CAPITAL TIMES, August 22, 1990
TAKE A BREAK JOIN THE PENN STATE PRIDE
Don Walters
Capital Times Sports Editor
If you're continuing your education
here at Penn State Harrisburg, consider
enhancing that education by participating
in PSH sports.
Participate by courageously
competing at the varsity or intramural
level. Participate by spectating and
enjoying the beauty and physical grace
of athletes in action on a crisp cool fall
afternoon. Participate and emancipate
yourself from the labors of everyday
college life by educating your passions
SPORTS FEATURE
BASEBALL ... PASTIME OR PROFESSION?
Don Walters
Capital Times
Recently I have heard that baseball
has the pace of America's pastoral past.
True. I agree that in its childhood the
game may have matched the description
of an unhurried or leisurely "pastime",
but less than exciting moments became
a thing of the past after the introduction
of overhand pitching and livelier balls
balanced the scales between pitcher and
batter. Also, fielding gloves gave fielders
the defensive edge that they needed, and
spectators eventually perpetuated the
million dollar player, another exciting
extra. These additions helped our pastime
mature into a million dollar business.
But hold it right there. Lest we forget
that this business owes its success to a
precise craft involving blazing speeds
and fractions of seconds; a scientific
ritual played between tenacious
competitors at a relentless pace; and a
religiously dedicated congregation who
worship their timeless "pastime" of nine
innings.
Take for instance, Nolan Ryan of the
Texas Rangers, who "strikes" fear in the
mind of every batter he faces. This guy's
fastball has been consistently clocked at
over 90 mph. You don't need a scientific
calculator (a business model will do) to
figure that when one of these pitches
leaves Mr. Ryan's hand approximately
55 feet from the plate it will reach its
destination in .4167 second. In
comparison, his change-up or breaking-
NEEDED: Cheerleaders
We need energetic men and women to help support
``
--, , \ our athletic teams during the 1990-91 academic
-0p year. The PSH Cheerleaders cheer during soccer
and basketball seasons.
‘
, I f
There will be a meeting this Thursday at 8:30 p.m
in the CUB building or leave a note in the
cheerleading mailbox (216-Olmsted building) or
see Vicki Cuscino or Amy Killeen in Church Hall.
iii ,
„ z,,-,
i Practices for try-outs begin next week. Help lead
our teams to VICTORY!
c.. NZ,
and joining the pride at a PSH sporting
event.
WHAT! Not enough time? You have
to study. Hmm. You do have a point and
I too realize a lot of emphasis is placed
on academic performance these days
which in turn places more pressure on
you and me to kedp those grades up, but
hey, you know as well as I do that the
best way to relieve some of that tension
is through sport and recreation.
Besides, academics are one thing but
extra-curricular activities say a lot about
a person too. Not only do they promote
physical fitness, but they develop
interpersonal and time management
ball pitch only loiters along at 80mph.
It travels 117.3 feet per second and will
arrive in .4688 second. Now the
difference of .052 may not seem like
much but that is an important split
second. According to the batter's swing,
it can be the difference between a home
run and a foul ball.
But wait. Take one step at a time.
First the courageous batter must hit the
ball.
Therefore he must immediately decide
- if not guess - whether the pitch will
pass through the strikezone. Having
decided to swing he has about two-tenth
of a second to do it.
Meanwhile, he has been striding
forward and holding his hands just right
just long enough like a snake about to
strike. Then turning his hips and then
his upper body with a precise flow of
energy while keeping his head down and
his eyes everlastingly on the ball- he
swings.
Any player who proceeds to put the
ball into play is doing something quite
remarkable. Consistently good hitters are
truly astonishing; .
Whether a strikeout or a homerun is
experienced baseball also thrives on the
precise compilation of both the physical
and mental skills possessed by each
pitcher, batter or fielder involved in a
play. These skills endlessly perpetuate
nuance after nuance of this composite
sport which is an exacting profession
demanding constant attention to the law
SPORTS
skills as well as enhance student body
cohesion and school spirit. These
attributes may help you discover that
extra dimension you seek in reaching a
post-graduate goal.
That is why the athletic department at
PSH urges all new and continuing
students to take part this fall. There are a
variety of intercollegiate and intramural
sports offered, and if you have a will
they have the way.
The fall agenda offers intercollegiate
baseball, men's and women's basketball
and cheerleading, soccer, and women's
volleyball. All are played at the NAIA
level.
of cumulatiort.
A lot of little things add up to big
differences. Especially throughout a 162
game season which is sort of like life
another exercise in cumulation. Both life
and baseball are not complicated in their
objective: everyone wants to succeed or
win. But to execute successfully one
must surpass layer upon layer of
complex situations. There is a lot of
thought involved.
This pattern characterizes baseball as
an individual sport that you play as a
team member. It is not a team sport in
the sense that football is. In football
eleven men move in an assigned pattern
on a prearranged signal.
Baseball, however, is most like a
team sport on defense, when a full team
is on the field. Then it is more of a team
sport than most fans realize. If a team
on defense is doing its job correctly, all
nine men are playing as one on every
pitch. This playing as a team may not
involve nine discernable movements.
Indeed it should not. Playing together
should not reveal too much. Some, even
most of the playing together must be
inferred - to stay one step ahead of the
opposition.
Just imagine taut elastic bands
connecting every player behind the
pitcher and catcher. As the pitcher begins
his delivery, every player should impart
some change in the tension of the band.
A change that radiates throughout the
team. Most changes would be a slight
There will be an organizational
meeting for soccer this evening at 6:30
p.m. in room 125 CUB. Thursday there
will be organizational meetings for
Volleyball, Cheerleading, and Baseball at
8:00, 8:30, and 9:00 p.m. respectively
in the CUB gym.
On a lighter competitive note fall
intramurals offer slow-pitch softball
(entry deadline 8/31), flag football,
walleyball, and 3 on 3 basketball.
Anyone interested should stop by the
athletic department in room 121 for
more information
Also available are aerobic and
anaerobic programs.
movement, or leaning, denoting the
essence of defensive play- anticipation.
It is this type of play in which
baseball exemplifies a tension in the
early- American mind: the constant pull
between our atomistic individualism and
our yearning for togetherness. It is a
team game in which the episodic action
begins by repeated confrontations
between two individuals standing alone,
the pitcher and the batter.
But baseball is really a one against
nine game, and if the batter has more
than one teammate on base, there is two
or more against nine. To understand
defensive play is to realize that there is
no simple batter - against - pitcher
confrontation.
It was through this scientifically
competitive perspective that the late 19
century American fell in love with the
game.
Today, baseball is big business; part
of the vast entertainment industry that
has grown in response to the growth of
leisure time and disposable income. In
1989, 55,174,603 spectators paid
megabucks to get into 26 major league
ballparks. What they paid to see was a
realm of excellence in which character,
work habits and intelligence-mind- make
the difference between mere adequacy and
excellence.
The work is long, hard and
sometimes dangerous. The work is a
game men play, but they do not play at
it. That is why they, and their craft live
on.