome you. I tried to ignore that feeling but it kept getting back to me. In addition, try outs were the second week of school so i knew i had to step up my game. After tryouts, i thought i did really good. I Only miss through about 2 throws and I was throwing harder than I ever had. It was until the next day, my point of view towards this whole program

The first day of tryouts came around and I woke up that morning shaking with excitment and shear nervousness. I ate my bagel and chocolate milk, (a pregame ritual of mine) laced up my cleats, and was on my way. The second I got to the field I knew I was in for a long day. Most of the guys were double my size and looked like they were professionals. After a few days of the long, hard, and grueling tryout process the coaches posted the team on their website. When I saw my name wasn't on the list I felt spiteful, angry, even a little ashamed with myself. I knew I deserved a spot on that team and I was determined to claim it.

Lights blaring into my eyes, the crack of the bat, the shouting of the overly-devoted parents, the salty aroma arising off of the freshly roasted peanuts, all came together to create the overwhelming presence of a little league baseball game. This was a place where I spent most of my time on week day afternoons, in the spring, watching my brother succeed at America’s pastime. He was really quite good at this sport called baseball; he had just been granted the position of starting pitcher for the team. Sometimes things that have occurred in my life, and stuff I have received, that I may not have necessarily deserve, can be taken for granted. However, after what was about to take place my eyes are given a new perspective.

I watch a baseball smack right off my bat and look at it fly threw the air like an exotic toucan. I can see the fans in the stand go silent and just watch the ball soar.

Baseball always seemed rather natural to me. With my dad being a basketball coach, it honestly was my mother’s doing that picked up a glove and ball. It probably was because her side of the family seemed to compile an interesting set of baseball junkies, her even playing for Team USA Softball one summer, and my god-father (her brother) garnering tons of scholarship offers and major league try-outs for his work on the mound. Baseball just was in me. Something that was organic, fun, and exhilarating. For the most part, I excelled from the start. However, just as baseball played an innocent childhood role in my life, it also presented me with one of the biggest life lessons that I have experienced.

The tryouts went by quick. I wasn’t on my game and to be legitimate, I didn’t train at all to prepare for the upcoming season. I was all talk and didn’t do what I said I would do to be ready. In account of my lack of determination and exertion, it came to show at the tryout. I didn’t do as well as I presumed I would. Soon enough, I got an email a few days later from my coach telling

With upwards of ten million people participating in the sport of baseball in the United States alone, it is apparent that baseball is one of the world’s most popular sports. Throughout the years, the sport of baseball has evolved from a humble game played on empty sandlots to “America’s national pastime.” The game has come a long way, but how did this game come to be? Everything has its humble beginnings, and baseball is no different. Games that resemble baseball have been around for centuries, and they have led to the development of baseball itself.

The varsity baseball team had just finished a long day of practicing base running, hitting and fielding. It was very hot out and the sun was making us even more tired. Sweat soaked my shirt and dripped off the brim of my hat. I had been up since 6:30, spent all day at school, and practiced baseball for 2 hours. I was so exhausted that I just wanted to go home, take a shower and go to bed. Then my coach called me over and said “Hey Kevin can you help me with the field?”, The last thing I wanted to do was stay after practice to hose down the field and fix the hole in the pitcher's mound.

The beginning of baseball has had it twist on who started the game and who made the rules to the game. The sport we know as baseball was original name stickball before it became an organized sport. Baseball was a game that many just played as part of their moderate exercise for recreational purpose or time and they used the game to stay in shape. It was usually a middle class white -collar worker who played the game.

It had been an unbelievable season so far, we were going into the championship game of junior league with only two losses. Of course, the only other team with a better record than us was the black team. We gave them their only loss on the second game of the regular season. Now, after defeating the better of the Mosinee teams in the semi finals, my dad, who was also the coach of our blue team, had stopped to watch the rest of the game between black and red.