Baseball has many different forms of discourse that are relayed in many different ways. We use verbal, and non-verbal communication to express our discourse. baseball is americas pastime and does more than just give you something to watch, but also gives some people a sense of pride. The main 3 parts of baseball that I personally view/display the most discourse in baseball is hitting, signs, and emotion.
(Hitting)
Hitting is a very difficult thing for most people. If you are 3/10 at the plate you are a hall of fame member in most cases. If you ask some coaches their views on hitting they may all have different answers. There is endless theories that people make on hitting, but not one is exactly right or wrong. For me I look at professionals slow motion swings and try and imitate them. I’ve heard coaches say, “they are naturally gifted, you can’t imitate them”. My theory is that if they made to the level they are at, they must be doing something right. Youtube videos of coaches teaching their side to hitting is also some times helpful as well.
Personally the main discourse from baseball I go off is my brother. He is playing at a high level and we are very similar in every attribute, which makes it easy to imitate. The one other Player I enjoy analyzing is Kris Bryant (professional baseball play for the cubs), he is very simple and has very little room for error. the youtube link below has Kris Bryant’s slow motion swing. So you know one of the main points that I enjoy about his swing is the fact his front foot goes up and down nothing crazy and gets to the point of contact rather quickly.
(Signs)
The biggest non- verbal discourse on a baseball field is signs. If you look down the first base line you will see the coach touching all kinds of body parts to relay what he wants from his player. There is a strategy to this, and thats for the other team to never figure out your signs. I’ll give you a quick run down of a sign system I once used, one touch is hit and run 2 is bunt, 3 is delayed steal, 4 is steal. where ever the coach touches first is now hot, if he comes back to that same spot the amount of touches he than does is now the sign. Difficult, but thats how you keep the other team from catching on. The easier signs that are given in baseball are from the catcher to the pitcher. Very simple, if the catcher holds down 1 finger its fastball, two is Curveball, and wiggling all fingers is change-up. In my opinion this is one of the coolest parts to the game. the fact that you can communicate across the field without saying a word, and keeping it from the other team is something unique.
(Emotion)
Lastly emotion. In baseball every emotion you can think of is somehow expressed throughout the year sometimes even throughout a game. There is many ways these are expressed, but for now I’ll stick to the basic 3 happy, mad, and shocked. Happy is the most common one for the fact that baseball is a fun game to play. When you win, get a hit strike someone out, make a play in the field, win the game with a hit, I could go on and on. The way this is expressed is mostly with a smile, or throughout the rest of the game they are high in energy and communicating with jokes and messing around.
With happy there comes mad. Some control this better than others, for me I am slowly controlling it better. I usually will express being made with a straight face and talking to myself. Others usually result in punching things in a space where no one can see them and saying a few cuss words. The last way it is expressed and usually is known for being this way is breaking things in the open and yelling things that almost everyone can hear.
The last point of emotion is shocked, which can happen in a bad way or even a good way. The most common shock baseball players go through is when they are expecting a certain pitch and get another. I personally get this because I always sit fastball and when a curveball gets thrown I never usually am looking for it. Another bad feeling of shock is when you lose a game you shouldn’t have lost. This becomes a shock because it was the last thing you were expecting to happen. You’re the number 1 team in the conference and you lose to the last place team, its not something you are thinking will happen. The other team is shocked most of the time to, they didn’t think in a million years they could beat you but it happen. Baseball is a very unpredictable game and thats why this happens so often. This is a video of Bo Jackson arguably the best athlete ever showing emotion.
Overall baseball is a topic I could go on and on about through these discourses. The reason I play the game is because In ways its preparing me for life. I learn how to cope with failure and also learn how to deal with success. People don’t understand most of the things done on a baseball field, but if they took the time to see it would be very interesting. All in all hitting, signs, and emotion play a huge role in baseball and main reasons I love the game so much.
jakerichmond03 