Reply #34: That's all part of it, though [View All]

Kind of like a chess match where you're trying to break the other player's concentration. Stepping out of the batter's box at the last second is designed to throw the pitcher's timing and the pitcher stepping off the mound is designed to keep the base runner(s) in check and on the bag and to draw out the at bat and disrupt the batter's concentration.

I know, your response is going to be along the lines of, "Well, that's fine but I don't like to watch a chess match either, it's boring." But the chess match doesn't follow the intricate dance steps with a grounder shot down the first base line for a base-clearing triple.

There's a finesse involved, a strategy, that's like a dance. The ball leaves the mound and all things are possible. A passed ball or wild pitch (saw one not too long ago that was so wild it bounced into the seats behind home plate -- over the screen), a broken-bat grounder to short for a double play, a home run that sails out of the park, arcing against the sky, a bloop single, a ground-rule double, a strike out...the combinations and possibilities are practically infinite. All that has to happen is for the ball to leave the pitcher's hand.

And don't get me started on the breathtaking, awe-inspiring beauty of a tight double play...

*sigh*

:loveya: