English 101 - Baseball Essay
Haydon Nix
Professor Matuszewski
English 101
16 February 2017
Baseball Essay
Baseball is America’s pastime. It’s a sport that millions of people watch and enjoy every year. Without baseball people such as, Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, and even Mike Trout would not be as influential as they are or were. I am going to explain what it takes to learn and play the sport of baseball. In order for one to learn and play baseball, they need to be mentally strong, be athletic, be able to withstand rigorous training, and be motivated.
Mental strength is something that is learned over time. I don’t believe people are born mentally strong. Mental strength comes with life experience and discipline. Some say baseball is 80 percent mental and 20 percent physical. Having experience in the sport, I, without a doubt, agree with that statement. If you let the thought of making a mistake into your mind, you’ve already been beat. “Baseball places unique mental demands on its athletes by virtue of the long periods when a player is inactive, either by being on the bench or when the play is not directed in his direction (such as the outfielder who does not have the ball hit in his direction for a number of innings) (“Baseball”). In a baseball game, one can be very easily distracted by the fans, teammates in the dugout, or even the other team. The player on the bench play an even bigger role than some may think. Players on the bench are responsible for keeping their teammates heads in the game and trying to play a part in the game even from the bench. For example, benched players can try to pick the other teams signs, tell their base runners when a pick is coming, or even cheering on their batter. All of these things play a major role in a team and individual player’s success in the sport. Mental strength is only 80 percent of the game, the other 20 percent, athleticism, is just as important because without it, you’re incomplete.
An athlete is a person trained or gifted in exercises or contests involving physical agility, stamina, or strength; a participant in a sport, exercise, or game requiring physical skill. Athleticism, again, is something, I believe, people are born with and don’t acquire later in life. Some people are physically gifted at birth and others may be gifted in others aspects of life. However, being athletic is crucial in baseball, and in sports in general. Baseball is an intense sport that requires one’s upmost physical ability in all parts of the game. From practicing six days a week, and playing games on top of that, baseball will push even the most athletically gifted human to the point of breaking. A baseball player must be able to, and excel at, running, jumping, sliding, throwing, and hitting. Without athleticism, a baseball player wouldn’t be a player at all. In the end, if a player is athletic, but can handle the training required to maintain healthy and strong, they will not last long in the sport.
Physical training is something that many other athletes must do, however, in baseball the training is not just focused on one aspect of the sport, it covers all aspects of the sport. Believe it or not, baseball players need extensive cardio training. Whether it’s for sprinting on and off the field or just for running around the bases, baseball players must have superb cardiovascular-endurance. Core strength is key to many actions in this sport. For example, swinging a bat requires an incredible amount of core strength and stability. Strengthening the core is not only an important aspect of performance, it also protects a players back from injury. Upper body strength is also extremely important to gain and maintain in the sport of baseball. A strong upper body allows players to throw and swing with must less stress on the muscles. Lastly, fast feet and agility play a major role in the success of a baseball player. Ladder drills are a common drill that coaches will have their players do to increase their quickness and awareness of their feet. The former head baseball coach at Esperanza high school, Mike Curran, said “it was extremely important that I had my team working out at least 4 times a week so they could maintain their strength before as well as during the season” (Curran). Mike also went on to talk about how cardio training was a major part of his baseball program because he wanted his players to be above proficient in every aspect of the game. All in all, baseball players must have the motivation to withstand a variety of physical training throughout their careers in order to succeed.