It’s possible to track a year through home runs—through baseball’s most explicit displays of strength and glory. But it’s more illuminating to track a year through the pitcher reactions to those home runs. How does the experience of giving up a moon blast translate physically? What can we see in the eyes of a man who just watched his night unravel? Where does frustration become pain? When does pain cross over into apathy? To wit: If the most dramatic home run of the year tells us something about baseball, well, the pitcher’s reaction to giving up that home run tells us something about the human condition.
Here is the year in pitcher reactions:
