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[This is part of a series exploring the Baseball Tarot. If you would like to prompt for a part of the game or a card from the deck, all the rest of the month is available for your curiosity, about either baseball or Tarot. Leave a comment with a prompt if you want in. All other comments are still welcome, of course.]
Baseball, as a game, all else being equal, would seem to be tilted in favor of the defense, who can put nine players in a defined zone to be able to record outs in many different ways, as opposed to the one to four players of the offense, only one of which is empowered to hit the ball. (One might say the same about cricket, except that the cricket field has 360 degrees of possible hitting area to work with and position the fielders on. Admittedly, there's only a partnership on the field for the offense, but still, they can score centuries if they do well. Baseball players only get the opportunity for four at a time, and only three times a game are guaranteed.) The statistical categories tend to agree with this - great offensive players are those that succeed three times out of ten over the course of their careers. Not exactly an impressive mark for an impressive achievement.
Each hitter only gets three strikes when they come up to the plate. Strikes are assessed at pitches that pass through the strike zone and don't get swung at, pitches that are swung at that don't connect, and balls that are hit but fall foul, unless that would be the third strike, unless the attempt was a bunt. Collecting three strikes is an out for the defense.
Strikeouts tend to happen two ways, both of which can be embarrassing to the hitter. Strikeouts by swinging at pitches can be reasonably okay if they were going to be strikes already, somewhat more likely to happen if a hitter is pursuing a more aggressive attempt at making contact, or entirely embarrassing if a hitter swings at a pitch that is well out of the strike zone, or bites on a breaking pitch that drops quite far out of the zone. The bailout swings or attempts to hold up once the realization sets in makes a lot of professional baseball players look very awkward. Admittedly, that's a much a testament to the skill of the pitcher add it is the embarrassment of the hitter, but still, it's not fun to watch, or be a part of.
Perhaps the more embarrassing variant of the strikeout is the called third strike. Being "caught looking", or as Ernie Harwell put it, "window shopping", means a walk back to the dugout without even the revise of having made an attempt at hitting the ball. Sometimes it's being frozen by a breaking pitch that looks outside the strike zone and then dives back in at the last second, other times it's being at the mercy of the umpire's sight and the catcher's framing of the pitch, and sometimes it's not trusting your first instinct to swing, only to find out that it was a pitch to swing at. And that's before the fanatics chime in with their opinion of how your at-bat went. The "best" opinion they can have is a belief that the umpire is not enforcing an appropriate strike zone. It goes downhill from there, including things like the Bronx cheer, the boo birds, and many, many colorful phrases involving relatives and anatomical impossibilities.
For pitchers, of course, strikeouts are good things. Statistically, the number of strikeouts follows the earned run average as the measure of effectiveness for a pitcher. Strikeouts are easier to achieve by having several pitches to be able to select from or by having velocity and accuracy that is difficult to catch or wait out. At least, that's what I'm guessing from viewing other games - my experience as a pitcher is that I never got that many strikeouts because of not having much velocity. The other pitcher did, and they had a higher quantity of strikeouts. I just had lots of ground balls and needed all the fielders behind me to produce outs. (This is a valid strategy, but it also requires good fielders behind the pitcher.)
The meaning of this card depends on whether you're hitting or pitching. If you're the batter, well, strikeouts represent failure. It might be am inability to execute, it might be a problem of judgment, or it could be something entirely out of your control and someone else has determined to be not good enough. In any case, as with other times of getting out, it means you'll have to wait until the next time and try again. There's things to learn from this time up that may be helpful next time, one pitch selection...and what's the umpire is calling strikes. Try not to be discouraged and be ready to go again.
If you're pitching, congratulations. You're one more out closer to the goal, and you were able to execute the pitches you wanted to do it. Take what you've learned about this batter and keep it in mind for later. Now, however, you have to face the next batter, who will have a completely different plan and set of pitches to face. The temporary nature of your success is important, but you can certainly enjoy the victory that you have achieved at this point.
Baseball, as a game, all else being equal, would seem to be tilted in favor of the defense, who can put nine players in a defined zone to be able to record outs in many different ways, as opposed to the one to four players of the offense, only one of which is empowered to hit the ball. (One might say the same about cricket, except that the cricket field has 360 degrees of possible hitting area to work with and position the fielders on. Admittedly, there's only a partnership on the field for the offense, but still, they can score centuries if they do well. Baseball players only get the opportunity for four at a time, and only three times a game are guaranteed.) The statistical categories tend to agree with this - great offensive players are those that succeed three times out of ten over the course of their careers. Not exactly an impressive mark for an impressive achievement.
Each hitter only gets three strikes when they come up to the plate. Strikes are assessed at pitches that pass through the strike zone and don't get swung at, pitches that are swung at that don't connect, and balls that are hit but fall foul, unless that would be the third strike, unless the attempt was a bunt. Collecting three strikes is an out for the defense.
Strikeouts tend to happen two ways, both of which can be embarrassing to the hitter. Strikeouts by swinging at pitches can be reasonably okay if they were going to be strikes already, somewhat more likely to happen if a hitter is pursuing a more aggressive attempt at making contact, or entirely embarrassing if a hitter swings at a pitch that is well out of the strike zone, or bites on a breaking pitch that drops quite far out of the zone. The bailout swings or attempts to hold up once the realization sets in makes a lot of professional baseball players look very awkward. Admittedly, that's a much a testament to the skill of the pitcher add it is the embarrassment of the hitter, but still, it's not fun to watch, or be a part of.
Perhaps the more embarrassing variant of the strikeout is the called third strike. Being "caught looking", or as Ernie Harwell put it, "window shopping", means a walk back to the dugout without even the revise of having made an attempt at hitting the ball. Sometimes it's being frozen by a breaking pitch that looks outside the strike zone and then dives back in at the last second, other times it's being at the mercy of the umpire's sight and the catcher's framing of the pitch, and sometimes it's not trusting your first instinct to swing, only to find out that it was a pitch to swing at. And that's before the fanatics chime in with their opinion of how your at-bat went. The "best" opinion they can have is a belief that the umpire is not enforcing an appropriate strike zone. It goes downhill from there, including things like the Bronx cheer, the boo birds, and many, many colorful phrases involving relatives and anatomical impossibilities.
For pitchers, of course, strikeouts are good things. Statistically, the number of strikeouts follows the earned run average as the measure of effectiveness for a pitcher. Strikeouts are easier to achieve by having several pitches to be able to select from or by having velocity and accuracy that is difficult to catch or wait out. At least, that's what I'm guessing from viewing other games - my experience as a pitcher is that I never got that many strikeouts because of not having much velocity. The other pitcher did, and they had a higher quantity of strikeouts. I just had lots of ground balls and needed all the fielders behind me to produce outs. (This is a valid strategy, but it also requires good fielders behind the pitcher.)
The meaning of this card depends on whether you're hitting or pitching. If you're the batter, well, strikeouts represent failure. It might be am inability to execute, it might be a problem of judgment, or it could be something entirely out of your control and someone else has determined to be not good enough. In any case, as with other times of getting out, it means you'll have to wait until the next time and try again. There's things to learn from this time up that may be helpful next time, one pitch selection...and what's the umpire is calling strikes. Try not to be discouraged and be ready to go again.
If you're pitching, congratulations. You're one more out closer to the goal, and you were able to execute the pitches you wanted to do it. Take what you've learned about this batter and keep it in mind for later. Now, however, you have to face the next batter, who will have a completely different plan and set of pitches to face. The temporary nature of your success is important, but you can certainly enjoy the victory that you have achieved at this point.
