All-Star Sprint 11 - Out (9 of Bats)
Jul. 11th, 2016 09:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silveradept[This is part of a series exploring the Baseball Tarot.]
Outs come in many forms. Strike outs, ground outs, fly outs, pop outs, foul outs, outs on appeal, double and triple plays, and more. Outs are the way of the baseball game - without them, it can't end, as there's no clock or timer or other pressure to move the game along. Outs are a fundamental structure of the game of baseball.
Of course, they're also in a limited supply. Each team gets only twenty-seven of them guaranteed, and their management is crucial to whether or not a team will win their games. Standing in contradiction to this is the reality that even the very best baseball players are still more likely to make an out going up to the plate than they are going to make a hit. If one simulated baseball solely on the long term results of every player, it wouldn't look like anyone scored any runs out for any hits or was a standout everything - all of them all got out more than half the time. That's kind of depressing - what other game celebrates such futility by putting players who do poorly, but slightly better than all the others, in their Hall of Fame?
To any fanatic of baseball, though, what happens for things that aren't outs when your side is up to bat combine with the outs your team creates while on defense to have a complete baseball partisan experience. The highlight reels provide airtime for both displays of offensive power and excellence in defensive fielding, and the fanatics will cheer both of them equally, because they understand that both are important to winning the game. So outs are both beneficial and harmful, depending on which side of the bat you are on.
Umpires have two basic signals that they use to communicate their calls visually - the indicators of out and safe. Because appeals and other requests of the umpire are always framed so as to give yes or no answers, they are also easily communicable with the out or safe signals.
To indicate an out, the umpire makes what is classically called "the hammer" - a closed fist, with their arm bent at a right angle, with the sign given in a motion reminiscent of a hammer being swung. If one is watching televised baseball, the home plate umpire in the Major League division may use an alternate hand gesture to indicate strikes or strikeouts such as the "punchout". This is technically not in the rules, and the hammer gesture is to be used preferably, but good television and all that. At the lower levels and the learning leagues, the hammer gesture is much more prevalent for strike calls. As one might guess, the hammer is also widely visible to anyone watching the game, so that even if one does not hear the umpire boom out the call because of the background noise of the fanatics, one can see what the call was.
The out gesture is also used as the affirmative in appeal questions such as "Did the batter swing at the pitch?" or "Did the runner fail to legally touch second base?" because many appeal questions will result in outs if they are upheld. This makes the gesture practical as well as visible.
The presence of an out in your reading can mean a temporarily setback, if you are hitting. It is an incremental step toward the end result of your plan and process. Spectacular and flashy outs are more visible, but most of the outs collected in any given game are "routine", indistinguishable from any other out hit that way. This is encouraging to the hitter, actually - most of us will encounter mistakes and failures and commit mistakes and failures, and even though the majority of times will involve mistakes and failures, they provide experience and learning that can be put to use later on. Yes, sometimes those outs are the ones that end the game in a loss, but most of them just mean taking another walk to the dugout. Plus, it's still possible for you to be put out through no failure of your own - you happen to be the lead runner and the batter hit the ball right at the base you have to get to. And sometimes, type being asked to sacrifice yourself to help your team out. Those are also outs all the same, but they're outs according to the plan. Execute them well, and hopefully you will be rewarded. Forgive yourself your mistakes, learn from them, and then understand that the next time, it's another chance - everyone has more experience now, but it's still a chance. One percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. And every now and then, you will succeed and have a reason to celebrate.
If you are fielding, an out represents another step of progress toward your goal. Every time you get three, you can come in and pick up the bats to hit with. Skill in fielding leads to chances for hitting. Aligning the Mitts, Balls, and Bases means that the Bats will follow. Outs for fielders are rewards of practice, mental acuity, and determination, and occasionally good luck, reflexes, and sheer physical ability.
The thing to remember about an out is that it's small, it's temporary, and you need more of them to create a change in situation. Trying to resist getting out is trying to engage in perfectionism. And no team or individual can sustain perfectionism forever. The game must go on.
Outs come in many forms. Strike outs, ground outs, fly outs, pop outs, foul outs, outs on appeal, double and triple plays, and more. Outs are the way of the baseball game - without them, it can't end, as there's no clock or timer or other pressure to move the game along. Outs are a fundamental structure of the game of baseball.
Of course, they're also in a limited supply. Each team gets only twenty-seven of them guaranteed, and their management is crucial to whether or not a team will win their games. Standing in contradiction to this is the reality that even the very best baseball players are still more likely to make an out going up to the plate than they are going to make a hit. If one simulated baseball solely on the long term results of every player, it wouldn't look like anyone scored any runs out for any hits or was a standout everything - all of them all got out more than half the time. That's kind of depressing - what other game celebrates such futility by putting players who do poorly, but slightly better than all the others, in their Hall of Fame?
To any fanatic of baseball, though, what happens for things that aren't outs when your side is up to bat combine with the outs your team creates while on defense to have a complete baseball partisan experience. The highlight reels provide airtime for both displays of offensive power and excellence in defensive fielding, and the fanatics will cheer both of them equally, because they understand that both are important to winning the game. So outs are both beneficial and harmful, depending on which side of the bat you are on.
Umpires have two basic signals that they use to communicate their calls visually - the indicators of out and safe. Because appeals and other requests of the umpire are always framed so as to give yes or no answers, they are also easily communicable with the out or safe signals.
To indicate an out, the umpire makes what is classically called "the hammer" - a closed fist, with their arm bent at a right angle, with the sign given in a motion reminiscent of a hammer being swung. If one is watching televised baseball, the home plate umpire in the Major League division may use an alternate hand gesture to indicate strikes or strikeouts such as the "punchout". This is technically not in the rules, and the hammer gesture is to be used preferably, but good television and all that. At the lower levels and the learning leagues, the hammer gesture is much more prevalent for strike calls. As one might guess, the hammer is also widely visible to anyone watching the game, so that even if one does not hear the umpire boom out the call because of the background noise of the fanatics, one can see what the call was.
The out gesture is also used as the affirmative in appeal questions such as "Did the batter swing at the pitch?" or "Did the runner fail to legally touch second base?" because many appeal questions will result in outs if they are upheld. This makes the gesture practical as well as visible.
The presence of an out in your reading can mean a temporarily setback, if you are hitting. It is an incremental step toward the end result of your plan and process. Spectacular and flashy outs are more visible, but most of the outs collected in any given game are "routine", indistinguishable from any other out hit that way. This is encouraging to the hitter, actually - most of us will encounter mistakes and failures and commit mistakes and failures, and even though the majority of times will involve mistakes and failures, they provide experience and learning that can be put to use later on. Yes, sometimes those outs are the ones that end the game in a loss, but most of them just mean taking another walk to the dugout. Plus, it's still possible for you to be put out through no failure of your own - you happen to be the lead runner and the batter hit the ball right at the base you have to get to. And sometimes, type being asked to sacrifice yourself to help your team out. Those are also outs all the same, but they're outs according to the plan. Execute them well, and hopefully you will be rewarded. Forgive yourself your mistakes, learn from them, and then understand that the next time, it's another chance - everyone has more experience now, but it's still a chance. One percent inspiration, ninety-nine percent perspiration. And every now and then, you will succeed and have a reason to celebrate.
If you are fielding, an out represents another step of progress toward your goal. Every time you get three, you can come in and pick up the bats to hit with. Skill in fielding leads to chances for hitting. Aligning the Mitts, Balls, and Bases means that the Bats will follow. Outs for fielders are rewards of practice, mental acuity, and determination, and occasionally good luck, reflexes, and sheer physical ability.
The thing to remember about an out is that it's small, it's temporary, and you need more of them to create a change in situation. Trying to resist getting out is trying to engage in perfectionism. And no team or individual can sustain perfectionism forever. The game must go on.
