Gonterman 1

Leah Michele Gonterman

Justin Staley
LSP 112 Crack of the Bat
May 7
,201,4
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ln Robert Vivian's story "Death of a Shortstop" the narrator describes the heart wrenching story
of a shortstop, Wob, who commits suicide and how he, a fellow teammate, reacts to this "betrayal even
greaterthan" the one he committed when he quit baseballalltogether. The narrator, Bruce, also
anymorebecauseofthenarratorscommentaryof him"alreadylosinginterestinthegame". Fromthe
outside perspective of watching a ballplayer, doing poorly and not putting in allyour effort could be one
andthesame. Also,theamountoftalkaboutthefather-sonrelationshipthatBrucehascouldshowthat
explainstherelationshipthatheandhisdadhadcenteredonbaseball.
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I found it interesting how the author compares suicide to quitting baseball, even to the point of
saying, "we were spiritualcousins the moment I quit and disappointed my dad and the moment you
decided to end your life". lt's quite sad to think that there is a necessity to play baseball in order to
make your dad proud and keep living with a good relationship. Although we really don't know exactly
why Wob committed suicide we might be able to infer that it was because he either wasn't doing well in
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the game anymore or he was disappointing his father. I say that he not be doing well in the game
maybe Wob didn't have that with his father or at least maybe Wob's father did push him to be better
unlike Bruce's dad. Baseball is a game that you can play when you're young and maybe into your forties
but after that it isn't so easy anymore. Once you quit baseballthere is no going back, you become a
"dead" ballplayer. (
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Gonterman 2
When Bruce describes his relationship with his dad it is all centered on the poetry of baseball. lt
was the one thing that they could bond on. Once Bruce severed his tie to baseball he also severed his
tie with his dad and their relationship seemed to be on edge. Because although "[his] dad supported
[him]
on
[his]
decision, something quietly died between
[them]."
Allthe things that he could compare
to sports when talking to his dad were all of a sudden not able to be explained. Bruce says that baseball
is a game and once he quit life got too real. Maybe that is why his dad wants him to play baseball so bad,
because once he quit his dad's second childhood is gone and living through Bruce is no longer an option.
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