The World Series has started, and some of us here at Open Path are very excited. Last night the Los Angeles Dodgers took Game 1 from the Houston Astros with Clayton Kershaw on the mound, striking out 11. His performance elicited this response from Emma Baccellieri, writing for Deadspin:
Kershaw looked more or less like he always does on a good night, which is damn near impossible to hit: that traditionally nasty curve, the slider working just as hard, zero walks. He looked like himself.
Baseball has long inspired beautiful sentences from writers. The sport lends itself to a study of character in motion. Looking at a pitcher taking a breath, communicating silently with his catcher: he is the world’s most relatable lead man. For those seconds before the pitch, he is the game, all the action and rhythm suspended in his body. “Pitching is a large subject,” wrote the great poet Marianne Moore, who loved the Brooklyn Dodgers best.
And when the ball is hit — things happen fast, too fast for writing. Our view pulls back to see the field, the fielders: a pick, a grab, or maybe this one sails and then drops to the grass. Once the ball is hit, we think through the finite number of things that can happen, and we marvel, caught up: what happened? If we happen to be without cable television, we count on the writer or the announcer. Last night we kept up on the internet, and the facts fell through like falling stars:
Top of the eighth. Brandon Morrow pitching.
Marwin Gonzalez popped to shallow left. Hernandez ran a long way to make the catch.
Josh “Big Baby” Reddick fouled out to deep left.
Carlos Beltran, batting for Brad Peacock, grounded to first.
Dodgers are three outs away from winning Game 1.
Game 2 tonight.
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Read also: “The Cubs Secret to Success? Group Hugs.”