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FROM THE SIDELINE

Former American Press sportswriter Carl Dubois blogs about the games people play, in and out of sports, and the people you meet between and outside the lines.

Carl is an award-winning reporter and columnist living in the Willamette Valley in northwest Oregon, near Portland. He is sports editor of the News-Register newspaper in McMinnville, Ore.

 Meet the Blogger

Here’s the pitch …

Posted April 5, 2009 at 4:00 pm
Filed Under Sports | Leave a Comment

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The umpire, if he deserves to be there at all, hollers “Play ball!” You walk from the on-deck circle toward home plate. You approach the batter’s box like an inspector, paying great attention to detail.

An expert grounds crew spent much of the offseason preparing the field, and before the game the dirt around home plate was smoothed, raked, watered, marked and green-lighted. Still, you have to make sure it meets your standards.

A sweep of the left foot moves some dirt around, just for good measure. Hmm. Feels about right. It couldn’t hurt anything to work the foot in reverse, redistributing. If the dirt ends up more or less like it was when the grounds crew left it, then maybe they got it right, huh?

One foot’s in. One is out. You’re not ready yet. Adjust the tuck of your shirt, hitch your pants, tug on your batting glove. Get it all in the right order. You do have a ritual. This will be the first of many this season. Find the rhythm now.

Lower the bat until the barrel is just above the plate. Measure your distance, where you should stand in the box. If, at this angle, the bat reaches midway across home plate, then you know when it’s swung parallel to the ground it should have full coverage. You know this instinctively, but it doesn’t hurt that you checked it out with videotape, just to be sure.

The other thing you learned from studying video is you’ve been standing too far back in the box against pitchers like this one. You’re going to move up, hoping to catch the best of that freaky pitch of his before it reaches full nasty. Good luck with that, you tell yourself.

You look over for the sign, but you know you’re on your own. You’re leading off the first game of the season. Sure, you’re taking until you see a strike. Everyone knows that.

Unless …

A quick glance at the ump. Yes, he’s ready. You put the back foot in the box. Dig in with the cleats. Start the back and forth of what amount to timing swings, one-quarter-speed practice cuts in the box that help you with balance. These movements of the bat just before the pitch are every batter’s signature, and those who watch the games can mimic the pendulum motions of their favorite hitters.

That’s right, hitters. You’re not up here to bat. You’re here to hit.

You know what this pitcher’s got — or at least what he had last season. Did he sharpen his breaking ball? Does his slider come in on one plane still, or has he mastered the sink he needs to make it an out pitch? Oh, and that changeup was a joke last year. Did he work on that?

What’s his book on you? Have you given away any tendencies in batting practice? You know these guys pay attention, unlike other teams in the league. They’ve got gamers who look for the slightest edge. Not all of them live on the Internet, but many do. The best ones supplement with what they see with their eyes on the field — before, during and after.

Deep breath. Relax. Block everything out.

You can’t see the ball yet. He’s hiding it. You’re not even sure where you’ll first see it. Maybe he changed his delivery just enough to make it more difficult to pick up the pitch before it explodes past you. Those warmup tosses didn’t show anything, but those were warmup tosses.

Your eyes are everything. You really can’t hit what you can’t see. Relax, but be ready. In decidedly less time than it takes to say “four-tenths of a second,” you’ll have to decide whether it’s a ball or a strike, whether it’s your pitch or not, whether to swing or not, whether to take it to the opposite field or drive to your power field, whether to let it go by so you — and your teammates — can see his other pitches.

Your bat is at the starting position. Your eyes are focused. You no longer hear the buzz from the fans. You hear your heartbeat. The adrenaline is surging.

Here’s the pitch …

It’s Opening Night for Major League Baseball. Enjoy.

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