The Natural Roy Hobbs was the best baseball player there ever was. He was a natural to the game. He could hit anything, catch anything and pitch to whoever he wanted and get the ball to do what he wanted it to. In the pre-game Roy is given the chance to pitch against one of the greatest players of the game, the Whammer. “The third ball slithered at the batter like a meteor…though he willed to destroy the sound he heard a gong bong and realized with sadness that the ball he had expected to hit had long since been part of the past; and though Max could not cough the fatal word out of his throat, the Whammer understood he was, in the truest sense of it, out”(23). Most of the evidence that Roy is a natural comes from the rest of the book. Here are some examples. “Fowler flung a stiff wrist knuckler that hung in the air with out spin before it took a sudden dip, but Roy scooped it up with the stick and lifted it twenty rows up into the center field stands”(30). “Wonder boy flashed in the sun. It caught the sphere where it was biggest. A noise like a twenty-one gun salute cracked the sky. There was a straining, ripping sound and a few drops of rain spattered to the ground. The ball screamed toward the pitcher and seemed suddenly to dive down at his feet. He grabbed it to throw to first and realized to his horror that he held only the cover”(70). Roy Hobbs is also a natural in the sense that he is a kind of idiot. In the pre-game Roy shows lots of this characteristic. It started right way in the book on page four where he isn’t able to put both feet in separate pant legs. He had a hard time of doing some simple stuff like shavi... ... middle of paper ... ...n making him an idiot. The woman that is most presented to us is Memo. She puts him into a slump that he can’t beat for along time until he meets a lady by the name of Iris. She tries to get him to question his values and fails to question them again. Throughout the book he is most concerned with getting more hit and breaking more records and win more. He also gets infatuated with Memo. She keeps pretending to like him but she poisons his food and gets him out of some very important games so that she can make a lot of money with a bookie. Towards the end of the book Iris once again give Roy one last chance to question his values and again being the simple idiot that he is he does not and eventually goes on to loose the pennant game. At the end of the book Memo tells Roy that she had always found him repulsive. He once again had gotten burned by woman.
Soon Jackie Robinson proved himself worthy of playing for the Dodgers. He had to adjust to some new trials and always remember to not show emotion. Jackie had to learn play first base instead of short stop because that was the teams strong point in Peewee Reese. He also could not react to anything. Teammates, other players, and fans will greatly test him, but he must be strong.
Jackie Robinson, a famous black baseball player, proved to the world that just because you have a different skin color does not mean that you aren’t as good as someone with a different color skin. Jackie was the first black man to ever sign with and play for a team that was a part of the all-white major league baseball organization. He along with Branch Rickey, the manager of the dodgers who signed Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball and led the way for other talented Negro ball players to get into the majors.
In the novel “The Natural” written by Bernard Malamud Roy Hobbs is a man that is terrible with making good decisions for himself as well as learning from his mistakes. In the film version of the movie directed by Barry Levinson, the viewer is exposed to a Roy Hobbs that is the exact opposite. Movie Roy shows the viewer how a mature professional baseball player is supposed to handle himself and how to go about life. Overall the two differences in character are very profound and speak volume to the differences that movies and books have. Roy Hobbs is a different character in the book and in the movie and it shows by his decision making, rational responses and how he handles certain situations.
can hit and field like no one else. He is an amazing player and great hitter. He has a great
Before the Dodger manager scouted Jackie, he had to ask Jackie to endure racism during the game and in his team. And he decided to just ignore the insult. And last, he became the players for the Dodgers. He was the only African American baseball player in Major League. Because he was black, most of the teammates were not supportive. After the spring training, Jackie advances to the Dodgers. Because of the racism, most of the team member signs that refuse to play baseball with Jackie, but Leo Durocher, manager, insist Jackie will play in the main team. But when manager suspended, New manager(Burt Shotton) came. During the game of Philadelphia phillies and Los Angeles Dodgers, Ben Chapman jeered Jackie, caused him to break his bat(because of anger). But with Rickey’s encouragement, he played well during that game. When the game was ended, the action of Chapman created the bad press to the team, causing him to pose with him (for newspaper and magazine). After his teammates Pee Wee Reese, understood the pressure that Jackie’s facing, they had match with Pittsburgh pirates. Rickey hit a homerun against the pitcher(Fritz Ostermueller), who hit him in the head. This Home run boost their team to the world series. However, they lost to New
Certainly one aspect of Cobb’s life, his hard work, successful career, determination, dedication, and ability, is remarkably admirable. But the other side of Cobb, his irascible nature, racist attitude, and volatile temper, has created a little doubt as to whether he is in fact a hero. However, looking at Cobb for what he accomplished in baseball, and how he accomplished his goals, through hard work and determination, gives him my vote for the best player to ever grace the great american pastime, “Baseball”
Jackie Robinson was the first black baseball player to play on the professional level, he was fearless, courageous, willful and strong. He was an advocate for civil rights, as well as a great baseball player. He had to try to keep quiet, and keep to himself while playing, but became a stronger and more extreme advocate over time. A leader on and off the fields dealing with much more than just baseball, he also had to deal with the criticism and racial tensions of a prominently white game. Branch Rickey, the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers, was a showman who knew how to make money and fame in baseball “he had made a fortune for the cardinals as well as himself, and black talent could argument his bottom line by transforming his struggling dodgers into a power house” (Zeiler, 17). He wanted to make his team great by any means possible. He put his eyes on Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson changed the game and the world, and will always be a huge figure in baseball and civil rights.
Jackie Robinson did more in his short baseball career than anyone else ever did for the sport. He was always able to push on despite the criticisms and punishment he took from others. No other man can say that they broke the color barrier or that they changed the sport of baseball forever. To do what he did required strength and the ability to endure physical and mental pain. Jackie Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player. He knew that if he failed to integrate baseball he could delay civil rights. By doing what he did, Jackie Robinson contributed greatly to the civil rights movement. His life experiences and hardships allowed him to leave a mark on civil rights that extended farther than just baseball.
Cobb got called up by the Detriot Tigers in 1905 the same year as his father’s death. Cobb played like baseball like a runaway fright train. Cobb’s baserunning ablites were surpassed by none. He would stop at nothing to win, he was the first to run into a catcher at home and did hook slides which caused great outrage. In one game Cobb did a hook slide and caused a the third basemen a cut on his arm. Connie Mack the Philadelphia manger at the time called him “the dirtest player ever.” After that game Cobb recieved many death threats from Philadelphia fans because of the incident. In reaction to his baserunning Cobb said, “Baseball is not unlike war.” (http.//wso.williams.edu/~jkossutn/cobb/running.htm)
When people think of baseball, pitchers normally come to mind: starters, relief pitchers and then there are the closers. The closer is a crucial asset for a baseball team, without an outstanding closer a team could fold in the last inning of the game. To be a great closer, one must have excellent control, the ability to outwit a batter, and movement on their pitches. In order to be remembered as one of the all-time greatest closers, they must have the statistics as well as effective pitches. Mariano Rivera, the most well-known closer for the New York Yankees, was able to use his background to further his love for baseball by accomplishing many goals set during his career while also setting the highest rankings in baseball closers’ history.
Baseball is considered America’s past time. Legends like Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Jackie Robinson, and many more have come and gone. Throughout baseball’s history certain players have excelled more than others, and like any sport they were successful by exploiting their strengths. It isn’t the rules, uniforms, stadiums, and fan base that make baseball a beautiful sport; it’s the players. Anyone competing, whether it is at a professional level or not, has their own unique mechanics that allows them to perform the best they can. No pitcher throws the ball the same way as another and no batter hits the ball the same way as another. Every baseball player has a routine in everything they do that makes them special. It has been said that hitting a baseball is the hardest task in all of sports. To accomplish that task, all factors come in to play; the type of pitch being thrown, the release point of the pitch, the break of the ball, etc. All those factors occur before the batter’s swing is fully initiated. As mentioned earlier, no batter swings the same way as another however, the mechanics of a swing is a different thing entirely. The mechanics of one’s swing begins when a batter enters the box and ends when a batter exits, what happens in between is up to the batter. By perfecting a batter’s mechanics while in the box, their chances of making contact increase greatly.
In the August 30, 1905 edition of Detroit’s Free Press, the sportswriters ran a small blurb announcing the arrival of a Detroit Tigers rookie, Ty Cobb. They stated, “Cobb left the South Atlantic League with a batting average of .328. He will not pile up anything like that in this league, and he doesn’t expect to” (Allen 177). Their prediction ironically rung true. Cobb hit better than their projected .328 batting average twenty times in his twenty four seasons (McCallum 217). Tyrus Raymond Cobb’s prolific career leads many fans and historians to believe that he deserves the title of greatest hitter of all time. However, some critics would argue that Ted Williams warrants this distinction. Unfortunately for Williams and his fans, the hitting prowess of Williams falls short of Cobb’s. While Williams arguably displayed a great hitting ability, Cobb remains the better batsman.
From a young age, Jackie knew that he would be very athletic. His skin color didn’t stop him from achieving his goals. Fans screaming at him and throwing things at him didn’t stop him. Even his teammates refusing to play with him didn’t stop him. Jackie Robinson is one of the best baseball players ever and Jackie Robinson is one cool dude.
Since the beginning of time, humans have always had some type of relationship with nature, whether it was negative or positive. Adam & Eve were exiled from paradise for eating from the forbidden tree. Neanderthals flourished living in caves while having constant interactions with nature. And now in this day in age the relationship continues. This ever-changing relationship between man and nature is the main focus of two writers, Wendell Berry and Terry Tempest Williams. Both writers have a similar voice and style in some aspects, yet differ in others.
The power of nature is all around us and can be found almost anywhere. One is able to study nature through experiencing it firsthand, looking at a picture, watching a movie, or even reading a familiar children’s story. I believe that by learning more about nature we can grow closer to God. Emerson states, “Nature is so pervaded in human life, that there is something of humanity in all, and in every particular” (Emerson 508). Like Emerson, I believe that humanity and nature were created by God and we can learn more about the Spirit of God by studying nature. I also see that nature has the power to influence our emotions and actions. I see evidence of this through various landscapes such as the desert, the beach, the mountains and the jungle. I thought about the vastness of the desert during a recent trip to the desert with my class. I think about nature and my love for it when I am scanning through my photo album and see pictures that capture me enjoying the mountains of Utah. When I watched the movie The Beach I was struck out how nature, specifically the beautiful beaches of Thailand, influenced the actions of every character in the movie. Of course it is hard to read a legendary story such as “Jungle Book” and not see what a powerful effect nature and its’ animals can have over humans.