Slumps happen in baseball, one cannot get a hit every single game, much less a home run. However, when one of the biggest stars in baseball, Albert Pujols, fails to make an extreme impact for his team, slumps look to be going on something much worse.
Albert Pujols current predicament is much like that of the baseball in Underworld. It is only the beginning of the season so all of this may change, but Nick's infatuation with the past is what we as fans are experiencing when the best players fall below their mean. We hold onto these players because they mean something to us, whether it is intangible or otherwise, players that are great mean something to the fans.
I would assume Pujols would pick up his play and start hitting in home runs, but the baseball as a solid history and a past that we can have nostalgia over because it is past. The problem with looking at Pujols as if he has failed his team, is that people compare him to to his past self when he played for the cardinals. He still has many years on a good contract, it is not like these at bats are the last we will see of Pujols, but the nostalgia of looking back makes it seem that way.
This bring in another example of the effect nostalgia has on fans. It has been reiterated a good amount in discussions, but it just shows that nostalgia has a large place in the game of baseball, and it is what makes the story in baseball so interesting. Without this nostalgia, these stories would be baseless, with no basis for comparison. But nostalgia provides an avenue to discuss these starts future potential.
Nostalgia is what Nick has for the ball, it may be a bad memory, but it is nostalgic nevertheless. Fans become more rapped up in the past events as proof of future events. It is even like his use of the number 13. Because of the random connections that are created by over analysis, it makes it look as if the past dictates the future. But what really happens is that fans attach a signifier to the events and make it look as if we can discern anything from the smallest detail.
The first few games are not a good place to start judging his play, Pujols has gone on long droughts before, but it is the nostalgia and random associations that make connections so strong. If this is going on at the end of the season, there may be some problems, but as of now its is still to early to tell what will happen next.
I think you are very right that nostalgia is always playing a role in the fans way of thinking about players. Obviously someone like Pujols brings thoughts of greatness and elation, but, I do not find it fair to relate him to Nick's passion for the ball. I believe we hold players to standards as moral human beings more than we can with a physical object. Also, I feel that the physical aspect of a baseball conjures further desires and memories than a player ever could.
ReplyDeleteNostalgia often has to be used by fans to judge a players perfromance, especially for a star player like Pujols. If they are not playing like they have in the past then fans will immediately think to what they were hitting at the same point in previous seasons and wonder what is going wrong. I also agree with Nathan's comment about how we hold players in a different light than we do inanimate objects such as Nick's baseball. But you did bring up a good point about the overall feelings of nostalgia when it comes to our favorite players.
ReplyDeleteAlbert Pujols is a great baseball player. Looking at his past may put some ridiculous expectations on him, but he is just as talented now as he was last year. He will start hitting home runs and become the Pujols we all know and love. It is difficult to watch now, especially when you think about him nostalgically, but his talent is still there. I would say the pressure of his huge contract, along with the move to a new city, new team, and new manager is what is causing his slump. He played 10 years in St. Louis for the same manager. Everything has changed for him now, except his ability. It has been a long drought for a hitter of his caliber and he just doesn't look right at the plate right now, but he is still Albert Pujols and I wouldn't be surprised if he hits 35 home runs and has 115 rbi this year.
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