Here he comes, the batter, after two minutes of practicing his swing with the air of a true Babe Ruth. I can see that this warm-up is the pride and joy of his eight-year career as a baseball player. As the sound of cheers erupts, he looks up to see that the boy batting before him has already started to jog toward first base. The batter grabs his bat and swaggers over to home base. He tips up his helmet, sniffs, and gets into position. Dust flies as the pitcher pitches the ball down the strike line toward the batter. The batter swings his bat like a pro and ping! goes the bat as it just tips the ball. The mother who had started to stand up with joy slowly sits back down, disappointed. The batter shakes it off and gets into position again. The pitcher swings into the windup, and, again, the batter swings his bat with all his might. Swoosh! goes the air around him as he dizzily spins around with the force of his practiced swing. I can see his face. He cannot believe this is happening.

The pitcher chuckles a little as he winds up the ball, once again. Everyone’s face dips backward. We all try to catch a glimpse of the ball. One of these faces is the second baseman who cannot believe his luck as the ball falls down towards his face. His glove goes up, closing over the ball it just caught. The baseman brings the ball up to his face in wonder, and in gaining back his senses, he throws it to first to get the player running to second base in excitement out. The once-happy batter sadly walks back to the dugout in shame.