The Baseball Desert

Thursday, March 17, 2005

Quality start

Beth hasn't been around much lately, but as always, when she takes here turn in the rotation, she gives a quality start. She has a great picture of Fenway on her blog, which in itself would be worth the proverbial thousand words, but she's not content to leave it at that. In the very same post she goes on to describe a double-play she saw this week in a way that I can only describe as Angell-esque. Apologies for quoting verbatim once again, but Beth has great stuff:
It should be mentioned, though, that a wickedly sharp double play enacted by the Braves' crisp infield yesterday was worth the price of admission. I can't be bothered to find out the names of the players involved, and no game recaps seem to mention the play. But you know what it's like, and in a way, who the players are doesn't matter right now, does it? The ball bounced toward the shortstop, who, with grapevine steps to his right, snapped up the ball, whirling in one smooth motion toward the second baseman, who stood straddling his bag, catching and leaping and throwing all at once as the runner slid toward him, zinging the ball to first where it was caught with a stomp in the heartbeat before the hitter reached the base...

Could have been any players. Could have been any team. Could have been any year. So graceful was the play, so meticulously did it hang together, that it seemed as if the opposition between the teams had given way to graceful cooperation, as if the two teams had become one machine, precise, moving in concert. The miracle of a play like this is that it was routine. Commonplace. Garden-variety. A jewel taken completely for granted in the beautiful game.
I imagine that the pitching line on this entry would look something like this:

IP 8 H 4 R 1 ER 1 BB 1 SO 5.