Strike Out

Author's Note: "This is my revised cause and effect piece about the story Casey At The Bat."

Dear Diary,

Yesterday I attended my brother Corey's baseball game. It was their playoff game which meant that if they won they would advance to the state championships, but if they lost they were done for the season. At the bottom of the ninth inning the score was 6 to 7 and Mudville was losing. We had a player on second and a player of third and Casey, the best hitter on the Mudville's team was up to bat. The crowd went wild as Casey stepped onto home plate and got in position to receive the first pitch. If Casey got a home run then we would win the game!

As the pitcher threw the first pitch Casey just nonchalantly missed the ball. All of us in the crowd were wondering why he purposely missed the ball, but when Casey did the same thing to the second pitch I was very confused. Why would he just purposely waste two pitches like that? What was his motive, was he trying to sabotage the team? Honestly it didn't matter as long as Casey hit the next ball. The last pitch flew threw the air and the entire crowd waited in anticipation to see if Casey would swing the bat. Thankfully Casey swung the bat, but he missed the ball.

"Strike Three," The Umpire Called.

The crowd sulked and picked up their things: it was a sad day for Mudville. Casey was to blame, his ego got in the way of Mudville getting to the state championships for the first time ever! The whole team and even the coach was upset and mad at Casey, and to be honest I was too. It was all his fault. He wasted two perfect pitches! The team needed him to perform today, but he just was too arrogant to even try to hit the ball.  Ultimately his ego was too big and he figured out that he wasn't as good as he though he was.

I read the book Touching Spirit Bear in seventh grade and Cole, the main character in the book reminded me a lot of Casey yesterday. Cole thought he was the strongest guy around, he even thought that he was strong enough to fight a bear! After getting pummeled by the bear Cole got a big reality check and realized that he wasn't as strong as he though the was. That reminded me a lot about what happened to Casey yesterday and how he thought he was amazing, but then ended up striking out.

If Casey would have it the ball the whole crowd would have gone crazy with excitement. If he would of hit the ball he would be the most popular guy in town, but he didn't. Instead Casey missed the ball, he didn't even try to hit it the first two pitches. I don't know what he was thinking. Because of his actions he let his team and everyone else down. The effect of his choices caused us to loose the game.

I'm looking forward to seeing Casey's new and improved attitude next season. I hope now he realizes to always try your best at everything in life.

Sincerely,
Madison