That’s the Way the Ball Bounces

by Austin Bates

Spring Baseball

When basketball ends, baseball begins. Every year, high school baseball players enter spring training and experience the joys of getting into "baseball" shape. Baseball shape is different from any other sport. Muscles you never dreamed of using in other sports suddenly make themselves appear in a burning, painful fashion. Spring training pretty much boils down to a sore arm, heating pads, and tub after tub of Icy Hot.

With the new year, comes the arrival of new talent. Freshmen learn the ways of their new high school club, while the sophomores have grown a foot taller and are no longer timid around the upperclassmen. This only means one thing—competition. Competition between players in the spring can determine playing time in the summer. Freshmen and sophomores work hard to steal away an upperclassman's position in the field, while juniors and seniors work to protect the positions they have come to love. Competition is what makes spring training nerve-racking, muscle-aching, and above all, exciting.

Not only is spring training filled with competition and sore muscles, but the weather is unbearably cold. Early spring brings 40-degree weather and, in Corbett, Oregon, 50-mph wind gusts. Let's not even talk about the wind chill! The players who show up in the cold, rainy and windy practices are the ones who truly love the game. In those practices, bases become puddles and pop-flys become anything but routine. High-schoolers return home in clothes that once had been clean, but now resemble the Durham Bulls uniforms, after sliding through the sprinkler-soaked field. Players return home battered and bruised, grass stains on their pants and mud caked on their cleats—but usually with tired grins across their faces. With every practice, ball players are one step closer to the first game, the season opener—competition.

Before that happens, the rust has to come off. Getting in the batting cage after nine months of going cold turkey on baseball, is like trying to hit bullets with a tire iron. The pitching machines are relentless, sending a constant stream of 60-mph fastballs at you, that seem as if they're going 100 mph. As spring rolls on, hitting improves. Taking the minimum of 60 cuts a day in the cage pays off when that wicked fastball, from three weeks earlier, now looks like a hittable 40-mph change. It takes about three to four weeks for hitters to regain their hitting swagger from the previous year. When a player gets his swing back, he can't wait to tee-off on his friends in live practice, and his hunger for the first game and a chance at that poor, poor opposing pitcher.

Hitters should always keep in mind what Mickey Mantle once said: "During my 18 years, I came to bat almost 10,000 times. I struck out about 1,700 times and walked maybe 1,800 times. You figure a ballplayer will average about 500 at bats a season. That means I played seven years without ever hitting the ball." This quote can give some perspective on being patient and letting the hours of practice take their full effect.

Finally, another big, big part of spring practice is getting the field back to game shape. The Saturday work crews of players, coaches and high-school groundskeepers swarm baseball diamonds that haven't seen a ground ball for eight to nine months. Hours upon hours are spent driving carts, fixing backstops, mowing the outfield and raking the infield until the field is like new. At Corbett, the only enemy you face on Saturdays is the rain and the wind. Gusts of up to 60 mph can rush in and ruin hours of work in seconds. However, when the games finally start in Corbett, the wind does its part too, because when the gusts return, fly balls and curveballs take on lives of their own and inspire panic in opposing teams—but not ours.

As Nuke Laroosh said in Bull Durham, "A good friend of mine used to say, 'This is a very simple game. You throw the ball, you catch the ball, you hit the ball. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose, sometimes it rains.' Think about that for a while." What a great movie.

Baseball fans and players, alike, it's finally here—the greatest sport ever created! Time to dust off old cleats, get the glove that hopefully hasn't sat dormant for too long, and go get dirty. Play your heart out. Give it your all in the cold, and prepare for the heat. It's a new baseball season, the slate's wiped clean. Good Luck! Play Ball!

Austin Bates is the newest (and youngest) contributor to the JUGS Newsletter. Austin, a native Oregonian, has been a sports fan since he was three years old. He has played—and continues to play—basketball and baseball, and he watches basketball and baseball and football on TV. His favorite teams are the Portland Trailblazers, the Seattle Mariners and the St. Louis Rams. Currently, his favorite athlete is Brandon Roy. In addition to enjoying sports, Austin is an avid video gamer. He is currently a junior at Corbett High School. Austin intends to go to college to pursue a career in medicine or journalism. JUGS is happy to have him as a rookie reporter on its sports-writing team. Feedback regarding Austin's articles may be sent c/o Steve Candello, at stevec@jkpsports.com.